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On course for one of the sunniest, driest Aprils in modern history
Ben Hamilton
April 20th, 2020
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This article is more than 4 years old.
With no rain and plenty of sunshine forecast this week, the record books could be rewritten
Social distancing still in place though (photo: Pixabay)
The sun is out in Copenhagen. It’s 17 degrees and there’s a slight breeze – barely two metres a second.
According to DMI, another unseasonably warm day waits in store for us tomorrow. A forecast of 14 for Wednesday is the coolest of the week, and not a drop of rain is predicted over the remainder of the month.
Providing we avoid the huge crowds gathering now the schools are mostly back, and the self-appointed arbiters who concur that social distancing requires five metres not two, some pleasant afternoons and sunsets beckon.
But we’re not just talking about conditions that should enable you to make an early start to your sun tan and ice cream accounts for 2020. There are records to be broken!
Average of nine a day
This April is well on course to be one of the sunniest since they started counting the number of sunshine hours in 1920. So far, the sun has shone every day without fail, with only three days managing under five hours.
Up until Sunday morning, there had been 162.3 hours of sunshine, leaving the month with plenty of time to work its way into the top ten sunniest Aprils of the last century.
At the top stands 2019, which with 273.7 hours eclipsed 2009’s mark of 272. If 2020 continues with its average of nine a day, it will more or less match them.
Normally, there are 190 sunshine hours in a typical April. Before 1990, the average was 162 hours.
Hardly any rain
And this April could end up being one of the driest ever as well.
As of Sunday morning, just 5.2 mm of rain had fallen, which is 36 mm below normal.
Should this week not deliver any rain, as is forecast, Denmark will be on course to record the driest April for 46 years, as well as the third driest since records began in 1874.
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