Tropical nights are more and more common in Lithuania – explained why



[ad_1]

A night can be called tropical if the air temperature does not drop below 20 degrees during the coldest hours of the night. The hottest night in Lithuania so far was recorded in 2006. July 8 In Nida, when the air temperature dropped to just 24.4 degrees.

Are tropical nights common in Lithuania and where are they most common?

Tropical nights are not a common phenomenon in Lithuania and they do not occur every year, on average in Lithuania there are 0.7 or about one such night per year. The largest number of tropical nights is found on the Lithuanian coast (on average 1.4 nights per year in Klaipėda), and their abundance due to specific microclimatic conditions is distinguished by the Curonian Spit – 4.6 (or about 5) nights tropical are recorded here on average. by year.

The fewest number of tropical nights is recorded in the Samogitian Highlands. There are years that stand out for the abundance of such nights (for example, 17 tropical nights were recorded in Nida in 2010), and in some years there are no tropical nights in Lithuania.

Are tropical nights becoming more frequent as the weather changes?

Until the 20th century. There has been almost no talk of tropical nights in Lithuania in the last decade, because there were simply very few such nights. If the analyzed period 1961-2020. The period would be divided into two parts (1961-1990 and 1991-2020), p. ex. During the first period, only two tropical nights were recorded in Klaipeda, and during the second period, even 41 nights!

During the first period, Vilnius had only one year with a tropical day, and during the second even 19 tropical nights. A similar trend of increasing tropical nights is observed throughout Lithuania. Therefore, due to climate change, the number of tropical nights in Lithuania is increasing.

Are tropical nights dangerous?

The question is: are tropical nights good or bad? It’s understandable that spending summer afternoons outside on a warm night is a bonus. However, tropical nights can also present a number of dangers. The greatest dangers are when the air is very hot during the hot day (the temperature rises above 30 degrees) and does not cool down at night.

As a result, unconditioned homes do not cool down. This can pose a risk to human health, especially in the elderly and people with cardiovascular disease.

Although tropical nights are mostly found on the Curonian Spit, they are perhaps even more dangerous in the big cities. At Curonian Spit, due to the more abundant vegetation, the air is cleaner and fresher on such hot days.

[ad_2]