July rode on on the heat wave built up by June.
Because it was warmer than normal in the whole country then, even a record hot June in the southeast.
More than extremely locally, July did not offer any record heat, because there it is mainly the record year 2018 that continues to dominate.
In the north there are also record notes from 2014, among others, and in the south also 1914. But well a very hot month in the whole country.
With a well-heated sea after the heat in June, there were also plenty of tropical nights in July, ie nights when the temperature never reaches below 20 degrees.
However, it was not at all as frequent with tropical nights and tropical days as 2018, but that month was also something out of the ordinary.
The drought was severe at times, and there were both fire bans and irrigation bans in some parts of the country.
Some forest fires also ravaged, among other things caused by lightning.
At the same time, the rain fell elsewhere, and Lysekil from Bohuslän received more rain in July than previously measured.
In addition, strong gusts of wind hit the northern Lapland mountains on the morning of the 16th, which resulted in a new Swedish village wind record for July.
Very hot all over the country
It was thus a very hot July this year, and that despite an approximately week-long cooler period in the north in the middle of the month and an end with 2-3 cool days throughout the country. Compared with the new reference period 1991–2020, the July average temperature landed 2-3 degrees above normal in most of the country, but with a slightly lower surplus in the far north.
It was even record hot locally, because as it looks, at least one station with at least 100 years on its neck has never before had such a hot July as this year. This applies to Hoburg on southernmost Gotland, which with measurements since 1880 has never before noted such a high average temperature in July as this year. With an
average temperature of 20.9 degrees, Hoburg recorded a new July record
against the previous 20.7 degrees from 1914 and their normal value for the new reference period 1991–2020 is 17.5 degrees. Some data are still missing for the measurements in Landsort on the Södermanland coast and the Swedish Highlands in the northernmost Baltic Sea, but once all values have been examined for these two places, I believe that the average temperature there will fall slightly below the current record.
Compared with the old reference period 1961–1990, the surpluses are even larger, because on average there is a difference of about one degree between the two reference periods. The differences between the reference periods are quite similar around the country, however with a slightly smaller temperature increase (about half a degree) in mainly northern Norrland inland compared to the average and with a slightly larger increase (upwards of 2 degrees) than the average in mainly the Baltic Sea landscape.
The warmest in the country in July was in the royal capital with 21.2 degrees, which is 2.6 degrees above Stockholm's new normal value of 18.6 degrees.
Tarfala in the northern Lapland mountains had been cold in July with 9.8 degrees.
As so often before, and that despite the fact that 9.8 degrees is 1.8 degrees above their new normal value for July of 8.0 degrees.
The largest deviation from the normal was noted in record hot Hoburg where with 20.9 degrees ended up 3.4 degrees above their new normal 17.5 degrees with Abisko in the northern Lapland mountains noted the least surplus, for 12.6 degrees against their new normal value of 12, 2 degrees means a 0.4 degree difference.
Compared to other years, it is enough to go back to last year, 2020, to find a clearly colder July than this year, while 2018 was warmer than this year in almost the whole country (perhaps only Hoburg excepted).
Mostly dry, but with large local variations
The July heat was accompanied by predominantly dry weather, but as always when it is hot, there will be a lot of rain when it rains. So despite the dry weather considering it was still a wetter month than usual in parts of the country. In northwestern Götaland and western Svealand, a generally wetter July than usual with locally more than double the normal compared with the new reference period 1991–2020. It was driest in northernmost Norrland, except in the mountains then, and locally in inner central Norrland and on the east coast, mainly a stretch from Ångermanland down to Uppland. In many places, less than half of the normal fell there. Several heavy showers also affected the country in July, not least on 10, 14, 27 and 29. More about the individual days later in this column when I report the July weather from start to finish in a chronological order.
Compared with the old reference period 1961–1990, the deviation map had been somewhat greener, because on average the July precipitation in the country has increased by 5–10% from the old reference period 1961–1990 to the new reference period 1991–2020. However, with large local variations depending on where heavy showers happened to end up year after year. In Uppland and Södermanland in particular, however, there is a clear trend towards the drier direction in the new reference period, while mainly northern Norrland has a very clear trend towards clearly wetter July months in recent decades. It is completely in line with what you can expect, because the precipitation in the summer is strongly linked to the temperature, so it is warmer and everything is usually also large amounts of rain. When it rains, of course, because heat can also mean long periods of drought. But that's it,that it can be the wettest when it is the driest.
Most precipitation in the country in July fell in Östmark-Åsarna in northern Värmland by 234 mm. That station has only been in operation since December 2013 and therefore lacks a normal value, but compared with the previous and nearby measuring station Östmark-Lämbacken, 234 mm means that it is 251% new normal 93 mm for Östmark. Öland's southern cape received the least rain with 12 mm, which means 25% of their new normal July amount of 47 mm. As a percentage of normal, however, Saittarova in northern Norrbotten received the least rain in July with only 14%, 12 mm against the new normal 83 mm. Most rain as a percentage of normal was 251%, partly in the previously mentioned Östmark, but also in Tvingelshed in the north of Karlskrona in inner Blekinge with 171 mm against normal 68 mm and in Lysekil on the Bohus coast with 179 mm against normal 71 mm.If you want to promptly have a "winner" in the category "wettest against normal in July", you have to review the tenths and then Östmark got the most with 251.3%.
For Östmark, where measurements have been carried out at various places in the area since 1942, 234 mm is also a new record for July against the previous 228 mm from 2009. Among over 100-year-old measurement series, a July record was also
broken, Lysekil with 179 mm
against the previous 174 mm from 2009.
Since the precipitation like this in the summer mostly falls as local showers, it can also be very different locally if the month gets wetter or drier than normal.
Last year, 2020, it was quite generally wetter than this year, while 2019 shows a certain resemblance to this year's July, while 2018 was generally drier than this year.
But the heat in 2018 also meant that July was locally wetter than this year, precisely depending on where the heavy showers in the hot air happened to end up.
Speaking of showers, July this year is a clear example of the local variations that can be created when it is predominantly dry with local rainfall.
Öland's southern cape received, as I mentioned, the least rain in millimeters in the country in July with 12 mm.
Tvingelshed, which is located about 60 km west of Öland's southern cape, was 171 mm and was one of three places in the country that instead had the most rain in July in percentage terms.
Less windy than usual in the south, windier than normal in the north
July was a slightly less windy month than usual, with the exception of parts of central and northern Norrland. The basic rule is that in cool and unstable weather it is windier than in warm and stable weather, so the distribution of the month's gusts reflects to some extent the temperature distribution. In connection with the cooler week in the north in the middle of the month, it was occasionally windy, and this laid the foundation for the map of the average village wind in July to look like it does.
On the morning of the 16th, there was an extremely gusty wind in the northern Lapland mountains.
At the same time as the average wind culminated at about 18 m / s, there were gusts of as much as
40.1 m / s in Tarfala.
Thus a new Swedish village wind record for July
against the previous 36.1 m / s at the same place on 1 July 1999. No storm winds were noted over the sea in July, nor very strong wind gusts (21–24 m / s) or more inland.
Locally in the mountains, however, there was a storm on a few occasions, and it is reported later in this chronicle.
The month's highest average wind outside the mountain range was 19 m / s in Måseskär on the Bohus coast during the night towards the 30th, while the strongest gust over the hinterland was then also noted at 20 m / s in Karlskrona-Söderstjerna in Blekinge.
The sun shone brightly
Warm and predominantly dry usually also means sunny, so this time too.
July became sunnier than normal in almost the whole country, and then continued to the reference period 1961–1990 when data for normal sunshine time for the new reference period 1991–2020 have not yet been published.
The sun shone most in Luleå in Norrbotten with 407 hours against the normal 304 hours for the old reference period while Tarfala got the least sun with 166 hours, which is still more than usual as their normal value for 1961–1990 is 151 hours.
Summer all over the country
After subdued heat at the end of June, the heat took over again at the turn of the month June – July.
On the 1st, the meteorological summer arrived in the last parts of the Swedish mountain world.
Among the few official stations in the mountains, Tarfala and Katterjåkk in the northernmost Lapland mountains were the last to get summer.
Because it takes five days in a row with a daily average temperature above 10 degrees every single day, after which the first of these days is stated as the start date.
Thus, summer throughout the country throughout the month of July, because by definition, autumn can arrive on 1 August at the earliest, because then the weather year has turned and we are then, according to statistics, steadily towards autumn.
Heat wave set a record in the north
Already on the 2nd came the first 30-degree day of the month. There would quickly be more, because it was a heat wave that was under construction at the beginning of the month, a heat wave that focused on northern Sweden. For the first eleven days of July, places in northern Norrland were at the top of the temperature list every day, of which five days in a row (on 2-6) with at least 30 degrees somewhere. The warmest was in Vidsel northwest of Piteå in inner southern Norrbotten with 32.8 degrees on the 4th. It is northern Norrland's highest temperature this year, so far it should be said for who knows what August can offer for heat? For other parts of the country, the top ratings came later this month, so more on that later in this huge column.
The 4th was unusually warm in the north, among other things 31.4 degrees in Pajala at the Finnish border in northern Norrbotten is the warmest day there since 1966, and warmest in July since 1941, while Jokkmokk in northern Lapland with 32.3 degrees had warmest in July and warmest regardless of month since 1945. In the northern Lapland mountains lies Nikkaluokta, and there temperature measurements have been made since 1950. For their part, it became 4 record hot, for
29.9 degrees in
Nikkaluokta is higher than the previous record
28.5 degrees, divided by the Quartet on 10 July 2014, 11 June 2011, 10 August 1969 and 19 June 1966.
Showers in the south
During the first day of the month, Götaland was affected by local showers, followed by 5-8 of several showers migrating in from the southwest and moving further north across the country. Locally, 40 mm or more fell in one day at the following official locations at the beginning of the month:
49 mm Emmaboda-Rörsbo in eastern Småland on 2,
137 mm in Älghult in eastern Småland on 3,
50 mm in Mästerby on inner Gotland on 5,
49 mm in Vadstena by the shores of Lake Vättern in Östergötland on 5,
44 mm in Omberg south of Vadstena in Östergötland on 5
and 40 mm in Nobynäs north of Aneby in northern Småland on 5.
Älghult's measurement is supported by private data, which even indicates that it may actually have fallen even more than that somewhere in eastern Småland that day.
Incidentally, 137 mm is by far the month's and so far also the year's by far the largest official daily rainfall in the country.
Locally, the heavy showers were followed by local floods, such as in Tranås in northernmost Småland on the 5th.
Annual highs and heavy thunderstorms
One week into the month, the heat in the north slowed down somewhat, and became statistically a little more equivalent to the heat in the south. New 30-degree days followed in the south in the middle of the month with a quintet of hot days on 13-17. Then it was also the warmest on a single day during the month, and in the different parts of the country this was the month's top marks:
In Götaland 32.6 degrees in Målilla in eastern Småland on the 15th,
in Svealand 33.1 degrees in Stockholm on the 15th,
in the south Norrland 30.9 degrees in Torpshammar in the inner Medelpad on the 26th (and more about the heat at the end of the month will come later, so just read on)
and in northern Norrland the previously mentioned 32.8 degrees in Vidsel on the 4th.
Stockholm's listing is admittedly highest in July, but so far the annual high is still Målilla's 34.6 degrees from 19 June. However, it is only in Götaland that it was warmer in June than in July, because in other parts of the country the July listings are the highest so far this year.
On 9-11, an area with rain, showers and thunder rose from the south on its way straight north across the country. There was a lot of rain locally these days. Officially, the following places received 40 mm or more:
45 mm in Vomb in inner southern Skåne on 9,
49 mm in Kindsjön in northern Värmland on 10,
46 mm in Rickleå between Skellefteå and Umeå in Västerbotten on 10,
46 mm in Vännäs west of Umeå in southern Västerbotten on 10,
41 mm in Östmark-Åsarna northwest of Torsby in northern Värmland on 10,
41 mm in Dravagen west of Sveg in Härjedalen on 10,
41 mm in Godegård north of Motala in northwestern Östergötland on 10,
40 mm in Älvdalen in northern Dalarna on 10
and 45 mm in Älvsbyn in southern Norrbotten on 11.
In Älvsbyn, most things fell in just one hour, with 34 mm at 9–10 of a total of 45 mm for the entire precipitation day on the 11th. Local floods, fires and power outages followed the rain and thunderstorms.
A few days later it was time again, then with a shower area with a lot of thunder from the southwest where mainly western Svealand and southern Norrland got to take part in a real root soak on 14:
83 mm in Los in northwestern Hälsingland,
62 mm in Lillhamra south of Los in northwestern Hälsingland,
60 mm in Letafors north of Kindsjön in northern Värmland,
54 mm in Lobonäs northwest of Edsbyn in Hälsingland,
49 mm in Trökörna east of Trollhättan in Västergötland,
45 mm in Sågen south of Vansbro in Dalarna,
44 mm in Våmhus west of Orsa in Dalarna,
44 mm in Arvika in western Värmland,
42 mm in Kindsjön,
41 mm in Ställdalen in northwestern Västmanland,
41 mm in Hid south of Svenljunga in southern Västergötland
and 40 mm in Dala-Järna east of Vansbro in Dalarna.
Plenty of tropical nights
After a warm June that warmed the sea water properly, it was a favorable location for tropical nights in July. For a night to be considered tropical, the temperature must not reach below 20 degrees at any time during the night. There were also many tropical nights in the country during the month, because during the long heating period in the month beginning and middle, the nights were 5-7, 9-11 and 13-18, at least some place had tropical heat. Another suite with tropical nights came later in the month, namely 25-29. So a total of 17 tropical nights during the month. Thus, roughly as many as in July 2018, but then there were even more places, even warmer minimum temperatures and even more of a continuous suite in the middle and end of the month.
The statistics usually do not state tropical nights but tropical days, ie that the entire temperature day is exempt from a temperature below 20 degrees.
Because a change in wind direction may be enough for the temperature to drop slightly at a coastal station, or if generally cooler air takes over later in the day after a tropical warm night.
This has happened on several occasions during the month, so the number of tropical days in the country was actually only 10 compared to 17 tropical nights.
Most tropical days in the country were noted in Östergarnsholm off the east coast of Gotland.
In total, they had 8 tropical days, of which 4 came in a suite on 13-16, and the number of tropical nights in Östergarnsholm was 11.
Karlskrona-Söderstjerna came in second in Blekinge with 8 tropical nights and 5 tropical days.
The warmest night, the month's highest minimum temperature during a day, however, occurred in Falsterbo on the southwestern tip of Skåne with 21.9 degrees on the 16th.
Places that noted tropical nights in July also include Gothenburg with two tropical days and Norrköping and Kristianstad with their respective tropical days.
Storön in the Kalix archipelago in Norrbotten is also worth mentioning, because it is the only place in Norrland that experienced tropical heat, because on the 6th the day was tropical with 20.2 degrees as the lowest, and in addition the nights until the 7th and the 11 tropically warm.
Temporarily cooler gave the first autumn frost
At the same time as the heat culminated in the south, cooler air began to take over in the north, and for about a week in the middle of the month (16-24) the temperature was generally lower than usual in the northern half of the country. The heat was also reduced in the south, where the days on 19–21 were generally normal warm. In addition, the showers calmed down, so at the same time it was predominantly dry weather that applied these days, but not in Scania on the 16th. Nor on the 17th when a band with showers in central and northeastern Norrland was followed by even cooler air from the west. In addition, there were occasional showers in the mountains, mainly in the western Lapland mountains on the 21st.
On a few occasions, the wind reached storm strength in the mountains during the cool period. However, only in windswept Stekenjokk in the southernmost Lapland mountains, where there was a storm in the morning on the 17th, in the early evening on the 19th, in the wee hours on the 22nd and again in the afternoon on the 22nd. The peak was 27 m / s on the 17th.
A clear milestone during a weather year is the first frosty night before the approaching autumn season. It usually happens during the second half of July if it is cool air that has the grip in the north. So when cooler air had its grip on northern Sweden on 16-24, it was not surprising that it locally crept down towards the zero degree line. The first to reach freezing temperatures was Dravagen with 0.2 degrees below zero on the 21st, followed by Latnivaara northwest of Gällivare in northern Lapland with 0.7 degrees below zero on the 24th. on the 31st.
The days on 19–21 were thus cool even in the south, and consequently the nights were the coldest then.
The lowest temperature of the month in the different parts of the country was as follows:
In northern Norrland already mentioned minus minus degrees in Latnivaara on the 24th,
in southern Norrland also already mentioned minus 0.4 degrees in Ljusnedal on the 31st,
in Svealand 2.6 degrees in Älvdalen and in Särna in northern Dalarna, on the 21st
and in Götaland 5.8 degrees in Hagshult north of Värnamo in Småland on the 20th.
The return of heat provided fuel for heavy showers
Slightly to the south from the 22nd, but more generally from the 25th, the heat took over again the command of our entire elongated country.
On 25–28, it was again 30 degrees hot in at least one place in the country every day, including southern Norrland's highest record for the month on the 26th. It was already reported earlier in this chronicle.
Heat and moisture are the breeding ground for showers and thunder to form, and at the end of July and a bit into August, it is statistically when it rains the most in the country. The so-called ladies' week, ie 19–24 July, is said to be the rainiest of the year, but the truth is rather that it is probably the last week of July that is statistically the rainiest. This was definitely the case this year, because with the heat, the rain and thunderstorms really took off, and many official measuring stations managed to catch the eye of the showers. Here are the measuring points that received 40 mm or more in one day at the end of the month:
62 mm in Tvingelshed on 26,
56 mm in Stångsmåla south of Emmaboda in southernmost Småland on 26,
87 mm in Blomskog south of Årjäng in southwesternmost Värmland on 27 ,
71 mm in Säffle in southern Värmland on 27,
54 mm in Bengtsfors in inner northern Dalsland on 27,
53 mm in Töcksfors northwest of Årjäng westernmost Värmland on 27,
49 mm in Kolsva northwest of Köping in Västmanland on 27,
49 mm in Orrefors northwest about Nybro in eastern Småland on 27,
47 mm in Stöllet northeast of Torsby in northern Värmland on 27,
46 mm in Kopparberg in northwestern Västmanland on 27,
43 mm in Värmlandsnäs-Ekenäs in southernmost Värmland on 27,
40 mm in Kindsboda southeast of Borås in Västergötland on 27,
67 mm in Åda north of Trosa in southeastern Södermanland on 28,
44 mm in Veddige north of Varberg in northern Halland on 28,
42 mm in Linhult north of Gullspång in northernmost Västergötland on 28,
41 mm in Kristianstad in northeastern Skåne on 28,
77 mm in Henån on Orust in Bohuslän on 29,
63 mm in Uddevalla in Bohuslän on 29,
60 mm in Lysekil on 29,
55 mm in Töcksfors on 29,
51 mm in Trökörna on 29 ,
49 mm in Hemling north of Örnsköldsvik in northern Ångermanland on 29,
47 mm in Svartberget northwest of Arjeplog in central Lapland on 29,
44 mm in Herrljunga east of Vårgårda in Västergötland on 29,
43 mm in Jäkkvik northwest of Svartberget in Lapland on 29 ,
40 mm in Rörastrand on Tjörn in Bohuslän on 29,
40 mm in Nordkoster on the northern Bohus coast on 29,
40 mm in Örnsköldsvik in Ångermanland on 29,
54 mm in Ljugarn on eastern Gotland on 30,
40 mm in Vindeln-Sunnansjönäs in southern Västerbotten on the 30th
and 55 mm in Gräsås northeast of Karlstad in Värmland on the 31st.
Locally, even larger quantities have probably fallen somewhere, because the probability that the largest quantities end up directly over an official measuring station is vanishingly small.
Heavy rain, thunder and floods
If it falls 1 mm per minute, it is classified as a downpour.
It is rare for it to rain so heavily for a long period, but it does happen sometimes after all.
The Swedish record for most rain in an hour is 81.3 mm set in Daglösen south of Filipstad in eastern Värmland on July 5, 2000. Really large amounts did not fall over Blomskog on the evening of the 27th, but 27.4 mm in a quarter at
21.00–21.15, 47.4 mm in half an hour at
20.45–21.15 and 58.9 mm in one hour at
20.30–21.30.
Åska är nästan alltid involverat när det kommer skyfallsliknande regn, och månaden avslutades också med ett par minst sagt åskfrekventa dygn. Den 26 registrerades dryga 10 300 blixtar i landet, dygnet därpå dryga 19 200 och den 20 knappa 11 800 stycken. Troligen var blixtnedslag på kvällen den 25 starten för en skogsbrand utanför Örnsköldsvik. Det åskrikaste julidygnet blev dock den 14 med dryga 25 200 blixtar runtom i landet, vilket gör det dygnet till sommarens åskrikaste, hittills i alla fall. Under hela månaden registrerades nästan 110 000 blixtar, vilket känns helt normalt med tanke på det varma och tidvis fuktiga och skurrika väderläget som var.
Som alltid när för mycket regn kommer på för kort tid finns risk för översvämningar, inte minst i tätbebyggelse där merparten leds undan i dagvattenledningar som inte är dimensionerade för att klara hur mycket vatten som helst. Då samlas vattnet istället i lågt belägna platser, såsom undergångar och källare. Bland annat kom för mycket regn på för kort tid i småländska Kalmar den 27, södermanländska Trosa den 28, skånska Kristianstad den 28 och norra Bohuslän natten mot den 30, där det i statistiken för det sistnämnda tillfället kommer stå den 29 eftersom nederbördsdygnet den 29 avslutas först klockan 8 på morgonen den 30.
Dessutom har det lokalt förekommit hagel, tromber och molnrullar, precis som man kan förvänta sig i en varm, fuktig och ostadig luftmassa med många kraftiga bymoln.
Sval avslutningDet han svänga en gång till innan juli var över, för den 29 tog svalare luft på allvar över västerifrån igen. Det blev markant svalare dessutom, eller mindre varmt om man nu väljer att se det så. Månadens sista fredag, den 30, orkade temperaturen för första och enda gången i juli inte upp till 25 grader på någon av landets många temperaturmätare. Varmast den dagen var det i Arvika med 24,3 grader. Sammanlagt bjöd årets juli alltså på 30 stycken 25-gradersdagar, varav 14 stycken även var 30-gradersdagar med som tidigare nämnts 33,1 grader i Stockholm den 15 som allra högst.
Externa källor: StormGeo, SMHI samt sociala och andra medier