The Valencian Community will experience a “hot and dry” autumn, with above-normal temperatures and below-normal precipitation. This is the prediction of State Meteorological Agency for this quarter, despite the fact that in September it rained “more than expected”.
The autonomy experienced its fifth hottest and twentieth wettest summer since 1950, reaching an average temperature of 24.4ºC, one degree higher than the normal average. Additionally, accumulated precipitation reached 87.3 liters per square meter (l/m2), which is 45 percent above what is “considered normal.”
This was announced this Tuesday at the press conference on climatological advances in the summer 2024 of the Valencian Community, which was attended by the delegate of Aemet in the region, Jorge Tamayo, and the head of climatology, José Ángel Núñez.
Tamayo explained that, from a climatic point of view, summer developed during the months of June, July and August, “and not before September 21.” “From an astronomical point of view, autumn began last Sunday at 2:44 p.m. and will last until December 25, while from a climatic point of view, autumn began on September 1,” he said. he clarified.
Thus, the summer – June, July and August – was “overall very hot” with rains “irregularly distributed”, since they were “very concentrated in June” and “much less the rest of the summer”, he declared. detailed.
“Temperatures in the Valencian Community of this group have been higher and have maintained the trend observed throughout this century,” he noted. In this sense, it was the fifth hottest summerbehind 2012, 2023, 2003 and 2022.
“Very similar” to the summer of the Spanish peninsula
The summer in the east of the peninsula has been characterized as being “very similar to what Spain as a whole has been”, since in the peninsular territory it is the “sixth hottest summer since that records have been recorded.”
The distribution of temperatures, according to the meteorologist, was characterized by the absence of “major heat peaks, except on July 20 and 31, when temperatures reached the highest records of the entire summer” with 45ºC in Sumacarcer (Valencia) and 44.5ºC in Ontinyent (Valencia).
Unlike other years, where there were episodes of stormy weather or “extremely high” temperatures, this episode did not occur, since temperatures were “overall persistently high”, particularly in July and in august.
Regarding the central summer months -July and August-, the two-month period is the third hottest on record, behind 2022 and 2023. “We are in a period of several consecutive years with extremely high temperatures”, he said. he added. .
On the other hand, in the month of Septembereven if “it is not part of the climatological summer, it is in the process of being cold character“, because “temperatures are below normal, which has changed the trend which had been above usual values for many months”, he underlined.
Increased precipitation
As for the rains, the summer was humid with 45% more precipitation than average. The highest quantities were recorded in the municipality of Teresa de Cofrents (Valencia) with 185 l/m2, followed by Ayora (Valencia), with 175; or Montán (Castellón), with 160. In this way, the provinces of Valencia and Castellón are those where “it rained the most”.
On the contrary, the south of Alicante was characterized by “little rain”, especially in the municipality of Orihuela, which recorded 10 l/m2, or in the city of Elche, with 11 l/m2.
Concerning the distribution of rain, They concentrated in Junesince this is when two thirds of the quarter’s precipitation accumulated. Thus, Tamayo highlighted that the precipitation in the first half of the month was “more intense”, with storms in the interior of Valencia, south of Castellón and north of Alicante.
In the case of July, precipitation was recorded early in the morning and in the morning of day 1 and day 6; while in August the “heaviest” precipitation was also recorded in the form of thunderstorms on the 2nd, 13th and 14th.
