Documented record · well documented
Floridia, Sicily
August peak daily maximum · Italy
A station near Floridia recorded 48.8 °C, subsequently verified by the World Meteorological Organization as the highest temperature reliably measured in Europe.
Why a record is measured against the place
A number on its own says very little. 48.8 °C would be unremarkable in one climate and unthinkable in another. What makes a record matter is its distance from what that place, at that time of year, has historically produced — its own normal.
Not Normal expresses that distance in standard deviations (σ) from a thirty-year baseline. Two σ above normal is reached in roughly 1 year in 44 under the baseline climate; four σ above, roughly 1 year in 32,000.
Modelled demonstration series · not observed data
The same place on the field
Not Normal carries a modelled 75-year series for Floridia, Sicily (August peak daily maximum) that demonstrates the reasoning above. It is synthesised from published climatology, not observed, and is kept apart from the documented record on this page.
The season here
August highs here arrive with the sirocco — Saharan air crossing the Mediterranean and landing on the island already superheated.
Other documented records
Open Floridia on the field →