Bulgaria experienced one of its warmest Septembers in the past 90 years
September 2023 was one of the warmest Septembers in Bulgaria in the past 90 years, the country’s weather bureau said.
Average temperatures were between 16 and 23 degrees Celsius, a deviation from the monthly norm between one and four degrees, the National Institute of Meteorology and Hydrology said on September 30.
The highest temperature measured was in Krumovgrad, 37.2 degrees on September 23.
In Bulgaria’s capital city Sofia, the highest measured temperature was 32.2 degrees, also on September 23.
The amount of precipitation varied between one and 120 per cent of the climatic norm, the institute said.
The largest amount of precipitation was 207mm in the village of Kosti, in the Bourgas district, on September 5, while heavy rain in the Strandzha region from September 4 to 6 caused a disaster, it said.
As a result of heavy and intense rains on September 5, a number of torrential floods were registered in the catchments south of the Ropotamo river and in the coastal areas of the southern Black Sea coast.
During the rest of the month, the water levels of the country’s rivers were around and below the average water thresholds and around the low water thresholds.
The institute said that excessive temperatures in September accelerated the onset of the final stages of the development of late agricultural crops.
As a result of the excessive heat conditions, the onset of technological maturity was reported earlier than usual for the later red wine grape varieties.
Autumn varieties of fruit trees had also reached harvesting maturity earlier, the institute said.
It said that in October 23, the average monthly temperature is expected to be around and above the norm.
During the first days of the month, the weather will be calm, almost with no precipitation. These first days of the month will be mostly sunny and with temperatures higher than usual, the weather forecasters said.
(Photo, taken in Bulgaria’s Rhodope mountain village of Hrabrino in September 2023: Clive Leviev-Sawyer)
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