According to US authorities, 2016 was the warmest year since records began in 1880. The average temperature across land and ocean surfaces was 0.94 degrees Celsius above the 20th-century average, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the space agency NASA announced on Wednesday at a joint press conference. This makes 2016 the third consecutive year to have broken the global temperature record; as reported <link http: derstandard.at external-link-new-window external link in new>by Der Standard on 18.01.2017.
In 2016, the average temperature in Austria was 1°C above the mean
The year 2016 brought ten warmer-than-average months and only two cooler-than-average ones. "What was particularly striking this year was that there were almost no prolonged very cool or cold weather spells," says Alexander Orlik from the Central Institute for Meteorology and Geodynamics (ZAMG), "one exception was the severe frost at the end of April, which caused massive damage to agriculture. For the year as a whole, 2016 sits 1.0°C above the long-term mean, placing it joint fourth alongside 2007 in the list of the warmest years since 1768. The three warmest years in the history of measurements all come from the recent past: 2014, 2015, 1994."
Temperatures ranging from -28°C to +36°C
The highest temperature of the year was recorded at 36.0°C on 11 July 2016 in Krems (Lower Austria). The lowest temperature of the year was registered by ZAMG on 18 January 2016 at -28.2°C in Tyrol, at the weather station on the Hinterer Brunnenkogel on the Pitztal Glacier at an altitude of 3,437 metres. The lowest temperature at an inhabited location was -23.4°C in Lech am Arlberg (Vorarlberg, 1,442 m), also on 18 January 2016.
Very wet, but relatively sunny
Precipitation levels in 2016 were 10 per cent above the long-term mean. "That puts it among the 25 wettest years since precipitation measurements began in 1858," says ZAMG climatologist Orlik, "particularly wet this year were January, with 44 per cent more precipitation than the mean, February with plus 105 per cent, May with plus 47 per cent, and June with plus 37 per cent compared to the long-term mean."
Despite the many wet months, 2016 brought four per cent more sunshine than an average year. That equates to a surplus of around 60 hours of sunshine. This slightly above-average result was driven mainly by the very sunny months of August, September, November, and December.
<link http: www.zamg.ac.at cms de klima news viertwaermstes-jahr-der-messgeschichte external-link-new-window external link in new>To the full announcement from ZAMG
