Tropical early start

The first "Tropentag" in April at Graz University Station

Extreme temperatures have been recorded at the Graz University climate station since 1894.

The previous temperature record for the month of April was 28.8 °C in 2012. On April 14, 2024, this value was not only significantly exceeded at 30.5 °C, but this day was also a "Tropentag" or "Heisser Tag".

In most years, such days - on which the maximum temperature reaches or exceeds 30.0 °C - are limited to the meteorological summer (June - August), with the previous record-breaker (6 May) coming from the "summer of the century" in 2003.

The first half of April 2024 was generally more than 6 °C warmer than the average for the years 1991- 2020, with new daily records being measured on 7 out of 14 days. After this "early start" to the high summer, however, the predicted drop in temperature will be particularly noticeable in the next few days.

Ulrich Foelsche

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