For both tourists and expats, it will have been clear to anyone that this year's 2018 weather in Portugal is far from the best we've seen. A very wet and long winter, a non-existent spring, and now a shy summer. The figures confirm this impression of bad weather: the month of July 2018 is the coolest in 30 years. The reason ? A bad positioning of the Azores anticyclone that brings less warm air than usual. Will the weather improve in the coming days and weeks? Will temperatures finally climb this year? Bob, the expatriate's assistant in Portugal, tells you everything about this cool and shy summer.
The Azores anticyclone responsible for the cool weather in Portugal
The poor positioning of the Azores anticyclone, which is offset from the west of normal at this time of year, is the main cause of this period of low temperatures that marked this summer. The temperatures will not increase in the next few days, and the month of August will not be better. "It has been measured that the average value of the maximum temperatures between 1 July and 18 July show a difference of -1.6 ° C compared to the monthly normal value", according to information from the Portuguese Institute of the Sea and the atmosphere (IPMA).
In June and during the first half of July, the meteorological situation was "determined by one or more anticyclonic nuclei located above the Atlantic, whose action was felt from the northeastern archipelago of the Azores to 'in Scandinavia, while the Iberian Peninsula was under the influence of lows with cloudy and cool weather', according to IPMA's scientific explanation.
Pessimistic forecasts for the rest of the summer
The IPMA, in its monthly forecast updated Thursday, indicates that next week - July 23 to 29 - below-normal temperatures are expected over most of the country. The following week, from July 30 to August 5, the scenario will be similar, with even the possibility of fog or low cloudiness near the western coastal belt, which could also develop in other parts of the territory.
Regarding the quarterly forecast, updated on Monday, forecasts for the month of August show "above-normal precipitation in northern and central Portugal", as well as below-normal temperatures. in the interior and south. "
For the month of September forecasts are less precise: one of the mathematical models on which the IPMA makes its predictions indicates no direction as to whether it will rain more or less or if the temperature will increase or decrease. However, another model indicates sub-normal temperatures in the southern region.
You will understand, this summer in Portugal will not be the hottest and sunny possible, but after a year 2017 where drought and heat have caused a lot of damage including fire, it may be necessary to see the weather this year 2018 charges as a welcome cool break in these times of climate change.
