European Summer Forecast 2014: Widespread Heat, Drought
European Summer Forecast 2014: Widespread Heat, Drought
23 May 2014
published by www.accuweather.com
Europe — The AccuWeather.com Long-Range Forecasting Team looked at historical data, particularly the years of 2002 and 2009, which experienced similar springs to help predict how this summer may turn out.
“Temperatures are going to be above normal almost everywhere,” said AccuWeather.com Meteorologist Alan Reppert. “Looking at 2009 especially, even 2002, in August it looks just really hot over the entire continent.”
For parts of central and northern Europe where air conditioning is less common, this could create some dangerous health concerns.
Eastern Europe to Face Drought Potential
The dryness will be especially prominent from central to eastern Europe, spanning from Russia into eastern Germany.
“Areas as far south as Romania could be drier than normal,” said AccuWeather.com Meteorologist Eric Wanenchak. “I looked back at a couple of the analog years, and those summers were drier than normal. I could see how this year pans out in a similar way.”
Drought concerns will likely mount in these areas with a drier summer.
“The dryness from Poland through western Russia and the Ukraine will create a dry and hot summer there, which could be bad for crops,” Reppert said.
Germany, though it has received a bit of beneficial rain in the latter part of spring, is expected to dry out more and exacerbate the ongoing drought.
There may be some rainy periods stretching from Italy into the Balkans early, but those conditions will not last.
“We think most of the storminess in the Balkans will be June into the first half of July, and then after that it just goes dry,” said AccuWeather.com Senior Meteorologist Jason Nicholls.
Areas closer to the Black Sea are trending warmer after above-normal warmth this winter and start to spring. Istanbul, for example, is expected to stay dry and warm, though not to the extremes as areas farther north or west.
Iberian Peninsula, Western France to Dry After Early Rainfall
While the summer may start out a little bit cool in early June with some early-season rainfall, above-normal temperatures could impact Portugal, Spain and western France late July into August. Portugal and Spain, in particular, could end up receiving below-normal rainfall
amounts for the season as the area dries out during the summer.
“Looking back into 2009, August was 3 C (5 to 6 F) above normal into the Paris area and Madrid,” Reppert said.
Madrid’s average summer temperature is 24.7 C (76.5 F).
Drought, with crop impacts, will be possible in Spain and Portugal this summer, due to below-normal rainfall.
“In Spain and Portugal, there could be some issues with wildfires with the lack of rain and the hot weather,” Reppert added.
