2023 has been the second warmest year in Catalonia since at least 1950, a date since which good geographic coverage has been available for these measurements. This is indicated by a study by the Servei Meteorològic de Catalunya (SMC) based on the analysis of data from 19 climate series. The temperature has been 2.5ºC higher than that of the period 1961-1990. Never before have there been two such warm years in a row. “We can affirm without error that this is a fact that has no precedent since there have been instrumental records in Catalonia,” says the SMC.
A comparison with centuries-old historical series confirms this exceptional situation. At the Ebro Observatory, in Baix Ebre, the average temperature was 19.6ºC, displacing first place in the ranking of the warmest years to 2022 (19.5ºC). 2023 is the absolute record holder in the 119-year history of this observatory. At the Fabra observatory in Barcelona the average temperature recorded was 17.8ºC; It has not surpassed the 2022 record (18.1ºC), but it remains in second position in the ranking.
The results observed in Catalonia are in line with those published so far by the Copernicus Program, promoted by the European Union. The analysis of the data collected until November confirms that the year 2023 will most likely be the warmest year ever recorded on a planetary scale, while in Europe it would be the second, very close to 2020, which would be the first.
On the other hand, according to the preliminary report of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) published at the end of November and with updated data that includes until October, the global average planetary temperature anomaly in 2023 is estimated to be 1.4°C (relative to the period 1850-1900). This report is updated and definitively closed during the first months of 2024.
It has also been one of the driest years in Catalonia. At the Fabra observatory in Barcelona, only 309.5 mm have been collected, the second lowest record in 110 years, figures almost as low as those of 2021 (30.7 mm). The last three years are the driest in the series.
Except in the extreme southern regions, 2023 has been the driest year in many coastal and pre-coastal series. In March, not even 30% of the average precipitation was reached; In April, barely 50% of what would be expected was recorded, and June was the only rainy month, especially in the Ponent and northwest regions of the country, with percentages 70% higher than the average in many areas. July, August and September were also generally dry.
And the situation has been especially serious in October, the month in which the most significant rainfall is traditionally concentrated: in large areas of the northeast, rainfall of less than 30% was recorded.
