ANPO downed trees in Haarlem due to storm Poly, July 2023
NOS Nieuws•vandaag, 00:23
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Rolf Schuttenhelm
editor Climate
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Rolf Schuttenhelm
editor Climate
It rained at climate records last year. It was the warmest year ever recorded worldwide. The Netherlands even had a double record: since the beginning of the twentieth century it has never been so warm and there has never been so much rain. Remarkably, there was also room for a record drought, according to the KNMI’s annual analysis.
“That precipitation record is the most remarkable,” KNMI climate researcher Carine Homan told NOS. “Due to climate change, temperature records are following each other in rapid succession. But the precipitation is much more erratic.”
This capriciousness was also evident from the rest of the year: the weather station in De Bilt recorded the longest connected period without a drop of rain between May 13 and June 20.
The precipitation deficit increased at an unprecedented speed during that period, halfway through the growing season. And on July 1, the Netherlands was on course for a top 3 ranking of the driest summers ever recorded, according to the KNMI.
NOSIn May and June, the precipitation deficit increased rapidly. The change came in July
But in July the heavens opened and August was also very wet. The temperature took a step back during those summer months and was then close to the average of the past thirty years.
The summer got off to a very warm start. Never before has the month of June in the Netherlands been so warm on average – although a national heat wave also failed to materialize in that first summer month. The striking warmth of 2023 was mainly in January, February, September, October and December.
The rain record was also a sum of all seasons. In addition to July and August, early spring and the last three months of the year were also very wet. In November there was even twice as much rain as normal.
NOS
The natural climate phenomenon El Niño had no direct influence on the Dutch weather, says Homan. During El Niño, the water in the Pacific Ocean is warmer than normal. In the tropics this can lead to extreme weather.
A similar temperature anomaly in the North Atlantic Ocean may have had an influence. The ocean water there has never been as warm as in 2023 – and that may have played a role in the amount of rain in July, according to Homan. “If the water is extra warm there, extra water also evaporates. With a westerly wind, this then comes our way and brings extra rain. But even without this warm ocean, last year would have been very wet.”
Strong gusts of wind
Spread over the year, six storms passed through, with different consequences. For example, on December 21, storm Pia caused high levels of upwelling of the North Sea water. The storm surge barrier in the Nieuwe Waterweg closed for the first time and the Netherlands had to deal with elevated water levels in, among other things, the IJsselmeer for a long time, as a result of which the river IJssel could not properly discharge the large amount of rainwater.
At the beginning of July the small but very heavy summer storm Poly passed over. Due to wind gusts of up to 140 kilometers per hour, the KNMI issued a weather alert: the only code red of 2023. There is no clear link between storms and climate change, although the chance of strong wind gusts during showers is likely to increase, the KNMI says.
Coming years
Climate scientists expect that 2024 will also be very warm on average worldwide. The KNMI does not look that far ahead for the Netherlands. “After an El Niño year, the chance of a wet spring is slightly greater in our country. But that is a weak connection that can be drowned out by other influences.”
Homan also looks back on all the extremes of the past year: “Some of the weather is a coincidence. But the fact that it is getting warmer is not: that is due to the ever-increasing concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.” We can also expect a new heat record in the Netherlands in a few years. But it could take decades before more rain falls than in record wet 2023.
2024-01-30 23:23:15
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