December 2022 was an unusually warm month, data released Thursday by the Meteorology Department show.
According to a press release, the Department’s stations show that the average daily maximum temperature for December this year was 21.4°C, at the Athalassa Radio station, which is the highest average daily maximum for December since 1983 when the station first operated.
At the station of Polis Chrysochous, it was 22.7°C, which is the highest average daily maximum for the month of December since 1968 when the station was installed and operated.
Furthermore, at the Larnaca Airport station, the highest average daily maximum was 21.2°C, which is the second-highest for December since 1976.
At Paphos Airport station the temperature recorded was 21.2°C, which is the fourth-highest average daily maximum for December since 1983 and at the Forestry College at Prodromos station it was 12.0 °C, which is also the fourth-highest average daily maximum for the month since 1958.
The average daily minimum temperature for this year’s December was at the station of Larnaka Airport and it was 12.2°C, which is the highest average daily minimum for December since 1976 when this station first operated.
At Polis Chrysochous station it was 12.1°C, which is the highest average daily minimum for the month of December since 1968 and at the Forestry College station in Prodromos was 5.7°C, which is the third-highest average daily minimum for December since 1958.
At Paphos Airport it was 12.1°C, which is the fifth-highest average daily minimum for December since 1983 and at the Athalassa Radio station 8.4°C, which is the eighth-highest average daily minimum for the month since 1983.
Rainfall well below normal
According to the preliminary rainfall data by the Meteorology Department, precipitation was well below normal and December 2022 ranks as the 13th driest December since 1901.
Specifically, the cumulative amount of rain in December reached 33.6mm or 32% of normal (with the reference period of normal rainfall being the climate period 1961-1990).
