August, the hottest month of the year in Spain. As every month, the AEMET publishes in its websites the most outstanding values of these four weeks, which were warmer than normal as a whole. In fact, the average temperature was 25,2ºC1,3 ° C above average.
But without a doubt what is most striking is how little it has rained. Average rainfall was only 8 mm, while the normal average is 23mm. Let's see how the month of August 2016 was in Spain.
August 2016 temperatures
Image - AEMET
As you can see in the image above, temperatures were warm or very warm in most of the country, except in the east of the peninsula and in the Balearic Islands. In Galicia, Castilla y León, Extremadura, Madrid, western half of Castilla-la Mancha, western and central Andalusia and even in some regions of the Pyrenees, a thermal anomaly of 2ºC was observed. In many points, especially in mountainous areas, an anomaly of 3ºC was reached. In the rest of the peninsula, the anomaly was around 1ºC, except in the interior of Murcia, which was negative 1ºC.
In the Balearic Islands as a whole it was a cold month, with an anomaly of negative 1ºC, while in the Canary Islands it was very warm, with anomalies close to 2ºC.
August 2016 rainfall
Image - AEMET
August is usually already a very dry month, but 2016 was extremely dry. With an average rainfall of only 8mm, they did not reach 25% of normal values in many parts of the country, such as in the Ebro Valley, some areas of Cantabria, areas of the Mediterranean coast, the Canary Islands and the eastern Balearic Islands. The only areas where precipitation exceeded normal values were the central area of the Valencian Community where normal values were exceeded by 75%, Cuenca, Albacete, Granada, Almería and the east of Girona.
This was a month that we will probably have again in the coming years as the planet's temperature increases.