As in the previous year, 2023 was much warmer than average in Austria and in the preliminary climate balance of Geosphere Austria it is at the same level as 2018 in the 256-year measurement history. The months of January, June, July, September and October were among the ten hottest in the respective series of measurements. Overall, 2023 confirmed the trend towards an increasingly warmer climate.
Hottest year since 1768
“In the preliminary assessment of 2023, it was the hottest year in the Austrian lowlands in the series of measurements that have existed since 1768, on par with 2018. In the mountains, it was the third warmest year in the series of mountain measurements that have existed since 1851” , summarized the results by Geosphere climatologist Alexander Orlik. “2023 was 1.3 degrees above the average for the 1991 to 2020 climate period in the Austrian lowlands and 1.0 degrees in the mountains.” Compared to the 1961-1990 climate period, which was not yet as severely affected by global warming, 2023 was 2.5 degrees above average in the lowlands and 2.2 degrees above average in the mountains.
The regional assessment shows new average annual temperature records in many locations or exactly the same value as the previous record. 2023 also brought some heat waves, the first one started in the last third of June and lasted four to five days. A heat wave followed in July and August, which lasted a relatively long period of up to 18 and 16 days, respectively, according to Geosfera (formerly ZAMG). The last heat wave occurred just before mid-September and lasted an average of four days. But the exceptionally high temperatures didn't stop there.
Precipitation, however, presented extremes with very dry and very wet phases, although there were also some extremely productive weather conditions. Overall, though, there was 16 percent more precipitation in 2023 than in an average year; there was an equally large deviation in 2002, with an additional 13 percent, and this was larger in 1966, with an additional 18 percent, as the analysis using HISTALP data showed.
In contrast, there was an alternation of fairly cloudy and fairly sunny months and a total of three percent fewer hours of sunshine than an average year – the last time there were even fewer hours of sunshine was in 2014, with eight percent fewer. April, in particular, contributed greatly to the global negative annual balance, with a deficit of 37 percent, Geosfera reported, and was also the April with the least sunshine since 1989.
Probably the hottest year since industrialization
According to climate experts from the United Nations (UN), 2023 will likely be the hottest year in the world since industrialization. The difference with the previously warmer years of 2016 and 2020 was so great at the end of October that November and December could hardly change anything, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) reported at the end of November in its preliminary report on the state of the world climate.