July 2023, with two heat waves, becomes the sixth warmest in Spain since there are records

The month of July 2023, which has been very hot and dry and has registered two heat waves in Spain as a whole, is the sixth warmest July in more than 60 years of data recording and the fifth warmest. warm this century, according to the State Meteorological Agency (Aemet).

The monthly climatological balance explains that July was generally a month with very little rainfall, although some intense storms were recorded in parts of the eastern peninsula..

Specifically, the average monthly temperature on the Peninsula was 24.3ºC, that is, 1.2ºC above the average for this month compared to the reference period 1991-2020. During these thirty years there were frequent hot episodes but they did not last long.. The Aemet highlights the heat waves registered between July 9 and 12 and from July 17 to 19, dates in which both the maximum and minimum values were well above the usual values for this time of year..

Likewise, the Aemet recognizes other notable warm episodes, although not so much as to be provisionally considered heat waves.. It is about the days 2 and 3 of July and the days 29 to 31 of July. On the other hand, on July 25 and 26, temperatures were lower than normal for the time of year..

Specifically, the highest temperatures in this month of July were recorded at Córdoba airport, with 44.5ºC on the 17th; at the airports of Malaga and Granada with 44.2ºC on days 10 and 19 respectively; and in Murcia Alcantarilla-air base that on the 19th reached 43.9ºC.

During this period, six daily maximum temperature records were broken in the respective series of six observatories and there were 12 highest minimum temperature heat records..

The minimum temperatures were recorded in the main observatories of the Port of Navacerrada on the 25th, with 6.1ºC; in Salamanca-airport, with 7.3ºC on the 17th; 7.5ºC in Lugo-airport on July 16 or 8.3ºC in Molina de Aragón on July 26.

Regarding rainfall, the Aemet weather balance reflects that the month of July was very dry, since an average value of 9.9 liters per square meter was recorded, 41 percent less than the normal value for the period. reference 1991-2020.

With these records, July 2023 becomes the fourth driest in the 21st century and the 13th driest July since the beginning of the series in 1961..

By zones, July was between dry and very dry in almost the entire territory and became extremely dry, that is, the driest, in parts of northern León.

On the contrary, it was humid in parts of Galicia and in inland areas of Catalonia, Aragon, a large part of the Valencian Community, Murcia and Almería..

Likewise, in both archipelagos it was mostly dry, although in the Canary Islands it was humid or very humid in some of its islands, so overall it has turned out to be a normal month of July..

Thus, the highest amounts of daily precipitation at the main observatories were due in many cases to intense storms, with abundant precipitation in a short period of time..

In this sense, Aemet highlights the 36.5 liters per square meter in Valencia on July 3; 29.8 liters per square meter in Zaragoza-airport on the 6th, a day in which 29.7 liters per square meter fell in Pamplona. In Fuenterrabía, 28.4 liters per square meter were accumulated on the 24th and in Teruel, 22.6 liters per square meter on the 3rd..

Finally, the Aemet points out that the highest total volume of monthly precipitation was recorded in Fuenterrabía, with 87.9 liters per square meter; 61.7 liters per square meter in San Sebastián-Igueldo; the 41.2 liters per square meter in Santander-airport; 38.2 liters per square meter in Pamplona-airport and 37.2 liters per square meter in Zaragoza-airport.