- The quarter had a very humid rainfall, with an average total rainfall of 46.6 l/m2
- The hydrological year, with precipitation of 281 l/m2, has been the driest of the last five years
September 18, 2023. At 8.50 am next Saturday, September 23, autumn begins after a summer that, with an average temperature of 26.1°C, has been the second warmest since at least 1961 in the Region of Murcia and that has had a very humid rainfall, after registering an average total precipitation of 46.6 l/m2, which represents 146% of the average value.
“This is the second warmest quarter since there are records, only after last year’s summer, when the average temperature was 26.2ºC,” explained the government delegate.
Francisco Jiménez has accompanied the territorial delegate of AEMET, Juan Esteban Palenzuela, in the press conference of the seasonal balance of a summer in which the average of the maximum temperatures of the quarter was 32.8°C, with an anomaly of +1.4°C, which is the fourth highest value, together with that of the summer of 1994, of, at least, the last 62 years.
“The average of the minimums was 19.4°C, with an anomaly of +1.7°C, the warmest of the whole series, clearly exceeding that of the summer of 2015, which recorded 18.9°C,” added Jiménez.
It should be noted that the average of the minimum temperatures in the Region in July, 21.1°C, exceeded by 0.3°C the previous ephemeris recorded in 2015, which meant a new ephemeris of the records since 1961.
Average temperatures
Regarding the average temperatures, the month of June was warm, and the months of July and August were very warm. June had an average temperature of 23.0°C and an anomaly of +0.6°C; July 28.0°C and anomaly of +2.5°C; and August had an average of 27.4°C and an anomaly of +1.7°C. On average, the warmest days of the quarter were July 12 and 19 and August 10. The coolest day was June 7th.
The quarter began with an episode of subnormal maximum temperatures until June 9. From there, they remained above normal values for most of the quarter. Successive episodes of heat were recorded, the most intense from July 7 to 25, from July 28 to August 3, and from August 9 to 26.
The averages of the highest maximum temperatures of the quarter were observed on July 12 and 19, and on August 10, exceeding in these three days the average 40.0°C in the Region, and registering the absolute maximum, 45.0°C in the station of El Picarcho, in Cieza on August 10.
On the other hand, the lowest average of the maximum temperatures was observed on June 7, with the lowest maximum of the quarter, 16.0°C, recorded that same day in the stations Campo de San Juan, Moratalla; Alhama, “Huerta Espuña” and Totana, “Alquería”.
The highest minimum temperature averages were observed on July 20 and 24 and on August 3, and the highest minimum of the quarter, 28.0°C, was recorded on July 25 in Fortuna and on August 3 in Ricote “La Calera”. The average of the lowest minimum temperatures was observed on June 1, registering the absolute minimum of the quarter, 7.0°C, on June 4 in Campo de San Juan, Moratalla.
This summer, more tropical nights have been recorded[1] than usual. At the San Javier observatory, seventy tropical nights were observed, when 59 are normal. In Murcia there were 76, when the usual[2] is 59; and in Alcantarilla, 67, where the usual average is 46 nights.
Of these tropical nights, 21 were torridas2 in San Javier, 13 in Murcia, and 7 in Alcantarilla. In Alcantarilla, with data since 1942, this summer has been the largest number of tropical nights in the series, surpassing the 64 recorded in the summer of 2017. At the Murcia observatory, this summer was the second with the most tropical nights after 2012, with 77, and at the San Javier observatory, it was the third with the most tropical nights.
Ephemerides
In June, no ephemeris were exceeded, and in July the average monthly temperature and minimum temperatures were exceeded in practically all the stations of the Region, in some cases, absolute ephemeris. At the San Javier Observatory, the average of the maxims, 31.4°C, exceeded by 0.4°C the previous period recorded in 1950.
In August, ephemeris of higher monthly average for a month of August were exceeded in some stations of the Region, such as in the observatory of Murcia, with data since 1984, where the average temperature of this August, 30.1°C, exceeded by 0.2°C to the previous one recorded in 2012.
Ephemeris of average highs were exceeded in several stations such as the Alcantarilla observatory, with 82 years of data, where the average of the highs of August, 36.9°C, exceeded by 0.1°C to the previous ephemeris recorded in 2012.
Precipitation
The average total rainfall in the Region of Murcia between June and August 2023 was 46.6 l/m2, which represents 146% of the average value and a very humid rainfall. This summer has been the sixth wettest of the 21st century, and the wettest of the last 5 years.
The month of June, with an average rainfall of 39.3 l/m2 was very humid, with 84% of the accumulated rainfall in the quarter; the month of July, with an average rainfall of 3.3 l/m2 was humid; and August, with 4.0 l/m2, was dry.
Where more precipitation accumulated during the quarter was in areas of the Northwest region, with values above 100 l/m2, being the maximum accumulated of 142 l/m2 in Caravaca “Polideportivo”. On the contrary, the lowest values were observed in points of the coast of the Region, with accumulations below 10 l/m2, as in Salinas de Cabo de Palos, with only 5 l/m2.
The maximum monthly rainfall, 138 l/m2, was recorded in the month of June in Caravaca “Polideportivo”, where the daily maximum of the quarter, 62.4 l/m2, was also recorded on day 21. The maximum rainfall in one hour, 56.5 l/m2 was recorded in Caravaca, Fuentes del Marqués, also on June 21.
On June 1, the maximum cumulative rainfall was observed in 10 minutes of the quarter, 23.8 l/m2, in Zarcilla de Ramos.
During the summer, twenty-five days of storm were recorded, higher than the average[3], of which 13 were in June, 6 in July and 6 in August. The total number of downloads was 4,423, of which 3034 were observed in June, 766 in July and 623 in August. The day of greatest electrical activity was June 21, with 1120 discharges. This period June-July-August was the second in number of downloads in the series, after 2002, with 5,165 downloads.
At the Murcia observatory, four episodes of mud rain were recorded, on June 8 and 18, on July 20, and on August 26.
Advance September 2023 in the Region of Murcia
The first half of September, due to cloudiness and precipitation, began with maximum temperatures below normal values until day 3. For the rest of the fortnight the maximum values were close to the normal values. The minimum temperatures were above the normal values practically all the fortnight, highlighting the minimum ones of day 4. This day passed the highest minimum period in September at the Alcantarilla observatory, with data since 1942, the minimum recorded was 24.9ºC, surpassing the previous minimum period by 2 tenths, recorded on September 13, 2022.
In the first 15 days of September, an average rainfall of 32 l/m2 was recorded in the Region, 114% of the median value for the whole month of September. If it didn’t rain anymore, the character of the month would already be normal
The rainfall in general was in the form of rainstorms accompanied by storms, reaching strong intensities on days 11 and 12 and very strong on day 15.
Where the most precipitation has been recorded in this first fortnight has been in the region of the northwest, accumulating in the station of Benizar, Moraralla, 95 l/m2. The day of greatest accumulated precipitation in the Region, was day 3.
The maximum daily rainfall was recorded in Murcia on day 15 with 42.6 l/m2, of which 41.8 l/m2 fell in 1 hour. The maximum cumulative rainfall in 10 minutes was 10.4 l/m2 in this same observatory.
Hydrological year (1 October 2022 to 15 September 2023)
The rainfall from October 1, 2022 to September 15, 2023, 281 l/m2, represents 95% of the normal value for the same period of the hydrological year and a dry character, the driest of the last 5 years.
The months of October, December and February were pluviometrically normal; November and August were dry; January, March and April were very dry; July was humid; June was very humid; and May was extremely humid. If it didn’t rain any more in September, it would be normal.