It's difficult to contradict human feelings when establishing the weather report for the year 2024 in Vienne: we're not telling you anything, it rained a lot and there was a lack of sun! But the study of data compiled by the participatory site Infoclimat.fr from readings from the Météo France station in Poitiers-Biard allows us to observe another lesson.
Overall, the year 2024 therefore ended with +15% difference in precipitation compared to 1991-2020 normals (800.9 mm in Poitiers) and -11% difference in sunshine compared to these same normal (1,718 hours).
What is striking, however, are the deviations from normal temperatures: + 0.4% for maximum-average temperatures (17.4 °C) and + 1.4% for minimum-average temperatures (8.7 °C). This is a sign of global warming at work. Warming, let us remember, linked to the release of greenhouse gases caused by human activities, according to the intergovernmental group of experts on climate change (IPCC).
We asked agroclimatologist Serge Zaka (1), administrator of the Infoclimat.fr site, to analyze this summary. And he confirms it: “There were excess temperatures most of the time in Poitiers compared to 1991-2020 normals. When we look at heat peaks, temperature records have been broken around ten times. It is one of the markers of global warming. We observe it over a year. But the temperature has been increasing in Poitiers for several years. In 2024, there have been sixteen days above 30°C. Before the 1980s, there were one or two. The same goes for frost days: 21 days in 2024 compared to 60 in the 1980s. And then there were no snow days, that's another indicator. »
Concerning precipitation, the agroclimatologist is more cautious: “There was an excess of precipitation in 2024 in Poitiers but it is not a record year like in 1996 with 1,088 mm. It is difficult to link this situation to climate change since the analysis models do not all agree on this point, concerning the central part of France. On the other hand, the arrival of an atmospheric river including intense rain, as with Storm Kirk, may be linked to climate change. »
And the sunshine at half mast? “Yes, the weather was lousy but the feeling was undoubtedly accentuated by the fact that Vienna had had more than 2,200 hours of sunshine for seven years! »
This 2024 weather forecast, which some of our fellow citizens describe as “rotten” for their morale, has especially had serious consequences on agriculture. “The precipitation fell each time at the worst time: right in the middle of spring and autumn sowing, right in the middle of harvests in July, August and September for corn. The lack of photosynthesis for crops has caused yields to drop by -30% for wheat and -20% for sunflower at the national level. Not only was the ground too wet for the machines to enter the fields, but the harvests were of poor quality. »
The only positive point of this year 2024? “The water tables are full! »
What to remember, month after month
> January 2024. A minimum temperature of 2.7°C (maximum, 9.1°C), precipitation of 42.1 mm (–31%, deviation from 1991-2020 normals), sunshine of –1% (deviation from 1991 normals -2020), a maximum wind gust of 75.6 km/h. Special sign : a maximum temperature of 16.9°C on January 28, i.e. +8.7°C difference from normal.
> February. A minimum temperature of 6.2 °C (maximum, 11.9 °C), precipitation of 75.9 mm (+ 60%), sunshine of – 52%, a maximum gust of 108 km/h (storm Louis , February 22). Special sign : a maximum temperature of 18.9°C on February 15, i.e. +9.3°C difference from normal.
> Mars. A minimum temperature of 5.1 °C (maxi, 14.2 °C), precipitation of 115.9 mm (+ 136%), sunshine of – 12%, a maximum gust of 72.7 km/h. Special sign : a maximum temperature of 22.1°C on March 22, i.e. +8.7°C difference from normal.
> Avril. A minimum temperature of 7°C (maximum, 17.2°C), precipitation of 37.1 mm (– 30%), sunshine of + 2%, a maximum gust of 72.4 km/h. Special sign : a minimum temperature of 0.7°C on April 23, i.e. – 4.7°C difference from normal.
> May. A minimum temperature of 9.7 °C (maxi, 19.1 °C), precipitation of 141.9 mm (+ 122%), sunshine of – 24%, a maximum gust of 68.4 km/h.
> June. A minimum temperature of 12.6 °C (maxi, 23.5 °C), precipitation of 86.5 mm (+ 45%), sunshine of + 3%, a maximum gust of 64.8 km/h. Special sign : a minimum temperature of 5.8°C on June 13, i.e. – 6.3°C difference from normal.
> July. A minimum temperature of 14.7°C (maximum, 27°C), precipitation of 7.6 mm (–83%), sunshine of +2%, a maximum gust of 64.8 km/h. Special sign : maximum temperature recorded in Poitiers for 2024 with 37.3°C on July 30.
> August. A minimum temperature of 14.5°C (maximum, 27.5°C), precipitation of 7.5 mm (–83%), sunshine of +13%, a maximum gust of 61.9 km/h.
> September. A minimum temperature of 11.3 °C (maxi, 20.6 °C), precipitation of 79.5 mm (+ 50%), sunshine of – 29%, a maximum gust of 75.6 km/h.
> October. A minimum temperature of 10.8 °C (maxi, 17.8 °C), precipitation of 127.9 mm (+ 77%), sunshine of – 36%, a maximum gust of 72 km/h.
> November. A minimum temperature of 6.5°C (maximum, 12.7°C), precipitation of 47.3 mm (-37%), sunshine of -44%, a maximum gust of 108 km/h (Caetano storm ).
> December. A minimum temperature of 3.6°C (maximum, 9°C), precipitation of 31.7 mm (–56%), sunshine of –4%, a maximum gust of 82.8 km/h.
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