Only 18 hours of sunshine in Ljubljana last December, despite record temperatures in Slovenia (Feature)
STA, January 8, 2022 – 2021 was a rather dry, sunny and warm year for Slovenia, but December in Ljubljana was one of the most boring so far with only 18 hours of sunshine. New Year’s Day has reached a new temperature.
Slovenia has warmed by a good 2 degrees Celsius in the last 50 years and now has about 200 hours of sunshine a year more than half a century ago.
Last year was the 17th warmest in 60 years, with temperatures about 0.7 degrees above the average for the period 1981-2010, Gregor Vertačnik, a climatologist at the Environmental Agency (ARSO), told STA.
2021 was also the 12th driest and 7th sunniest in the last 60 years with about 11% more sunshine than the average year.
The people of Ljubljana may not agree with this, as the Slovenian capital was shrouded in fog or low clouds, especially in November and December.
The city had 48 hours of sunshine in November, which is 66 hours compared to this month’s average. December was even worse, with only 18 hours of sunshine, compared to an average of 55 hours in 1981-2010.
Otherwise, February and June were one of the warmest recorded in the country with temperatures exceeding the long-term average by more than 3 degrees Celsius.
In contrast, May was 2 degrees below the long-term average. Temperatures in April and October were also below average.
Among the most unusual weather phenomena is a record 25 degrees Celsius, measured in the western Vipava Valley in February, and 20.6 degrees below zero in the Blok area in south-central Slovenia in April.
Several metrological stations recorded the highest values for the period around the new year with temperatures above 15 degrees.
A record high temperature for January 1 was recorded in Godnji near Sežana in the Karst, where silver lived at 19.1 degrees Celsius on January 1, Vertačnik said, noting that the January record was a good 21 degrees.
Just a week later, temperatures dropped below -20 on Saturday morning. Data from Neurje.si and ARSO show that the lowest values fell to -5.6 Celsius in Ljubljana, -3.4 at the Portorož coastal airport, -21.4 at Blok, and the cold town of Mrzla Komna measured 36.8 Celsius below zero.
One special feature in 2021 was the record amount of snow in the spring. The thickest blanket on Kredarica, the highest Slovenian weather station, measured 510 centimeters on 26 May 2021.