discover the atypical assessment of these three months
A coarse and particularly hot summer. This is what should be remembered from the weather report for the months of June, July and August in Côte-d’Or. Like the rest of France, our department was affected by three heat waves.
The sun was very present in Côte-d’Or, and the rains were relatively rare. This led to a major drought and numerous forest fires, including in Côte-d’Or. Even if, as the prefecture recalls in its press release concerning the drought, “the month of August saw the return of normal rainfall for the summer season”. After eight months, out of the last ten, which presented a rain deficit.
Readings “very close” to those of 2003
So that for Meteo France like Stephane Nedeljkovic, forecaster for Météonews, our summer 2022 is very similar to that of 2003, the driest and hottest known in the history of weather. “In 2003, the August heat wave was longer and more intense than the one we had. But if we combine the three heat wave episodes this year, we are on very similar readings. We can say that these are two similar years ”, points out Stéphane Nedeljkovic. Moreover, just like in 2003, the high temperatures resumed in June this year.
Heat, high heat… The temperatures behind these meteorological terms
In the meteorological world, when we talk about heat or high heat, we are really talking about a threshold.
Thus, we speak of heat when the temperatures reach 25°C. And we speak of high temperatures when they reach 30°C.
A record broken by four days in Dijon
The Dijon-Longvic station even broke a record this summer: the number of consecutive days with a temperature above 25°C (i.e. the heat threshold). So far, we had counted up to 34 consecutive days, in 2003. Now, the new record is 38 days. “It’s really a huge piece of data,” says Stéphane Nedeljkovic, which is not surprising. Because this is where the major difference between 2003 and 2022 lies. “In 2003, there were temperature variations”, with dips in the heat. Except this year, that’s not the case. “We haven’t had a drop. The heat has been constant, ”notes the meteorologist.
A Spanish “heat pump” phenomenon
This heavy and stifling climate will not stop with the arrival of September. If the next few days are uncertain, the fault of thunderstorms and very unstable weather, Météonews expects high temperatures to persist at least during the first half of September.
And to understand this phenomenon which will have impacted us throughout the summer, you have to go to Spain. “If several factors can explain these high temperatures, the main reason comes from a blockage situation. We very regularly had a mass of warm air coming up from the Iberian Peninsula, where temperatures are still between 35 and 40°C. We call it a heat pump”, deciphers Stéphane Nedeljkovic.
And a summer as we have known it could be the norm at best, a “cool summer” at worst, within a few years.