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After the two very hot months of summer, July and August, and the admittedly warmest (on a planetary scale) month of September that has ever been recorded, according to the World Meteorological Organization’s records, autumn in Cyprus came with no particular surprises regarding the temperature distribution during its first month, September. However, there were some isolated exceptions, which are detailed below.

Table 1, below, presents data for the main reference stations of the Department in relation to the records recorded during September 2023, as well as their ranking in relation to the extreme maximums during the operating period of each station.

Table 1: Mean and Extreme Temperatures (in ^oC) relative to the normal temperatures, at the 5 main meteorological reference stations of the Department of Meteorology, during September 2023. Normal temperatures refer to the period 1981–2010.

Specifically, September 2023 ranks as the second warmest September for the Department’s weather station at Pafos airport, with an average daily temperature of 26.5^oC. It shows, therefore, a positive deviation of 2.4^oC. It is also ranked in second place both in relation to the average daily maximum temperature and in relation to the average daily minimum temperature, since it presents a positive deviation of the order of 2.1^oC and 2.6^oC, respectively, in relation to the corresponding normal of the month.

Furthermore, September 2023 ranks as the third warmest September for the Department’s meteorological station at Larnaka airport, with an average daily temperature of 27.3^oC, showing a positive deviation of 1.9^oC. In addition, this particular station ranks second in relation to the average daily maximum temperature since it shows a positive deviation of 1.8^oC in relation to the corresponding normal of the month (32.7^oC).

The meteorological station at the Athalassa radiosonde station although it has the third highest average daily maximum temperature (36.1^oC), however, does not rank September 2023 among the warmest Septembers for this station.

All the main reference stations of the Department show a positive deviation of their average daily temperature from the corresponding normal of the month, which ranges from 1.3^oC – 2.4^oC. However, September 2023 as a whole cannot be characterised as one of the warmest Septembers that Cyprus has ever faced.

(AP/SCH)