Press Releases

On September 30, 2023, the hydrometeorological year 2022-2023 was completed. According to the precipitation data available to the Department of Meteorology during the hydrometeorological year 2022-2023, the amount of precipitation recorded in the areas under Government control was 466.4mm. An amount of precipitation that ranks the specific hydrometeorological year in the 83^rd place, in order of ranking from a total of 122 years with precipitation data for the island, as shown in Figure 1, below. 

Figure 1: Annual area average precipitation (mm) in Cyprus (Oct. 1901-Sept. 2023, in descending order. Precipitation refers to the area under the Government control.

n relation to the reference period (1961-1990) the amount of precipitation recorded during this year’s hydrometeorological year (466.4mm) corresponds to 92% of the normal amount (503mm), as can be seen in Figure 2, which follows.

Figure 2: Annual area average precipitation (mm) in Cyprus (Oct. 1901-Sept. 2023), in relation to the normal precipitation (1961 – 1990). Precipitation refers to the area under the Government control.

Of the 12 months of the hydrometeorological year 2022-2023 there were some months which exceeded their normal precipitation. These were: October 2022, during which the monthly precipitation reached 98.1mm or 300% of normal, September 2023 during which the monthly precipitation reached 12.1mm or 269% of normal, April 2023 during which the monthly precipitation reached 37.8mm or 126% of normal and November 2022 during which the monthly precipitation reached 53.4mm or 100% of normal. However, there were also some months during which the total precipitation was quite low. The month with the lowest total monthly precipitation amount was December 2022, with a total monthly precipitation of 34.5mm or 33% of normal.

At this point it is worth mentioning the temperatures that prevailed on the island during December 2022 and January 2023 since both of these winter months are presented as unusually warm months for several areas of Cyprus.

Specifically, and based on the climatic data that the Department maintains:

• December 2022 is presented as:
  • The warmest December for the meteorological station in Polis Chrysochous, after recoding the highest average daily maximum temperature of 22.7°C since the station’s operating day, i.e., since 1969.
  • The warmest December for the station at Larnaka’s airport in relation to the average daily minimum temperature of 12.2°C and as the 2^nd warmest December in relation to the average daily maximum temperature of 21.2°C, since the day of operation of the specific station, i.e. since 1976.
  • The warmest December in relation to the average daily maximum temperature of 21.4°C for the Athalassa Radiosonde station since its day of operation, i.e., since 1983.
  • The 3^rd warmest December in relation to the average daily minimum temperature of 5.7°C for the mountainous station at the Forestry College of Prodromos since its day of operation, i.e. since 1959.
• January 2023 is presented as:
• The warmest January for the station in Polis Chrysochous with respect to the average daily maximum temperature of 20.4°C and as the 3rd warmest January with respect to the average daily minimum temperature of 10.0°C, since the day of operation of this station.
• The warmest January in relation to the average daily maximum temperature of 19.6°C for the station at Larnaka’s airport, since its day of operation.
• The warmest January, together with January 2021, for the Athalassa Radiosonde station, in relation to the average daily maximum temperature of 19.7°C, since its day of operation.
• The 2nd warmest January in relation to the average daily maximum temperature of 19.4°C for the station at Pafos’ airport since the day of operation of said station, i.e. since 1984.

(IA/ASP)