2024: Austria's hottest year in 257 years with records!

2024: Austria's hottest year in 257 years with records!

In 2024, Austria has experienced the hottest temperatures for over a quarter of a thousand. This year, the trend towards an increasingly warmer climate, as Geosphere Austria states. Climatologist Alexander Orlik reports that the year 2024 sets a new record with a temperature increase of 3.1 degrees in the lowlands and 3.0 degrees in the mountains compared to the climate paper from 1961 to 1990. "2024 in Austria was by far the warmest year in measuring history," emphasizes Orlik and at the same time refers to the alarming frequency of heat, especially in Vienna, where the 30-degree brand exceeded 52 days.

records and extreme

The year began with the second warmest winter, followed by records in spring and summer. The temperature peaks were measured at numerous weather stations, including new maximum values ​​in April and September. September in particular was characterized by extreme rains that brought about devastating floods in the eastern half of Austria when 409 millimeter precipitation fell in St. Pölten within five days. Overall, the amount of precipitation in 2024 was eight percent above the average and thus represented one of the 30th years of precipitation in history, says Geosphere Austria.

The high temperature rise and the weather extreme led to a significant extension of the vegetation period by two weeks compared to the average values ​​of the past decades. The plants bloomed earlier than ever, as with the apricot blossom, which reached the earliest date since the beginning of the recordings in 1946. So this year not only shows the challenges that climate change brings, but also underpins the need for urgent measures to cope with future consequences, as the Zamg report.