21/06/2003 00:00
TW
0
By Humphrey Carter IT is proving to be one of the hottest months of June on record and summer does not even officially start until 9pm this evening. Many people are wishing they had kept quiet, complaining all winter about the awful weather. Unless the temperatures start to drop and balance out at a more comfortable figure, the next 93 days until September 23, when summer ends at 12.47, are going to be long and hot ones. Today will also be the longest day of the year, lasting around 15 hours and 3 minutes in Spain, compared to the shortest day on December 22 of nine hours and 16 minutes. Meteorologists said yesterday there will be neither a solar nor lunar eclipse this summer although one of the highlights will be the Acuáridas meteorite shower on July 20 followed by the Perseidas shower on August 12. Weather experts also said yesterday that not only is June proving an unusually hot month, this Spring has been one of the hottest and driest on record with the Spring temperatures, on average, 1.5ºC higher than the norm. The temperatures this month are 4.5ºC higher than usual, for example yesterday lunch time in Palma the temperature was around 35ºC, and if temperatures remain this high until the end of the month, this June will be the hottest month of June on record. However, highs for this month have not yet reached previous June records. In June 2001, the temperature in Majorca reached 41ºC and 43ºC. So far, the highs have been 37ºC in Sa Pobla on June 14, 36.5ºC at Palma airport on June 16 and 36.5ºC in Inca on June 15. The Balearic met office has also been comparing average June temperatures for the past 20 years. For example, this month's average to date is 23.8ºC, 20 years ago in 1973 however, the June average was 21ºC, but since then, it has steadily risen, a clear sign for Agusti Jansa, director of the Balearic Weather centre in Palma, of climate change. He said that the high temperatures this June is not a “one-off” as there has been a steady rise over the past 20 years. “Last June was the hottest in 20 years, this June is going to prove hotter still,” said Jansa.