The month of July in mainland Portugal was classified as «very dry» and «extremely hot», having been the hottest in the last 92 years, announced today the Portuguese Institute of the Sea and the Atmosphere.
According to the IPMA, the mean value of the mean air temperature was 25.14 °C, 2.97 °C above the normal value. This month was also the hottest day of the year, the 13th of July, and the 5th hottest day of the XNUMXst century.
Last month, the average maximum air temperature, 33.16 °C, was the second highest since 1931 (after July 2020), with an anomaly of +4.44 °C.
In the published note, the IPMA also emphasizes that the average value of the minimum temperature, 17.13 °C, was 1.51 °C above normal, and was the 4th highest value since 1931 (after 1989, 1990, 2006).
From last month, it should also be noted that the highest value of the maximum air temperature, 47°C, occurred at Pinhão station, on the 14th, and constituted «a new extreme for the month of July, in mainland Portugal. Between the 7th and 14th, 98 new maximum temperature records were recorded, with the highest number of absolute records on the 14th and monthly on the 13th.
Regarding precipitation, the month of July was the 4th driest since 2000, with the total precipitation being 3.0 mm, corresponding to only about 22% of the normal value.
«The combination of the persistence of much lower than normal rainfall values and much higher than normal temperature values, in particular the maximum temperature, resulted in the occurrence of high values of evapotranspiration and significant values of soil moisture deficit», read in the note.
At the end of the month, compared to June, there was a significant decrease in the values of percentage of water in the soil throughout the territory, which were more significant in the regions
According to the PDSI index, on the 31st of July the entire country is in a situation of meteorological drought, with an increase in the area in the extreme drought class. At the end of July, 55% of the territory is in the severe drought class and 45% in the extreme drought class.
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