May has brought sun, ice cream and summer temperatures. So are the warm days over just in time for the start of the holidays?
No, not according to statistics from SMHI. There is no connection between warm May and colder holiday months.
It has been warm in almost the entire country in May. According to SMHI, the month looks set to break records in several parts of the country.
Sure, the heat may be a hint about climate change and that we can expect more extreme weather in the future, but after all, most Swedes want to have sun and warmth on vacation.
But many still remember last year's summer, with heat in May and June and then colder than normal and rainy during the holiday months of July and August. Is that what we can expect this year too?
Not according to figures from SMHI. A sunny May is not a harbinger of a rainy and cold summer.
For example, 2006 was a year with a slightly warmer May, but a significantly warmer summer than the average temperature for the period.
In 2011, it was also warmer than normal in May, a heat that then persisted throughout the summer.
Two years later, it was once again time for a warmer than normal month of May, but the summer fell within the normal category in terms of temperatures.
In 2016, May was again warmer than normal, but the summer was largely normal.
2018 was a really hot summer, with warmer average temperatures in May, June, July and August – record hot in many places.
However, that heat could be beaten, according to SMHI. Among others, Ljungby in Småland, Vinga in Västergötland and Östersund-Frösön in Jämtland could all set new records for May heat. In that case, all of them would beat the record summer of 2018 for heat.
It is worth noting that in 2021 SMHI changed the so-called normal period from previously comparing with 1961–1990 to 1991–2020. This essentially makes comparisons between the periods impossible.
Source: TT-DI.SE
