Hungary’s Weather in 1996
Hungary’s Weather in 1996
In contrast with the mild and snowless winters of earlier years, the months of January and February were unexpectedly cold in 1996. Considering the national average, the mean temperature in January was -2.5°C, which is 0.5°C below the 1961-1990 average. Snow falling in December of the previous year melted due to the mild weather and rains which followed 7 January. After 20 January, the mild weather was followed by especially cold temperatures, with minus 15 degrees frosts late in the month. In the last third of January, even daytime highs remained below -5°C on several occasions.
Considerable quantities of precipitation fell mainly in the second half of the month, which, on the national average, amounted to 50.9 mm. This corresponds to 1.5 times the climatic value. Snow cover in the western and eastern parts of the country reached 25-40 and 15-25 cm, respectively. Freezing rain also fell in many parts of the country late in the month.
February proved even colder than January. A mean temperature of -3.2°C was recorded, which is 3.7°C colder than usual! Days with the lowest mean temperatures occurred early in the month. The rains following mid-February brought milder weather, with air temperatures reaching around +5°C in the daytime, though frosts still prevailed by night. Snow cover receded due to the mild weather, however, the icy crust in many places lasted until the end of the month.
With its 30-mm national average, February’s precipitation varied in accordance with the usual pattern. The depth of the snow cover in Transdanubia reached 20 to 60 cm, while on the plains, snow 15 cm deep was not uncommon. There was an unusually high number of days with snowfall in February, approximately 26, which is nearly three times the climatological average.
March brought extreme cold weather with little precipitation. The mean temperature was 1.6°C, which is 3.4ocooler than average. There were just four instances in this century of the mean temperature in March remaining below 1.6°C. On 5 March, the temperature dropped to -20.0°C in Kompolt, which is unprecedented in this century for that time of year in March 1996, soil temperatures dropped below freezing almost every day. There was only 14.1 mm precipitation in March, which is barely more than one-third of the usual monthly quantity. Winter held its grip till mid-March, and half of the country was covered in snow for 10-14 days. The deepest snow cover of the year was recorded on 5 March inn Kékestető, having been 91 cm deep.
Considering the winter as a whole, the land was covered in show for an extended period, for 70-75 days nation-wide, on average. Only three winters in the latter hall of the 20th century abounded in more snow than the winter of 1995/1996. Ground frost also penetrated deeper, reaching depths of 20-25 cm in February in areas lacking snow cover.
In the first days of April, 9 to 18 cm of snow fell in the western extremities, while in the more southerly parts of the country snowfall was 1 to 5 cm thick, reaching 10 to 13 cm in places. This cold spell was also accompanied by frosts, though, by daytime, temperatures rose to around 2 to 7 degrees. Stormy winds brought rapid relief after 20 April. Night-time frosts subsided, with daytime temperatures rising above 20 degrees. On the whole, the mean temperature in April was 11.1°C, which is approximately 0.7°C higher than the historical average.
The average precipitation for April amounted to 52 mm nation-wide, which exceeds the historical average by 13%. In addition to unseasonably late snows, April was also characterised by a high regional variation in precipitation. Showers occurred late in the month – and surprisingly early during the day – and thunderstorms and even hailstorms were observed.
May of 1996 proved 2.2 degrees warmer then the 15.3-degrees climatological average. Even though cold weather occurred several times, temperatures did not drop below +2.2°C. The chills only made their effect felt for one or two days, and the highs returned quickly to 20-25°C. The warmest days were between 15 and 19 max, when temperatures rose to over 30 degrees in many places in the daytime, with temperatures as high as 34.5°C recorded from Kistelek.
The monthly precipitation amounted to 84 mm, which is 133% of the average. An unusually large quantity of rain – almost four times the usual in May – fell on the eastern part of the Minor Plain. The month of May was abundant in sunshine as well, in spite of all the rain.
At 20.0°C, the mean temperature was 1.6°C higher in June than the climatological average. Mainly the first half of the month was warm, with daytime peaks usually approaching or exceeding 30 degrees, while in the second half of the month, temperatures varied from 20 to 25 degrees. The highest temperature of the month, and of the entire year, at 35.8 degrees, was recorded in the morning hours in Paks on 16 June.
There was virtually no rain in the first half of July, and essentially the second half of the month produced the majority of the monthly 47 mm of precipitation, which is only 60%, of the average.
The tornado of 21 June stands out from the month’s meteorological events. Tornado funnels touched down several times from the same gigantic thundercloud over Zala county and the northern part of Somogy county between 5:15 PM and 5:45 PM and the region between the rivers Danube and Tisza between 8:30 PM and 9:00 PM.
Since 1983, droughts had plagued the country nearly every year, however, 1996 ended the long succession, with excess water being the problem that year. There were several major downpours in July, accompanied by hail and gales. After the hot Julys of the 1990’s last year’s fell 1.1 degrees short of the average with its 19.2 degrees mean temperature, moreover, it proved cooler than both June and August. On the average, however, there were five dog-days (during which the highest temperature was 30 degrees), nation-wide, and the daytime highs varied mostly around 20 degrees. The highest the mercury rose was 36.8 degrees, in the town of Makó. Between 20 and 25 July, the temperature at dawn in Budapest dropped to around +7 degrees, which had no precedent since 1881. On 20 June, ground frost nearly occurred in the Town of Baja.
In terms of temperature, August was not unusual, as its 20.1 degrees mean temperature was only 0.5°C higher than usual. The lowest temperatures in that month also remained near average. August was characterised by copious quantities of rain, – 134% of the historical average – i.e., 84.4 mm on average fell nation-wide. The year’s greatest rainfall per day occurred in Polgár on 30 August (103.6 mm) which would normally only fall in a two-month period.
On the whole, the summer’s mean temperature was near-average, though, in comparison with the hot and drought-stricken summers of the 1990’s, it was generally found cold and rainy.
It became very cold in September 1996, with the monthly mean temperature reaching just 12.7 degrees, i.e., 2.9 degrees lower than average. One hundred and sixteen years in retrospect, only September 1912 was colder. The daytime highs throughout the month usually remained below 20 degrees, and quite often below 15 degrees. Ground frost as low as -1.4°C were recorded in Zalaegerszeg and Baja.
September is noted as the year’s wettest month. On average, the precipitation nation-wide amounted to 125.3 mm, which is equal to a rate of 277%. Compared to the average, the heaviest precipitation – five times the usual quantity – fell in Nyíregyháza. September’s heavy precipitation broke the 118.8 mm record of September 1906, which has been unchallenged since 1881. There were 17 days with rainfall in September, which is almost twice the average. Examining the sequences of the individual stations, September steals the spotlight in several respects. For example, in Nyíregyháza, this year’s 190 mm of precipitation by far exceeds the all-time record of 145 mm, measured in 1919! Nearly sic months worth of precipitation fell in Hungary during the period of July to late September.
September 1996 was short on sunshine, with the sky having been cloudy most of the time. The monthly total of sunshine hours (94.9 hours) barely reached ever 50% of the climatic value.
As customary for the last few years, October brought delightfully mild weather. The mean temperature was 11.1°C, which is 0.9 degrees higher than the climatic average for October. Up to 20 October, daytime highs varied between 15 and 20 degrees, then suddenly dropped to between 10 and 15 degrees, and remained so until the end of the month. Lows ranged from +2 to +12 degrees with a varied spatial distribution. Autumn frosts arrived after the 25th, a good then days later than usual.
October’s precipitation rate was 90%, which corresponds to a water input of 35 mm. Considering September’s abundance of rain, the low precipitation of October, however, qualifies as quite favourable.
November proved fairly mild, as its 7.5°C mean temperature was 3.1 degrees higher than what had been usual throughout the last thirty years. The mild, and occasionally warm, weather lasted until 20 November. Highs regularly exceeded 15 degrees, even 20 degrees on occasion. Nights were frost-free and there were even cases in which temperatures remained above 10 degrees, even at night. On 13 November, the temperature in Budapest was 19.1 degrees, which is unprecedented in this century. There was barely a drop of rain in this warm period. After 20 November, however, temperatures began to fall suddenly and drastically, and wintry weather set in. Rain and sleet fell on several occasions, and snow cover even accumulated, which remained for a few days. November’s precipitation amounted to 30 mm, which is only slightly higher that one-half of the climatological average.
No unusual meteorological events occurred in the first half of December, with the weather being near average. Late December, however, brought excessively cold and snowy weather that was 8 degrees lower than the average. On 22 December, snow began to fall nation-wide, with 5 to 25 cm of snow covering the country by Christmas. After Christmas, extreme cold set in on several clear night, with lows usually ranging below -10 degrees throughout the country. The annual low-temperature record of -27.7°C was recorded by the automatic station in Szécsény, which approached the minimum for December (-28 degrees), measured over a period of 116 years. December’s mean temperature of -1.8 degrees fell short of the historical average by 1.7 degrees. On average, 56.9 mm of precipitation fell in December throughout the country, which constitutes 123% of the average.
The year 1996, with its mean temperature of 9.5 degrees, proved 0.3 degrees cooler than the historical average. The prevailing number of the 1943-hour annual average. Considering ten hours of sunshine per each sunny day, this shortfall corresponds to nearly fifteen days of sunshine missed, for which the month of September is mainly responsible. Commuters welcomed the low number of foggy days, 24 in all (43 per cent of the average). The low number of foggy days is mainly a result of the low frequency of such days measured for the period between September and December.
On average, 668.2 mm of precipitation fell throughout the country, which is nearly 20% higher than usual. 0n the whole, last year was abundant in extremes: storms, hail, and even tornadoes. During the course of the year, centuries-old temperature records were broken in March, July and November, and even the precipitation record was broken in September.
