ANALYSIS OF DAILY MAXIMUM TEMPERATURES IN OLTENIA: THE SUMMER OF 2024 AS A CASE STUDY/ANALIZA TEMPERATURILOR MAXIME ZILNICE ÎN OLTENIA: STUDIU DE CAZ, VARA ANULUI 2024

According to Copernicus climate change service (C3S), the summer of 2024 was the warmest on record for our continent, the average surface air temperature over the European land reaching +1.54°C above the 1991-2020 average. In Romania, extremely high temperatures were recorded in July and August, heatwaves affecting particularly the southern part of the country. However, at their peak, western and eastern extra-Carpathian regions also registered extremely high temperatures. In Oltenia, there were recorded 24 daily maximum temperatures ≥40°C (20 in July and 4 in August), the area located in the proximity of the Danube being the most exposed (15 values above 40°C). In July, in four county municipalities (Drobeta-Turnu Severin, Craiova, Târgu Jiu, and Râmnicu Vâlcea), there were recorded 13 consecutive days with maximum temperatures above 35°C, while at Slatina there were 14 days (July 7/8 - July 20). In August, the interval was shorter, between 7 days at Craiova and 10 days at Drobeta-Turnu Severin (August 10/11 - August 17/18). The persistence of high atmospheric pressure formations intensified local insolation processes, which, together with tropical air advections, contributed to the increase of heating. Even if the previous thermal records (registered on July 24, 2007) were not exceeded, in terms of average temperature, the summer of 2024 was hotter than the summers of 2007 and 2012 (values above 27°C were registered at six meterological stations in July and at five in August), which triggered numerous problems in the region – agricultural losses, wildfires, power shortages, health issues.