# Will Athens experience the warmest summer ever in Europe?



## Mesogiakos (20 Ago 2012 às 04:40)

Hello to Portugal once again!!


So...Athens has been one true summer hell.

Well it has been an exceptionally warm summer so far for the whole of Greece but Athens in particular was caught in the middle of what is probably the warmest June and July so far in its history and probably the warmest in the European continent in terms of mean monthly temperatures.

According to the statement released a few days ago from the National Observatory of Athens June 2012 was the second hottest month in the station of Thiseio from 1897 in terms of mean maximum temperatures.A simple mean monthly temperature of 28.5C was recorded in the station of Thiseio for June.The warmest June in the station of Thiseio from 1897 was recorded in 2003 with a simple mean of 28.7C and a mean maximum of 33.9C.

The statement found here in Greek reads (my translation):

*The warmest July from 1897*


> Exceptionally high were the mean maximum temperatures recorded in the station of the National Observatory of Athens (NOA) in Thiseio for June and July 2012.It has to be noted that the station of Thiseio has been recording non stop (they mean in the same location) from 1897.
> 
> July 2012 was the warmest month in terms of mean maximums in Thiseio from 1897 with a mean maximum at 36.9C and a +4.6C difference from the climatic values for July(meaning 1960-1990 averages).The analysis of the data from Thiseio shows that July was indeed the warmest in Athens from 1897 followed by July of 2007,2001,2000 and 1987 (the year with the numerous heat wave fatalities in Athens)
> 
> June 2012 was the second warmest June in the station's history from 1897 with a mean maximum temperature of 33.5C and +3.7C difference from the climatic values for June (meaning 1960-1990 averages). The analysis of the data from Thiseio shows that June 2003 was the warmest June the past 115 years in Athens and after June 2012 follow June of 1999,2007,1995.




The station of Thiseio is located in the hill of Nymphs just opposite the hill of Acropolis in central Athens at an altitude of 107 meters and has been the oldest meteorological station in the Balkan Peninsula.It is a Stevenson Screen station and its WMO ID is : 16714. The station is commonly referred in English as either ''Athens Observatory'' or ''Athinai Observatory''.

Now from their statement above the National Observatory underlines the mean maximums but in my opinion what we should be looking is the mean monthly temperatures.With only about 20 days to go for August my feeling is that Athens will have managed for the WMO summer trimester of JJA a simple mean monthly temperature really close to 30.0C which I believe is unheard of for any station in Europe.

While we will have to wait for the climatic bulletin of NOA for July to calculate the simple mean I believe it will be higher both from the July 2007 and August 2010 simple means of 31.2C in the station of Thiseio. Our research has shown that 31.2C is probably the highest mean monthly temperature in ''geographical'' Europe with Badajoz in Spain having recorded a 31.0C simple mean back in late 19th century. 

*For those of you who do not remember me I am the user ''Mesogeiakos'' but due to a mix up with passwords,emails etc I had to register again (@ mods: please could you ban my other account?I totally forgot my registration data for that one).


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## Mesogiakos (20 Ago 2012 às 04:44)

Just to recap for the temps of Athens so far

The June simple mean for Athens,Thiseio was 28.5C
The July simple mean for Athens,Thiseio is expected around 31.5C+ (probably a new European record again in Athens)
The August simple mean for Athens,Thiseio I would say will be above 30.0C

*Overall a  simple mean average of 30.0C for the whole summer trimester of June,July and August should be easy to take place.It will probably be the first ever in Europe !!*


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## Mesogiakos (20 Ago 2012 às 04:58)

Also,here are the highest mean maxes from various Athenian stations according to Greek authorities (HNMS and NOA) for July 2012



> *MEAN MAXES JULY 2012 ATHENS STATIONS*
> 
> 1.Nea Filadelfeia(HNMS) 37.2°C
> 2.Thiseio (NOA) 36.9°C
> ...



While here you can find the highest mean maxes for the whole of Greece according to Greek authorities for July 2012



> *MEAN MAXES JULY 2012 TOP GREEK STATIONS.*
> 
> Sparta (NOA) 38.3°C
> Sivas,South Crete (NOA) 38.2°C
> ...


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## Mesogiakos (21 Nov 2012 às 03:12)

Here are the 1981-2010 July mean maxes for the stevenson screen station of the Athens Observatory in Thiseio

The climatic value  of July for 1981-2010 in Athens is *34.0C*


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## RodneyS (21 Dez 2012 às 18:42)

Mesogiakos disse:


> Here are the 1981-2010 July mean maxes for the stevenson screen station of the Athens Observatory in Thiseio
> 
> The climatic value  of July for 1981-2010 in Athens is *34.0C*


Will Athens and other European cities set new high average temperature records for the entirety of calendar year 2012?  In the United States, many cities will set all-time yearly records in 2012.  For example, Washington, DC is expected to average about 61.4 degrees F (16.3 C) this year, versus the previous record of 60.2 degrees F (15.7 C) set in 1991.  My impression is that Europe has not been quite as warm on average this year relative to past years as has been the case throughout a good portion of the U.S.A. See my post at  
http://www.americanwx.com/bb/index....r-on-record-warning/page__st__35#entry1924363


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## Mesogiakos (23 Dez 2012 às 08:25)

I think as far as Athens is concerned it will be a close call between 2010 and 2012.Actually 2010 was the warmest in it's 170 years of instrumental history with a mean annual temperature of *20.2C*.I am expecting for the Athens Observatory bulletins for November and December (this might take some time) to know for sure whether Athens managed to beat the 2010 record.In any case it will be very close and I think again over 20.0C.

As far as DC is concerned.I would not be inclined to compare these two.Very different climates but I believe that Athens is significantly warmer both during the summer and winter.


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## RodneyS (24 Dez 2012 às 04:06)

Mesogiakos disse:


> I think as far as Athens is concerned it will be a close call between 2010 and 2012.Actually 2010 was the warmest in it's 170 years of instrumental history with a mean annual temperature of *20.2C*.I am expecting for the Athens Observatory bulletins for November and December (this might take some time) to know for sure whether Athens managed to beat the 2010 record.In any case it will be very close and I think again over 20.0C.
> 
> As far as DC is concerned.I would not be inclined to compare these two.Very different climates but I believe that Athens is significantly warmer both during the summer and winter.


Thanks very much for the information.  When the information becomes available, let us know whether Athens breaks the 2010 annual average record.


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