The summer of 2024 is the hottest and one of the driest in Bulgaria since the beginning of the century, according to data from the National Institute of Meteorology and Hydrology (NIMH).
This year’s June was the warmest since 1930, and July – almost as hot as 2012 – was the warmest on record. August was also one of the warmest August months, NIMH noted.
This summer, the average seasonal temperature is above the climatic norm. Average daily temperatures throughout the summer are also above normal, except for some days. The highest temperature measured in operational meteorological stations of NIMH in populated areas was 42.2 degrees (in the city of Sandanski on July 16), the institute informed.
Meteorological facts and phenomena
Astronomical summer begins with the summer solstice (at 11:51 a.m. on June 21, 2024) and continues until the fall equinox (at 9:43 a.m. on September 23, 2024). Meteorological summer is the calendar three-month period from June 1 to August 31.
Seasonal rainfall amounts in most of the country are below or around the climatic norm. The largest negative deviations were observed in Northern Bulgaria, the Eastern Rhodope Mountains, the Upper Thracian Plain and the extreme southeastern regions of the country.
After the cool and rainy month of May 2024, June was below normal rainfall, leading to an early drought in July.
The drought is most pronounced in northwestern Bulgaria and along the Black Sea coast. It continued in August, with the western part of the Danube plain and the Upper Thracian lowland being the most severely affected. Excessive rainfall was reported in places in North-East and South-West Bulgaria. The season’s highest 24-hour rainfall was 113mm from rain and hail at Samokov on 10 June.
Significant weather events
In the period 12-14 June, the northwestern part of the Balkans was under the influence of a cold front. Conditions for powerful convection have developed and in many areas there are short-lived intense precipitations with thunder, hail and strong gusts of wind. In places, hourly rainfall amounts approached 80% of monthly normals, and grain sizes ranged from a hazelnut to an egg. The hail and wind caused a lot of material damage, there were local floods, and a state of emergency was declared in some municipalities. The damage caused by the hail on June 13 in the village of Sheremetya, Velikotarnovsko, was especially great.
In June, the temperature of the sea water gradually increased from 18-20 degrees at the beginning to 25-26 degrees at the end of the month. In the period June 10-11, in the areas north of the Kaliakra river and south of the Galata river up to Obzor, the phenomenon of upwelling was observed – the rise of deep sea waters to the coast, leading to a sharp drop in the temperature of the sea water. The phenomenon appeared again in the days from June 14 to 16 almost along the entire coast.
Upwelling also occurred between August 2 and 4, NIMH notes.
During the period July 6-24, the whole country was covered by a heat wave. The number of consecutive days with a maximum air temperature above 40 degrees in Sandanski was nine (July 10-18).
As a result of high temperatures and lack of precipitation, as well as human negligence, dozens of fires raged across the country from July 12 until the end of the month. A partial state of emergency was declared in some municipalities, residents of several villages were evacuated. During the period July 12-16, several fires broke out in the regions of Hisarya, Karlovo and Kaloyanovo, where more than 20,000 decares of dry grasses and forests burned. In the village of Otets Paisievo, commune. Kaloyanovo, 10 houses were incinerated. On July 14 and 15, a large fire near the Varna village of Sunny destroyed about 1,500 decares of forests and dry grasses. For several days, the fiery element raged in the Sakar mountain and burned over 100,000 decares of land, of which 24,000 decares were forest massifs. On July 17, a fire in the village of Voden, commune. Bolyarovo, 35 houses and outbuildings were destroyed, dozens of domestic animals burned, and most of the residents were evacuated. On July 26, the fire in Slavyanka Mountain, on the border with Greece, also entered Bulgarian territory.
In August, the risk of fires remained high, BTA quoted them. Fires caused by lightning occurred in forest massifs in the Pirin, Slavyanka and Rila mountains. During the period 26-31 August, a high cyclone centered over the Black Sea moved west towards the country and created conditions for rainfall. Significant amounts of precipitation were measured during the last two days of the month in the extreme eastern regions, NIMH noted.
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