“Clearly too warm, much too dry and very sunny” – this is how the Dresden Environmental Agency describes the year 2022 in its recently published weather report.
The annual average temperature for the past year was 10.9 degrees Celsius – that means a deviation of plus two degrees from the climate reference value 1961 to 1990. In the last ten years alone, the average temperature has risen by 1.6 degrees. While 2022, together with 2018, is the warmest year in Germany since records began, according to measurements at the climate station in Klotzsche, it is the fourth warmest year in the Dresden climate data series since 1961. In Dresden, 2019 is ahead with an average temperature of 11.2 degrees.
The annual precipitation totals 506 millimeters – 163 millimeters less than the average of the climate reference period. 2022 was the tenth driest year since 1961. The distribution of precipitation over the year has also changed. In the first half of the year there were long periods of drought with brief interruptions due to heavy rain. The precipitation in August and above all in September compensated for the annual deficit somewhat.
With 2,077 hours of sunshine, 2022 was the fourth sunniest year after 2018, 2011 and 2003. Compared to the climate reference period, there were an average of 226 more hours of sunshine over the past 30 years – an increase of 15 percent.
