Record heat in October: Why autumn feels like summer

Meteorologist explains
Record heat in October: Why autumn feels like summer

Golden October is at its best this year: over 20 degrees Celsius and plenty of sun. But where does the unusually long summer come from? We asked a meteorologist.

The dark season is a long time coming. Instead of rainy days and stormy nights, it is said in many parts Germany continues to have “bright sunshine”. After September already set new standards in terms of heat – it is considered the warmest September since records began – October could also hold one or two records. Almost 30 degrees Celsius is expected in some places today.

The extended summer doesn’t just cause enthusiasm. “The mood has changed a bit,” says RTL meteorologist Martin Pscherer in an interview with star in addition. In the past, people were happy when it was warm for longer. In the context of climate change, we now see this more critically. “That’s why you’re happy about cooler weather phases again, like we had in August, for example. Overall, it was cooler and wetter than in previous years.”

Omega weather conditions in September

The mixed August was followed by the hot September, which would go down in meteorological history books. With temperatures sometimes exceeding 36 degrees Celsius, it was the hottest late summer ever recorded in Germany and many other European countries. A symptom of climate change? Not necessarily, as Pscherer explains: “In September we had what is known as Omega weather conditions.” This is a stable high-pressure weather situation with warm and sunny weather.

“You have a high pressure area over Germany, which is framed on the left and right by a low pressure area. The current that determines the weather forms an omega shape. This is a very stable weather situation that only changes very slowly,” says the meteorologist. However, the current high is no longer part of the Omega weather situation. In this context, one of Pscherer’s colleagues, meteorologist Dominik Jung, speaks in a press release of a “heat wave of historic proportions that has had Europe and Germany firmly in its grip for days.”

Records due to rising base temperature

So something is a little different this year. According to Pscherer, this is mainly due to the rising global base temperature. “If the temperature is generally lower, then even a high-pressure situation will not be quite as hot,” explains the expert. “However, due to rising global temperatures, we are constantly experiencing new heat records.” And the long-lasting heat phases could also increasingly affect us in the next few years. This means that climate change has an indirect impact on our weather, so that overall it is becoming warmer and warmer.

And not only that: There is the theory that stationary weather conditions are increasing due to climate change. This means that you have wet weather for a long time, which in turn increases the risk of flooding because there are no dry phases. The weather conditions remain more stable due to climate change. Pscherer emphasizes, however, that there is still too little evidence for this tendency: “We are not yet completely sure about the theory.”

Weather from childhood days

One argument that speaks against this is summer in Germany. After a warm and dry start in June, things became very changeable. On one day the weather changed sometimes hourly. According to Pscherer, it was a summer like it was in a book: “That was actually so typical in the past. That’s why we felt the summer like a summer from our childhood.”

So can we also look forward to a snowy winter like we know from our childhood? Pscherer neither wants to deny nor confirm that. He considers a clear statement about the current weather situation to be dubious. In the press release, colleague Jung at least dares to make a cautious forecast and says that the autumnal drop in the weather will come – but we cannot currently predict when.

source: Weather.com, Weather.net