2022 was the hottest year in mainland Portugal since 1931
The average air temperature was 1.38 degrees Celsius above the normal value recorded in the reference period 1971-2000
The year 2022 was the hottest in mainland Portugal since 1931, with six heat waves recorded, according to the annual bulletin of the Portuguese Institute of the Sea and the Atmosphere (IPMA).
The average air temperature was 1.38 degrees Celsius (°C) above the normal value recorded in the reference period 1971-2000, referring to the balance of the IPMA’s Climate and Climate Change division for the past year.
The country recorded six heat waves – one in May, four in summer and one in autumn – and the average maximum air temperature was 22.32°C, 1.82°C more than the normal value, according to the report. of meteorological services, which facilitate that the “last 14 years always register positive anomalies”.
The average minimum air temperature, 10.96°C, was 0.94°C above normal and the fourth highest in the last 91 years.
Classified “as extremely hot in relation to air temperature and dry in relation to temperature”, 2022 was the year in which 80% of the territory of Mainland Portugal was considered “in various extreme droughts”.
Total annual rainfall was 797.6 mm, 84 mm below the normal value, with 70% of the rain occurring in the last four months of 2022.
“Five episodes of intense and persistent rain” were recorded, one in September and four in December, which “resulted in floods in various regions” of the country.
The IPMA balance sheet states that the passage of extratropical cyclone Danielle through Portugal resulted in an average precipitation value of 55.2 mm between 12 and 15 September, which corresponded to “77% of the total value for the month”.
Regarding extreme values of air temperature, precipitation and wind in mainland Portugal, the bulletin reveals that the lowest minimum temperature, -7.5°C, was recorded in Mirandela (district of Bragança) on January 30, 2022 and that the highest maximum temperature, 47°C, was recorded on July 14, in Pinhão, in the Douro region.
The highest amount of rain in 24 hours, 110.6 mm, was recorded on December 13, 2022 at the IPMA Lisbon/GC station, while the strongest wind gust, of 119.5 kilometers per hour, occurred on December 11 in Fóia, at the highest point in the Algarve, in the Monchique mountains.