September in Rhineland-Palatinate: One of the driest and sunniest since records began

Too dry, too warm and an exceptional amount of sun: According to a preliminary assessment by the German Weather Service (DWD), September in Rhineland-Palatinate was one of the five driest September months since weather records began in 1881. On average, only around 19 liters of precipitation per square meter were measured, as the DWD in Offenbach announced. This corresponds to just under a third of the amount of the long-term average for the international reference period 1961 to 1990 (60 liters per square meter).

There was already very little precipitation in the entire south of Germany in the summer - this is currently leading to extremely low water levels in the rivers. In the Rhine, for example, shipping has been restricted for weeks and the huge inland vessels can no longer sail fully loaded. Ferry operations had to be partially restricted.

Lots of sun, high temperatures

According to the preliminary DWD evaluation, the average temperature in September in Rhineland-Palatinate was 17.0 degrees Celsius, significantly higher than the long-term average (13.5 degrees). It became unusually warm, especially towards the end of the month. The highest temperature so far was measured on September 7th in Andernach at 33.0 degrees. In Bad Dürkheim, the maximum value of at least 25 degrees was reached on 19 days - defined as a summer day by the DWD.

The number of hours of sunshine in the state was also very high - a total of 219 shortly before the end of the month (long-term average: 151 hours). “According to preliminary evaluations, September in Rhineland-Palatinate is in the top group of the sunniest since 1951,” said the DWD.