One splash of rain and nobody thinks it will be summer someday. Wrong! In fact, the meteorological summer starts on Sunday 1 June. Weatherman Jaco van Wezel van WEATHER Online Looks forward to the coming weeks, in which you can also spot a beautiful natural phenomenon above Zoetermeer.
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Can we look forward to a season full of barbecues, terraces and swimming outside or is it not getting so hot at all? The chance of a warm summer is high, says Jaco. “June, July and August is expected to get warmer than normal. It seems to be getting pretty dry but not as dry as in the spring.”
Dry + warm = heat
The drought from spring caused a dry soil and according to Jaco this increases the chance of extreme heat in the summer: “Less soil moist means that the air warms up faster and fewer clouds arise, which makes it easier to develop. Especially in the summer vacation, extreme heat lurks on the lurking.”
The North Sea is now about two degrees warmer than normal. That too contributes to higher temperatures, not only on the coast but also in the interior.
The weather forecasts for an entire season are not as reliable as, for example, a weather forecast for the coming week, Jaco emphasizes. “The seasonal models outline purely a rough trend. Even in an average mild month, a cold week can also be a cold week and vice versa.”
Natural phenomenon in the air
Summer has something beautiful in store: lighting night clouds. These are the highest clouds there are, they occur at a height of about 85 kilometers. For comparison: veil clouds are at an altitude of 10 to 12 kilometers.
Rico Schröder van Weeronline explains why they are so beautiful: “Contrary to what the name suggests, these clouds themselves do not give light. The light comes from the sun and is reflected by ice crystals to the earth’s surface.”
You don’t see the bright night clouds during the day because they are so thin. When the sun goes down you see them as a silver blue, strict structure. You can already spot the natural phenomenon in the evening and the period in which the clouds can be seen lasts until the beginning of August. “The best period is the three weeks before and the three weeks after the longest day. That is the entire month of June and the first half of July.”
Do you spot luminous night clouds above Zoetermeer? Send a photo to [email protected]!