Reposted from the NoTricksZone
Germany’s DWD: May 2021 among the coldest in 140 years … Spring 2021 “definitely too cool”
By P. Gosselin on June 1, 2021
May 2021 in Germany is considered to be one of the coldest in years.
Spring 2021 is also coming cooler than normal. Spring in Germany has not warmed up at all in the last 30 years
For Germany the preliminary results for the meteorological spring (March-May) and the month of May are available.
Germany’s temperature anomaly from May 2021 (which has yet to be entered in the graph) was 1.4 ° C below the mean value for the reference period 1961-1990, making it one of the coldest since records began. Source: DWD.
Let’s look at May 2021 first
Much cooler, wetter and cloudy than normal
According to the German weather service DWD with data from around 2000 stations across the country, the average temperature in May was 10.7 ° C, about 2.4 ° C cooler than the 1991-2020 average.
2.4 ° C colder than average
Strangely enough, the DWD compares the May result with the old reference period 1961-1990. They found that the mean May temperature was only 1.4 ° C too cool. Compared to the current and warmer reference period 1991 to 2020, the deviation was -2.4 degrees.
In the last 30 years the May mean temperature was only 10.4 ° C lower in 2010 and 9.5 ° C in 1991. May 2021 was one of the coldest of the DWD records. Check it out for yourself.
With 95 l / m² of precipitation, May clearly exceeded the 1991-2020 climate mean of 70 l / m². The mean value for the period 1961-1990 was 71 l / m², which suggests that the amount of precipitation in May did not change at all.
23% less sunshine
Also in May 2021 there was very little sunshine in Central Europe. With around 165 hours of sunshine in May, it was well below the average of 202 hours in the period 1961 to 1990. Compared to the new reference period 1991 to 2020, the negative deviation was around 23 percent less sunshine.
Spring 2021 “definitely too cool”
With a view to the meteorological spring March 1 to May 31) for Germany, the DWD reports that “the spring of 2021 was clearly too cool despite slightly above-average solar radiation”. Spring has not really warmed up in 30 years – a fact that the DWD never broached.
The average temperature in spring 2021 was 7.2 ° C -1.7 ° C below the value for the reference period 1991 to 2020. The decisive factors for the negative deviation were the coldest April in 40 years and the very cool May. The lowest temperature was measured on April 6th in Meßstetten on the Swabian Alb with -13.6 ° C.
Almost normal precipitation
Based on the precipitation in spring 2021, Germany received 175 l / m² of precipitation compared to the average of 171 l / m² for the reference period 1991 to 2020. While March and April were too dry, in May there was unusually high precipitation compared to previous years.
Of course, the DWD activist again emphasized the old, wetter reference period 1961-1990, because he was able to say for the eighth time in a row that spring was drier than normal!
Slightly less spring sun than average
At around 500 hours, the duration of sunshine in spring 2021 was 4% below the mean value from 1991 to 2020. But using the old reference period 1961-1990, spring 2021 was 7% sunnier than “normal”.
In Germany, the DWD chooses its reference periods for reporting on mean weather values according to the trends that it would like to convey to the public. Using the 1961-1990 period enables the DWD to make it look like it is getting warmer and drier.