Monthly mean maps for precipitation and temperature (observed and anomaly) with a summary of the monthly meteorological situation


This analysis is based on observational data of precipitation and temperature. For a monthly analysis based on ERA5 reanalysis, please see the Climate bulletins produced by Copernicus Climate Change Service

Meteorological situation for January 2019

Figure 1. Accumulated precipitation [mm] for January 2019.
Figure 1. Accumulated precipitation [mm] for January 2019.
Figure 2. Precipitation anomaly [%] for January 2019, relative to a long-term average (1990-2013). Blue (red) denotes wetter (drier) conditions than normal.
Figure 2. Precipitation anomaly [%] for January 2019, relative to a long-term average (1990-2013). Blue (red) denotes wetter (drier) conditions than normal.
Figure 3. Mean temperature [°C] for January 2019.
Figure 3. Mean temperature [°C] for January 2019.
Figure 4. Temperature anomaly [°C] for January 2019, relative to a long-term average (1990-2013). Blue (red) denotes colder (warmer) temperatures than normal.
Figure 4. Temperature anomaly [°C] for January 2019, relative to a long-term average (1990-2013). Blue (red) denotes colder (warmer) temperatures than normal.

by EFAS Meteorological Data Collection Centre

The meteorological situation in the beginning of January was characterized by a persistent high-pressure system at the Britain and Ireland and low-pressure over Scandinavia and eastern Europe, causing a stable flow of cold moist air leading to intense snow fall from the Alps to the Carpathian Mountains and Balkans and the northward mountains. The return period of the 14-day snowfall in Austria was between 10 and 100 years, according a report from ZAMG. The daily snowfall in Germany had a return period below 15 years (no analysis of accumulated snow amounts) according to a report from DWD. The central and eastern part of the Mediterranean region was influenced by a weak low-pressure system.

In mid-January, an intense low-pressure system moved to Scandinavia, forcing the high-pressure system to move from the Britain and Ireland westward to the Atlantic Ocean. As the high-pressure systems weakened and in conjunction with this low-pressure over Scandinavia, several troughs swept from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea.

Towards the end of the month, low-pressure system over Iceland forced a cold air outbreak over the Ireland, Great Britain and France to the central Mediterranean Sea, forcing the formation of an intense low-pressure system. This system moved eastward and caused intense precipitation at the southwest as well as the northeast coast of the Mediterranean Sea, especially in Greece and Turkey, where also thunderstorms with hail and tornados occurred. Southern Italy received large amounts of snow. Later a low-pressure system moved from the Atlantic Ocean via Britain and Ireland and the North Sea to the Baltic Sea. Intense precipitation was also reported from northern Spain at the end of January.

Precipitation amounts were up to 730 mm in January 2019. The highest precipitation totals were observed at the northeastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea, namely Turkey and Greece, the eastern coast of the Black Sea, northern coast of Tunisia and Algeria, northern Spain, the Alps, southern Iceland, northern Scotland and the west coast of Norway. Monthly precipitation totals were above normal in most of these regions. Less than normal precipitation was observed in Britain and Ireland, Iceland, and Spain except the northern parts and France except the southwestern regions, northern Italy, Scandinavia except some regions in Norway and Finland, northern Africa except some coastal areas and around the Caspian Sea. Where the positive precipitation anomalies in the eastern Mediterranean region can be linked to the low-pressure system by end of January, the negative precipitation anomalies in western Europe were caused by the high-pressure system in the beginning of January.

The monthly mean temperature ranged from -29°C to 21 °C with the highest temperatures in the southeastern and the lowest temperatures in the northeastern parts of the EFAS domain. Temperature anomalies ranged from -9°C to 9.5°C, where most regions had below normal temperatures. Above normal temperatures were found in the southeastern parts of the EFAS domain as well as around the Black Sea and Caspian Sea, in Russia, around the western Baltic Sea and in Ireland.