January 2023 was Europe's 3rd hottest January ever. In mainland Portugal, the situation was the same, despite the cold that arrived from the 26th.
The data are from the Portuguese Institute of the Sea and the Atmosphere (IPMA), which announced that, in Europe, “the average value of the average temperature was 2.64 °C higher than the normal value 1981-2010”.
Much of Europe had above average air temperatures. The regions of the Balkans, Eastern Europe, Finland and northwestern Russia "recorded temperatures well above average".
In contrast, “monthly temperatures below average were recorded in some places on the Iberian Peninsula, Greenland, Iceland and northern Russia”, as can be seen in the figure above.
Globally, January was 0.44 °C warmer than the 1981-2010 average, corresponding to the 7th warmest January, on par with 2018 and 2021.
With regard to precipitation in Europe, in January, there were wetter conditions than normal in much of the continent, in particular in the north of the Iberian Peninsula, Italy and the Balkans, as far north as Scandinavia.
On the other hand, drier than normal conditions were experienced in eastern Spain, Turkey and the Black Sea region, as well as parts of northwestern Russia.
In mainland Portugal, the month of January was classified as hot in terms of air temperature and normal in terms of precipitation.
In this month, in mainland Portugal, the average value of the average air temperature was 9.14 °C, 0.33 °C above the normal value.
The average value of the maximum air temperature, 13.84 °C, was +0.75 °C higher than normal; the minimum air temperature value, 4.45 °C was very close to the normal value (-0.09 °C).
During the month, there was some variability in air temperature values, with emphasis on temperature values «almost always above the monthly normal» in the period from the 7th to the 17th and on the 20th and 21st, with hot days and nights for era.
From the 22nd, there was a sharp drop in temperature, especially the minimum, with occurrence of cold nights; the average value of the minimum temperature on days 26, 30 and 31 was below 0°C.
Regarding precipitation, the month of January was normal, with a total precipitation of 104.1 mm, which corresponds to 89% of the normal value.
During the month. IPMA highlights the episodes of precipitation that occurred on the 1st, 7th and 8th and 16th and 17th, with periods of rain or showers, sometimes heavy, especially in the North and Center regions of the territory.
According to the PDSI drought index, only the regions of Baixo Alentejo and Algarve are in a situation of weak drought, an area that has again registered a slight increase since December.
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