Monthly review December 2020

December was 2.7 degrees higher than the 1961-1990 climate reference period
warm. The year 2020 was the third warmest in our region after 2019 and 2018. Three
Years in a row(!!) that were noticeably too warm and also too dry. What consequences
had these global warming related extremes for nature,
shows us an example of the catastrophic state of our forests.
An increase of 44 hours was calculated for sunshine. This increased the
Annual balance up to the end of the year with a significant plus of 435 hours.
The sum of all individual measurements of precipitation reached 19.6 in Coswig in December
mm. The monthly total was only 40% of the normal value for December. we
thus registered after the month of November, which was already considerably too dry
(second driest November since 1961) another very dry month. the
The final balance for the year is now in August, despite the episodic heavy rainfall
and October with a precipitation deficit of – 77mm.
Monthly precipitation totals for December show a spatial pattern that
basic trends for climate projections of winter precipitation in
Central Germany in the 21st century largely corresponds. So show significant
Differences between West Germany with partly very wet areas (100-180 mm)
on the one hand and dry regions north of the low mountain ranges in the east (10-20 mm)
on the other hand. Within Central Germany is the Meissen-Coswig-Radebeul region
once again, as so often, among the driest areas.
Due to the very little rainfall in November and prolonged drought until
December 20th, the topsoil* and the entire floor* were not (continued)
wet but even dried out further in some areas due to strong winds. Only from
on the 21st there was precipitation. Over the course of these two months, the drought in
Total soil in northern Saxony and with us in terms of spatial extent
and increased in intensity again. We now have to go back in general in our region
exceptional drought of the whole soil (due to the still strong
dried out deeper soil layers).
Weather conditions: As so often this year, the flow configuration proved itself
in December over Central Europe as a whole as unusually stable, so that the very
dry and mostly mild weather could repeat and last longer. The month
was often characterized by distinctive but very broad "trough weather conditions" over Europe.
Our area was often in the central area of these troughs, which is particularly important in winter
Usually associated with low precipitation activity. The highest temperatures of
Ironically, they appeared with the beginning of winter and reached almost 17 in Coswig
°C The frequently occurring stormy southeast wind "Bohemian Wind" led especially in the
However, the area near the Elbe becomes unpleasant due to the wind chill effect
side effects.