SHARE
COPY LINK

CLIMATE

Are Norway’s warm November temperatures out of the ordinary?

A temperature of 18.1 degrees Celsius was recorded in Tafjord, a village in the west of Norway, on Sunday night.

Are Norway’s warm November temperatures out of the ordinary?
Photo: Bit Cloud on Unsplash

The high temperature at the Møre and Romsdal County location is in contrast with the 6.9 degrees Celsius recorded at the same spot one year previously, NRK writes.

It is not an all-time record for the village, however: a balmy 21.8 degrees Celsius at Tafjord in 2003 takes that honour.

Although what seems like an abnormally high November temperature is therefore not entirely unprecedented, it is nevertheless a sign of autumns in the Nordic country becoming more mild affairs, MET Norway climate researcher Jostein Mamen told NRK.

“It’s not unusual to have such high temperatures in November but the trend shows we now have milder autumns,” Mamen said.

Dry, down-slope winds on the downwind side of mountain ranges, known as föhn winds, can cause warmer temperatures in places like Tafjord.

In Norway, the phenomenon can occur in both the east and west of the country, depending on the direction of the wind.

Tafjord, located 1,500 metres above sea level, is one of a number of areas which have optimal conditions for föhn winds.

But a trend towards warmer Novembers seen in Norway in general may also be contributing to higher temperatures, according to Mamen.

The first half of the current month has seen temperatures 10 degrees above average on Arctic archipelago Svalbard; and 6-7 degrees higher than average in inland regions such as Innlandet and non-coastal parts of Troms.

County (fylke) records for November have meanwhile been set in Oslo, Viken, Vestfold and Telemark, according to the MET Norway meteorologist.

“It’s not unusual for us to have some mild days in November, but it is unusual that we’ve  had a warm period for so long,” another state meteorologist, Magnus Haukeland, said to NRK.

Southerly and southwesterly winds from the European continent were part of the reason for Norway’s – so far – warm November, he said.

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.

WEATHER

Norway to get a taste of summer with 20C days this week

Summer is finally here! Or least it is if you live in southern Norway, where a warm front coming up from Europe will bring t-shirt temperatures of 20C by Thursday, according to forecasts.

Norway to get a taste of summer with 20C days this week

Warm air from southern Europe will combine with a high pressure zone which will bring clear skies and sunshine, with summery weather coming towards the end of the week, Norway’s national weather forecaster Yr has reported. 

“Thursday and Friday especially will be nice,” Ingrid Villa, a meteorologist at the Norwegian Meteorological Institute, told the public broadcaster NRK. “Then we will probably get temperatures of over 20 degrees Celsius in some places.” 

Patches of 20C warmth are expected both in western Norway around Bergen and in Western Norway around Oslo, with the area around Tromsø expected to have slightly cooler weather, although Villa said that “it will absolutely be something like summer there too”. 

The warm sunny weather is, however, expected to pass northern Norway by, with grey overcast skies expected for much of this week. 

But if you think summer has come to Norway to stay, you risk disappointment as much cooler temperatures are expected next week.  

“There’s nothing unusual in getting an early taste of summer in April and the start of May, and then we can quickly go back to cooler more spring-like weather,” Villa said. 

SHOW COMMENTS