2024 could become Austria’s hottest year on record, judging by temperatures observed so far.
The latest figures from Geosphere Austria reveal that a number of heat records have already been broken.
The average air temperature in Austria for 2024, including projections for August, is already 3.8 degrees Celsius above the annual average for the period 1961-1990.
Even a colder-than-usual December, which in 2023 was relatively mild at 0.8 degrees above the all-time average, is unlikely to significantly lower the annual average for 2024.
Notably, the five warmest years on record are all from the recent past, including 2023, 2018, 2014, 2022 and 2019.
Records for tropical nights – when temperatures do not dip below 20 degrees – have already been equalled or surpassed by mid-August in St. Pölten, Eisenstadt and Graz.
In Eisenstadt alone, the number of tropical nights this year has reached 23 as of 16 August, four more than the previous record set in 2015.
St. Pölten has experienced 11 tropical nights so far this year, four more than in 2015. In Graz, the previous record of nine tropical nights from 2013 has already been matched and is expected to be surpassed, with Geosphere Austria forecasting continued heat in eastern Austria until Monday, followed by cooler conditions.
Vienna tops the list with the highest number of tropical nights this year, recording 37 at the Inner City weather station as of 16 August. The record for tropical nights in Vienna stands at 41, set in both 2018 and 2019. Whether this record will be equalled or broken this year remains uncertain.
The most consecutive tropical nights were also recorded at the Inner City station in 1994, when the temperature stayed above 20 degrees for 17 nights in a row.