“This year, according to the records and analyses that are carried out using advanced techniques, we have come to the conclusion that this August was the hottest since 1941, very possibly due to global warming,” said meteorologist Diamantino Henriques from the Portuguese Institute of the Sea and Atmosphere (IPMA).

According to the expert, the “global warming trend overcame natural variability” causing an increase in temperature, noting that July had also been the hottest month in the last 83 years.

Diamantino Henriques also said he believes that August even saw the “highest temperatures ever” recorded during that month in the Azores, but he pointed out that it is only possible to make an annual comparison up to 1941 due to the “instruments, locations and type of exposure”.

“It was the highest temperature [in August] since 1941, but it could probably even have been the highest ever”, he pointed out.

According to the latest IPMA Climatological Bulletin, published on Tuesday, in August the “average air temperature exceeded several absolute maximums”, with 30.5 degrees recorded at the Ponta Delgada observatory, 29.9 degrees at Ponta Delgada airport, 31.3 degrees at Flores aerodrome, 29.6 degrees at São Jorge aerodrome and 30.5 degrees at Pico aerodrome.

The seawater also “recorded the highest daily maximum value” with a temperature of 27.3 degrees on the 25th of August.

And, according to Diamantino Henriques, the “trend is for it to continue to increase”, since an increase of more than two degrees compared to the reference average temperature in the Azores is expected by the end of the century.

“It’s not just a question of maximum temperatures, which often only occur on one day. The problem is the hot periods and tropical nights when the minimum temperature is above 20 degrees. These periods will increase a lot. We are very close to that”, he highlighted.

The meteorologist gave the example of the island of Santa Maria, where temperatures above 20 degrees were recorded every day during August.

“Our climate, which until now was, in a way, temperate, mild, and oceanic, will move and shift towards a tropical climate, where minimum temperatures will be above 20 degrees throughout the year”, he explained.

In addition to the increase in temperatures, there is high humidity, an “inevitable” situation in the Azores archipelago, the meteorologist recalled.

“We are in a maritime environment where there is always humidity, we cannot escape that, we are in the middle of the sea”, he stressed.

Diamantino Henriques also pointed to a “flow of warm water from the Gulf of Mexico” to justify the “atypical” temperature of the sea, but stressed that “it is still too early” to “understand the phenomenon”.

In the Climatological Bulletin, the IPMA highlights that the “month of August 2024 was extremely hot and generally dry throughout the Azores region”, with the “monthly air and sea surface temperatures in the region, similar to the month of July, reaching the highest values ​​since 1941”.