July was the hottest month in the world, but temperatures in Portugal were close to normal, which led to an increase in the arid area, which now makes up 97% of the territory.
The values were released this Friday by the Portuguese Institute of the Sea and Atmosphere (IPMA) in last month’s climate bulletin, according to which on July 31, 97% of the territory was in meteorological drought, 34% in severe and extreme drought classes, especially in Alentejo and Algarve.
On Tuesday, the European service Copernicus already reported that July was the hottest month ever recorded on Earth, marked by heat waves and fires around the world.
According to data released at the time, July was 0.33°C (degrees Celsius) warmer than the month that held the record so far (July 2019, which recorded an average of 16.63°C). The air temperature in July was also 0.72°C above the average (1991-2020), Copernicus pointed out.
In the data released this Friday, the IPMA also highlights the fact that July is the hottest and that the estimated average temperature represents another 0.7°C deviation from the average for the 1991-2020 period.
In several regions of the northern hemisphere, especially in southern Europe, heatwaves of high intensity and extent were recorded, and mean air temperature anomalies around +4°C were recorded in Italy, Greece and Spain.
This was due to the transfer of very hot and dry air masses from North Africa to Southern Europe. In North Africa and the Canadian Arctic, very high air temperatures were also recorded with anomalies of +5°С and +7°С, respectively.
However, on the Portuguese mainland, temperatures were normal for that time, without heat waves due to the so-called Azores anticyclone, which caused sea air to enter from the north (north), more humid and cold.
The usual conditions also interfered with the rains, so July was very dry in terms of precipitation. The average temperature was slightly above the norm (+0.34ºC), the minimum temperature was -0.23ºC below the norm, and the maximum temperature was +0.90 above the norm.
July has been the fifth driest month in July in Portugal since 2000 and soil water percentages have declined across the territory this month, being more significant in the Transmontano Northeast, Tagus Valley, Alentejo and Algarve regions.
“In these regions, the percentage of water in the soil is below 10%, and in many places the water content in the soil is at the level of the permanent wilting point,” IPMA warns in the July climate bulletin.
Author: Portuguese
Source: CM Jornal
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