Second sunniest and third driest spring on Dutch records
Spring in the Netherlands was mild, sunny, and dry, but did not set any records. It did get close. This past spring was the third-driest and second-sunniest on record, the meteorological institute KNMI reported.
The Netherlands got 800 hours of sunshine this spring, making it the second-sunniest spring since the KNMI started keeping track of this measurement in 1965. Only 2020 was sunnier, with 805 hours of sunshine. The long-term average is much lower at 567 sunny hours in spring.
An average of 70 millimeters of rain fell across the country this past season, less than half of the long-term average of 148 millimeters. “This made it the third driest spring since measurements began in 1906. Only in 2011 and 1976 was it drier, with 49 and 61 millimeters of precipitation.”
The near-record for drought was mainly due to the record-dry March. Only 6 mm of rain fell across the country in March, compared to the typical 53 mm. April and May were slightly less dry with 30 mm (long-term average 40 mm) and 35 mm (long-term average 55 mm) of rain, respectively.
The precipitation deficit, the difference between rainfall and water evaporation, was around 125 m across the country at the end of spring. “This means that the growing season, which runs from April to September, is among the driest 5 percent so far,” the KNMI said.
The season was also mild, with an average temperature of 10.9 degrees against a long-term average of 9.9 degrees. “Spring was largely dominated by areas of high pressure. As a result, it was often sunny and mild during the day, but it regularly cooled down considerably at night under clear skies.”
In total, the season had 13 frost days with minimums below freezing, 21 warm days with maximums over 20 degrees, and four summer days with maximums above 25 degrees at the national weather station in De Bilt. The lowest temperature measured was -6.7 degrees in Eelde on March 16, and the highest was 29.5 degrees in Westdorpe on May 1.
