Peninsular Italy and southern Balkans

[Josh Romano]

In the next few days many heat records could fall from Tuscany to Campania, some monthly, some absolute. Many records date back to the months of August 2007, July 2015, August 2017, June 2019, so they are still recent, while the cold records mostly date back to the 60s/70s of the last century. Furthermore, this July 2023 in various areas, especially on the Tyrrhenian side, could be the hottest in the historical series, beating the recent July 2015 and 2022... Basically in Italy every summer adds a new element to the heating.

[matty40s]

We are up the top of the boot in Bologna for a few days, yesterday was bearable with occasional cloud and a good breeze. 

Its already 29c out there now, and will get up to 36 later. Lots of water, and staying out of the midday sun

[Josh Romano]

Many heat records have been broken in recent days, including in the Rome area. In many areas of mainland Italy it is the hottest month of July, surpassing the recent July 2015. 40 C in Podgorica (Montenegro), 47 C in Algiers 

Edited July 20, 2023 by Josh Romano

[andreas]

The night time temperatures in Rome - and the dew point look very high on the Met Office site - it must be very uncomfortable. 

Rome (Italy) weather

WWW.METOFFICE.GOV.UK

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Rome 7 day weather forecast including weather warnings, temperature, rain, wind, visibility, humidity and UV

 

[Josh Romano]

On 20/07/2023 at 20:29, andreas said:

The night time temperatures in Rome - and the dew point look very high on the Met Office site - it must be very uncomfortable. 

Rome (Italy) weather

WWW.METOFFICE.GOV.UK

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Rome 7 day weather forecast including weather warnings, temperature, rain, wind, visibility, humidity and UV

 

The heat and high humidity rates are the protagonists of this extraordinarily hot month in peninsular Italy, a disturbing month, like the climatic trend in general. In the next few days I'm going to Budapest for a short vacation, see you again in August but I can anticipate that this July will probably be the second or third warmest in peninsular Italy (which does not include the Po and Alpine regions, let's remember that). A similar situation is taking place in Montenegro

[Midlands Ice Age]

1 hour ago, Josh Romano said:

The heat and high humidity rates are the protagonists of this extraordinarily hot month in peninsular Italy, a disturbing month, like the climatic trend in general. In the next few days I'm going to Budapest for a short vacation, see you again in August but I can anticipate that this July will probably be the second or third warmest in peninsular Italy (which does not include the Po and Alpine regions, let's remember that). A similar situation is taking place in Montenegro

 

 

No doubt very hot for Peninsula  Italy.

 I see that the temperatures for Rome are expected to cool off this week to around average.. 

For the whole of Italy where does the temp stand for July?

My thoughts are that the hottest of the air coming out of the Sahara (upwards of 40C) have drifted ENE towards Sicily and Sardinia and then on to Cyprus and the Turkish  Mainland, and just clipping the Grecian Islands...

Am I wrong?

The middle east currently has the hottest temperatures with Baghdad at 48C and many places around 45C in the Persian Gulf.

In this area +40C is considered 'normal' for the area in summer.. 

Edited July 23, 2023 by Midlands Ice Age

[Josh Romano]

Generally, the climatic trend of Rome is quite summary of that of peninsular Italy, so you can refer to the capital ... Italian summers warm up on average by 0.5 C every decade, the process began in the two-year period 1982-83 but more or less until 2002 Italian summers were not hotter than in other phases of the past, such as the 40's / 50's of the last century. Things change with the step of 2003 and get worse with the next step of 2012. Now every Italian summer adds a piece to a picture that leads us towards an African climate

[Midlands Ice Age]

4 hours ago, Josh Romano said:

Generally, the climatic trend of Rome is quite summary of that of peninsular Italy, so you can refer to the capital ... Italian summers warm up on average by 0.5 C every decade, the process began in the two-year period 1982-83 but more or less until 2002 Italian summers were not hotter than in other phases of the past, such as the 40's / 50's of the last century. Things change with the step of 2003 and get worse with the next step of 2012. Now every Italian summer adds a piece to a picture that leads us towards an African climate

I think the above highlighted sentence describes the events occuring,   except that the African climate is very prone at the moment to come  to you. It would appear (to me) that the current climate situation tends to push the Saharan heat further north on a more reliable basis. 

The same thing is apparent within the UK, to such an extent that people are now getting very upset when a 'plume' - as its called - fails to turn up.

Perhaps we should be looking to see if the temps in the Sahara are increasing...

30 - 40 years  ago we had to manufacture our own heat quite a bit (thinking of 1976 - when an anticyclone set up over the near continent and drew in winds from the East). Screaming hot air from  Africa hardly ever occured on a reliable lenghty basis at that time.

All very interesting.

Edited July 23, 2023 by Midlands Ice Age

[Jo Farrow]

European Temperature Record   "WMO has accepted a new temperature record for continental Europe of 48.8°C (119.8 °F) measured in Sicily on 11 August 2021. A committee of experts has verified the accuracy of the temperature reading, but has not yet published the full report.

It is possible that this record may be broken in the coming days as the heatwave intensifies.

The previous verified record of highest maximum temperature for continental Europe is 48.0°C (118.4°F) and was set in Athens on 10 July 1977" 

WMO is monitoring potential new temperature records

PUBLIC.WMO.INT

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The World Meteorological Organization will examine any potential new temperature records as intense heatwaves grip the southern USA, Mediterranean, North Africa, Middle East and some countries in Asia...

 

[lottiekent]

Video shows wildfires lashing over edge of highway in Sicily

WWW.NBCWASHINGTON.COM

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Fires are raging across the Italian island of Sicily, prompting evacuations and threatening drivers.

Sicily seems to be having lots of issues with fires also during the intense heat they are suffering

[matty40s]

 

[Josh Romano]

We are still waiting for the official data from the CNR but, according to some estimates, July 2023 should have been the third hottest in peninsular Italy, after July 2022 and July 2015. Yesterday still very hot in the southern Balkans, 36 C in Podgorica

Edited August 1, 2023 by Josh Romano

[Josh Romano]

Good morning! In the next few days there will be a temporary descent also in central and southern Italy, with highs widely below 29 C even in the plains

[Josh Romano]

 

This brief cool interlude is now coming to an end and a new, lasting heat wave is expected throughout the Italian peninsula

[Josh Romano]

Since yesterday the heat has returned to peninsular Italy, after an early part of August close to the thirty-year average of 81/10. In the next few days, 37 C will be possible in Rome, 38 C in Florence and Foggia

[Josh Romano]

The last week was very hot in peninsular Italy, values similar to those of the powerful July wave were reached on the Tyrrhenian side, while on the Adriatic side the heat is less extreme but very, very muggy

[Josh Romano]

July was also unusually warm in the southern Balkans and Greece. Athens had an overall average of over 32C, higher than Cairo's 91/20 30-year average, an average never experienced in Europe, with average minimum temperatures of 27C and average maximum temperatures of 37C. Spectacularly Tirana was also hot, with an average maximum temperature of over 35°C and Podgorica, with a climatic anomaly exceeding 4°C. The heat in Rome was also striking, with a climatic anomaly of over 3°C; in the Eternal City July 2023 was the hottest since the beginning of meteorological records

[Summer8906]

10 minutes ago, Josh Romano said:

July was also unusually warm in the southern Balkans and Greece. Athens had an overall average of over 32C, higher than Cairo's 91/20 30-year average, an average never experienced in Europe, with average minimum temperatures of 27C and average maximum temperatures of 37C. Spectacularly Tirana was also hot, with an average maximum temperature of over 35°C and Podgorica, with a climatic anomaly exceeding 4°C. The heat in Rome was also striking, with a climatic anomaly of over 3°C; in the Eternal City July 2023 was the hottest since the beginning of meteorological records

In Greece at the moment, where of course the persistent heatwaves have triggered devastating wildfires, and on Tuesday and Wednesday, an ash pollution episode. Apparently this extended as far west as Sicily.

The weather was more comfortable for around three weeks, from about July 27 to August 15. Apparently a return to something more normal from the weekend.

This heatwave was less extreme than the July one, but it was clear that nature could not take any more and its consequences have been devastating.

In sharp contrast to the UK, this part of the world desperately needs rain and moderate temps, and lots of it.

Summer 2023 will be noted for terrible synoptics across Europe as a whole, delivering extreme heat, and excessive cloud and rainfall, in precisely the wrong places. Southern Europe needs rain and north-western Europe needs sunshine and warmth.

A summer with synoptics I hope that will not be repeated any time soon in Europe.

Edited August 24, 2023 by Summer8906

[Josh Romano]

Hi! We are waiting for the official data but summer 2023 in Italy should have been the sixth hottest in the historical series. July had a lot of impact, since in some areas, including Rome, it was the hottest of the series. In the last few days there has been a good drop in temperature but yet another heat wave will begin shortly

[Josh Romano]

The month of July 2023 was incredibly hot in Algiers, with an average of 29.7 C. Summer 2023 is the hottest there but above all the linear trend that the summer warming is taking there is remarkable. Since 2019, every summer is hotter than the previous one, which was the hottest there

[Summer8906]

On 01/09/2023 at 06:40, Josh Romano said:

Hi! We are waiting for the official data but summer 2023 in Italy should have been the sixth hottest in the historical series. July had a lot of impact, since in some areas, including Rome, it was the hottest of the series. In the last few days there has been a good drop in temperature but yet another heat wave will begin shortly

Surprised at this, and it's not southern Italy but nearby: the forecasts I'm seeing are showing <30C for every day from Mon to Sat in Thessaloniki, including a spectacularly cool (for the location and season) 22C on Monday. More generally it's a low-side-of-average 26-29 and high teens at night.

Rome looks slightly warm for the season but not drastically so, around 32-33 with a relatively cool 18C at night. Certainly much "fresher" than the conditions in July and at times in August!

Edited September 2, 2023 by Summer8906

[Josh Romano]

Hello, dears ... Due to personal and work commitments, I will no longer be able to write on this forum, having to "cut" some social networks ... However, if someone wants to keep in touch privately with me on issues and news related to climate and meteorology, he can write me privately on WhatsApp number +393490670059