Average temperatures in 2017; Credit: ASTA

The year 2017 was hotter on average than previous years in Luxembourg, according to ASTA.

The meteorological service of the Administration of Agricultural Technical Services (ASTA) made an evaluation for the year 2017 of the meteorological data of its 30 observation stations in Luxembourg. Four stations- Asselborn, Clemency, Remich and Grevenmacher- were compared to the 1981-2010 reference period.

The annual average for the year 2017 was greater than the reference period with a maximum anomaly of 0.7 °C in Clemency and a minimum of 0.4 °C in Asselborn. An analysis of the different months of the year reveals that the months of February, March, May, June, October, November and December were hotter at all four stations than during the reference period, while the months of January, April and September were colder. The month of March had the highest positive anomaly with a value of + 3.0 °C at Clemency and Remich, whilst January had the strongest negative anomaly with -2.9 °C in Clemency and Grevenmacher.

The year 2017 was marked by a first half drier and a second half more watered than the reference period with the sum of precipitation being close to the average of the 1981-2010 reference period for the stations of Clemency, Grevenmacher and Remich. The months of January until June (with the exception of May) showed a strong deficit of precipitation, whilst the second part of the year was marked by an excess of precipitation at the stations of Clemency, Grevenmacher and Remich (with the exception of October).

The largest monthly excess anomaly was recorded at Clemency in July, with more than double (138 mm) the average precipitation in the reference period (62 mm). The month of April was found to be the driest month of the year with only 2 mm of precipitation recorded in Grevenmacher, compared with an average of 47 mm for the period 1981-2010.