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Following the very warm July 2023, particularly high temperatures prevailed on the island in August 2023.
Table 1 below shows the maximum daily temperatures recorded in August at the five main meteorological reference stations of the Department.
Table 1: Maximum daily temperatures (in oC), at the five main meteorological reference stations of the Department of Meteorology during August 2023. The table shows the days on which the maximum daily temperature met the criterion for issuing a yellow (or higher level) warning for very high maximum daily temperatures, per station.
In detail, during the month of August 2023, very high temperatures were recorded throughout the island and for a very long period of time, especially in certain areas, for example in mountainous regions.
During the month of August 2023, very high temperatures were recorded throughout the island and for a very long period of time, especially in certain areas, such as in mountainous regions.
As shown in Table 1, during this August maximum temperatures were recorded at the mountain station of the Forest College of Prodromos (altitude 1376 m) above 31oC (Tmax>31oC) for a sequence of eight consecutive days, which was recorded again in August 2010. In total, 14 days where the daily maximum temperature was above 31oC were recorded at this station, ranking the Prodromos station in fourth place in terms of total days when its daily maximum temperature was at the yellow risk level due to very high temperatures, following 2010, 2020 and 2021 with 18, 17 and 15 total days with Tmax>31oC, respectively. The records of the maximum temperature at the mountain station of the Forest College of Prodromos show that it was higher than 33oC for six consecutive days, including during August 2021. However, this year, of these six days, four (simultaneous and consecutive) days had a daily maximum temperature at the red hazard level, i.e. Tmax>35oC, breaking the previous record set of Tmax>35oC, which was previously held by August 2010, with three (simultaneous and consecutive) days of records with Tmax>35oC.
In relation to the reference station in the interior of the island, the Department's weather station at the Athalassa Radiation Station and the consecutive days with daily maximum temperatures above the limits of the yellow, orange or red high temperature warning, the following is worth mentioning: this August, at this weather station, a total of nine days were recorded in which the daily maximum temperature was greater than or equal to 40oC, compared to August 2020 and 2021, when a total of 16 days with Tmax≥40oC were recorded. Also, two consecutive days with Tmax>42oC were recorded this year, compared to 2021, when six consecutive days with Tmax>42oC were recorded, i.e. temperatures at orange danger level. This year there was also only one day recorded on which the daily maximum temperature exceeded 44oC and was in the red risk level, as well as in 2021, 2020 and 2010. Never before have more days been recorded with a daily maximum temperature hovering at these levels.
Table 2 below shows even more data on the main reference stations and the records recorded during August this year, as well as their ranking in relation to the extreme maxima during the period of operation of each station.
Table 2
Table 2: Average and Extreme Temperatures (in oC) relative to normal temperatures, at the five main meteorological stations of the Meteorology Department, during August 2023. The normal temperatures refer to the period 1981-2010.
In particular, this August saw the second highest daily maximum temperature at the Department's weather station at the Athalassa Radiation Station, with this temperature reaching 45.3oC, following 45.6oC at this weather station in August 2010.
In particular, this August saw the second highest daily maximum temperature at the Department's weather station at the Athalassa Radiation Station, with this temperature reaching 45.3oC, after 45.6oC at this weather station in August 2010. A record-breaking temperature was also recorded at the Department's mountain weather station at the Forest College of Prodromos, with the daily maximum temperature of 38.4oC. The second highest daily maximum temperature recorded to date at this weather station was 37oC, in 2020. First in the ranking, in terms of the highest daily minimum temperature, is again the station at the Forest College of Prodromos, since this station recorded the highest daily minimum temperature ever recorded at this station since the day of its operation, with this temperature amounting to 29.5oC.
Equally important were also the recordings of the average daily minimum temperature at the Forest College of Prodromos, with the highest daily minimum temperature ever recorded at this station since the day of its operation, with this temperature amounting to 29.5oC.
Equally important were also the recordings of the average daily minimum temperature at the Forest College of Prodromos, with the highest daily minimum temperature ever recorded at this station since the day of its operation, with this temperature amounting to 29.5oC. In particular, this August ranks as the second hottest August for the mountain station at the Forest College of Prodromos, with an average daily temperature of 26oC. It shows a positive deviation of 2.9oC compared to the normal for the month which is 23.1oC. It also ranks second and third in relation to the average daily maximum and minimum temperatures, respectively, since it shows a positive deviation of 3.4oC and 2.6oC, respectively, with respect to the normal of the month. In general, this August has been a particularly warm month in the mountainous areas of the island, with record-breaking temperatures.
The weather station at the Athalassa Radiation Station, although it has recorded the second highest daily maximum temperature (45.3oC), does not, however, rank this August among the warmest Augusts for this station.
This August was also very warm for the Department's coastal meteorological station at Paphos Airport, since the average daily temperatures recorded at this station throughout the month ranked it third, with a positive deviation of 1.9oC compared to the normal for the month. However, this August was also warmer for this weather station in terms of its average daily minimum temperature, since its average daily minimum temperature showed a positive deviation of 2.5oC compared to its normal month, putting it in first place.
Very high average daily minimum temperatures were also recorded at the Department's coastal station at Larnaca Airport, placing it in second place, since its average daily minimum temperature shows a positive deviation of 2.3oC compared to the normal of the month.
It can also be seen from Table 2 that the second highest daily minimum temperature was also recorded at the coastal station in Akrotiri in August 2023, reaching 28.5oC.
The general conclusion is that this August is, for the island, one of the hottest Augusts in which several temperature records have been either re-recorded or exceeded, especially in relation to the mountainous areas and the minimum temperatures in the coastal areas.
Apart from the special temperature conditions that prevailed on the island during August 2023, the rainfall that occurred on August 28 was particularly impressive. As shown in Figure 1 below, the highest levels of rain fell in areas in the north of the island, in the eastern inland areas, in areas southeast of the Troodos mountain range and in areas on the southeastern coast of the island.
Figure 1: Map depicting the distribution of daily rainfall, for 28 August 2023, across the island, in mm.
During the midday hours of 28 August, midday thermal instability storms, which occurred mainly in areas southeast of the Troodos mountain range, produced high rainfall totals, which in some areas ranged between 44-51 mm. On the same day, and in particular during the early evening hours, the island was affected by a dynamical disturbance, which affected the island initially from the northern coast and with a south-southeast track affected first eastern inland areas and then south-southeastern coastal areas, again giving relatively large rainfall amounts accompanied, however, by a large number of electrometeors. This type of nocturnal storm activity during the month of August is rare and a similar phenomenon has been recorded on our island before in August 1999.
Contents of this article including associated images are belongs to PIO
Views & opinions expressed are those of the author and/or PIO
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