In depth analysis of the Athens Riviera climate and palm potential

[southathens]

That's impressive. I am sure that in the wider zone of coastal Voula and Vouliagmeni we will have much more tropical plants than the rest of Athens. Just waiting to be discovered 

[southathens]

15 hours ago, Manos33 said:

Below the data of the official WMO station for Downtown Athens for the whole of the 21st century so far.

Notice the elevated precipitation when traditionally downtown Athens was around 370-380 mm . This is due to the inclusion of 2002 which was a super rainy year for Athens with close to 1000 mm that year (which is crazy for Athens).

Note also the extremely elevated summer average maximums and minimums. July and August reach almost 35C which is unheard of in previous time series for Downtown Athens. These and the suffocating summer minimums result in average monthly Ts of around 30C ( we are slowly approaching Red Sea values here).

The winter minimums seem to also slightly soften during the 21st century with a respectable 7.4C and 7.9C in Jan and Feb respectively. Still of course Downtown Athens can't reach the winter minimums of the Athens Riviera which are around 1C to 1.5C higher.

Note that if we calculate only the data of the last decade for the official WMO station of Downtown Athens then the average annual temperature is approaching 19.8C and summer average monthly Ts are well over 30.0C (yeah I know it's crazy for continental Europe). This makes the WMO station of Downtown Athens the warmest station annually out of all official WMO stations in continental Europe. Though I am certain that if Piraeus WMO station was still operating it would beat Downtown Athens. Too bad it stopped operating in 2010.

Just to note that the above WMO data of Downtown Athens for the 21st century are open access and can be found by anyone interested on the website of the National Observatory of Athens below

https://www.meteo.gr/Monthly_Bulletins.cfm

[southathens]

Also below the data of the official WMO station in Downtown Athens for the last decade.

 

Following the trend of various met offices from around the world which have recently started publishing supplemental 10 year climate normals after the guidelines of  WMO in order to better monitor climate change we notice some very interesting stuff for downtown Athens.

Note that winters have become even milder with February reaching almost 9C average minimum. Average annual precipitation starts to look about normal and closer to what we know from long term time series for downtown Athens. Almost all months have increased their average monthly Ts resulting in a stunning average annual T of around 19.8C. Like I said in my earlier post this average annual T is by far the highest of any WMO station in Continental Europe for the corresponding period. 

[southathens]

 

Just took this pic in downtown Athens in the Votanikos area. Bananas that are about to ripen? wtf?

 

 

[Phoenikakias]

9 hours ago, Manos33 said:

 

Just took this pic in downtown Athens in the Votanikos area. Bananas that are about to ripen? wtf?

 

 

Manos, really nothing special. 

[southathens]

1 hour ago, Phoenikakias said:

Manos, really nothing special. 

But why? I thought bananas cant ripen in downtown Athens. Maybe in the Athens Riviera 

[Victor G.]

11 hours ago, Manos33 said:

But why? I thought bananas cant ripen in downtown Athens. Maybe in the Athens Riviera 

I'm sure they can ripen in most places in Greece. Not the big Cavendish bananas (the ones we buy at the supermarket), but smaller varieties (such as the Cretan ones) should ripen everywhere.

I saw a banana plant in Marathon Beach (about ten days ago) and the bananas had already a good size. I'm sure they will be ready in some days or, at maximum, a month.

 

Anyways, yesterday we saw and avocado tree here in Skopelos and it was a huge one!

[Phoenikakias]

13 hours ago, Manos33 said:

But why? I thought bananas cant ripen in downtown Athens. Maybe in the Athens Riviera 

Μανωλάκη μη σε μέλει, οι μπανάνες είναι μέλι χα, χα, χα

and you ought to know, that my garden is situated in one of the coolest  parts of Saronikos, if not the coolest one. 

[southathens]

But still given the cold snaps this year I was not expecting to see ripe bananas in downtown Athens

[Victor G.]

6 hours ago, Manos33 said:

But still given the cold snaps this year I was not expecting to see ripe bananas in downtown Athens

Banana plants grow quickly. A cold winter might set them back a bit, but I believe with plenty of sunshine and maybe a bit of fertilizer you can expect a yield

[Janni]

7 hours ago, Manos33 said:

But still given the cold snaps this year I was not expecting to see ripe bananas in downtown Athens

If the bananas in my German Garden can get over 4 meters within one summer (every summer) than they can do so in Athens - and much more. That’s really nothing special. 
Currently I am in Finikounda. Bananas grow here in every spot, no matter if irrigated or not, if protected or not, at buildings or far from buildings, at completely neglected properties or anywhere else. 

btw: I think, that this region here is one of the most favorable spots for palm growing in mainland Greece. No heavy winters, no frost. 

[Phoenikakias]

My own banana plants git trashed during past winter (fortunately not stem rot). Lookat them now!

[Victor G.]

1 hour ago, Phoenikakias said:

My own banana plants git trashed during past winter (fortunately not stem rot). Lookat them now!

Wow!

Surprisingly, mine looked perfect after last winter, I guess they didn't get hit hard.

But they looked crappy in the summer. I suspect that the automatic watering system failed. I gave them a lot of water and they started getting new leaves

[Phoenikakias]

15 hours ago, Janni said:

If the bananas in my German Garden can get over 4 meters within one summer (every summer) than they can do so in Athens - and much more. That’s really nothing special. 
Currently I am in Finikounda. Bananas grow here in every spot, no matter if irrigated or not, if protected or not, at buildings or far from buildings, at completely neglected properties or anywhere else. 

btw: I think, that this region here is one of the most favorable spots for palm growing in mainland Greece. No heavy winters, no frost. 

Western Greece and moreover that far south coastal areas in above region belong rather to western Mediterranean climatic pattern, which is  quite different from the one in east Mediterranean.

[Janni]

On 8/19/2022 at 2:48 PM, Phoenikakias said:

Western Greece and moreover that far south coastal areas in above region belong rather to western Mediterranean climatic pattern, which is  quite different from the one in east Mediterranean.

Yes, I am well aware of that. Although the specific climate of western Greece is not comparable to other western Mediterranean parts. We have here huge amounts of rain from fall to spring. There are no other Mediterranean regions with that huge amounts of rainfalls. In the southernmost parts of the west coast, you have literally no frost. 

it is totally fascinating seeing the vegetation change every kilometer as you are driving from here (Finikounda) to Kalamata and then further to the east. It gets drier and the main coloration of the landscape is becoming more brown. However you can find fruiting bananas throughout the coastal Peloponnes in many different spots, no matter if you are in the western or eastern part. 

[Phoenikakias]

20 minutes ago, Janni said:

Yes, I am well aware of that. Although the specific climate of western Greece is not comparable to other western Mediterranean parts. We have here huge amounts of rain from fall to spring. There are no other Mediterranean regions with that huge amounts of rainfalls. In the southernmost parts of the west coast, you have literally no frost. 

it is totally fascinating seeing the vegetation change every kilometer as you are driving from here (Finikounda) to Kalamata and then further to the east. It gets drier and the main coloration of the landscape is becoming more brown. However you can find fruiting bananas throughout the coastal Peloponnes in many different spots, no matter if you are in the western or eastern part. 

I am well aware of last infomation too. All coastal areas in Peloponnese have a high air moisture promoting rapid grouth of Banana plants. Even in Kardamyli.

[southathens]

On 8/20/2022 at 4:40 PM, Janni said:

 In the southernmost parts of the west coast, you have literally no frost. 

Actually the SW of mainland Greece (SW Peloponnese) is slightly more prone to frost than the SE mainland (SE Peloponnese).

Monemvasia currently is Greece's only mainland area to have never recorded air frost both from the old HNMS station and the current NOA station. In fact Monemvasia NOA is only behind Kasos NOA in average of absolute minimums and only 0.1C from a 11a hardiness zone climate. If next winter will not be very cold then Monemvasia will transition to 11a.

In fact Monemvasia has a higher average of absolute minimums compared to Ierapetra! Its 4.3C in Monemvasia NOA vs 3.9C in Ierapetra NOA. Kasos NOA being the Greece's champion with 6.0C 

Edited August 22, 2022 by Manos33

[Phoenikakias]

2 hours ago, Manos33 said:

Actually the SW of mainland Greece (SW Peloponnese) is slightly more prone to frost than the SE mainland (SE Peloponnese).

Monemvasia currently is Greece's only mainland area to have never recorded air frost both from the old HNMS station and the current NOA station. In fact Monemvasia NOA is only behind Kasos NOA in average of absolute minimums and only 0.1C from a 11a hardiness zone climate. If next winter will not be very cold then Monemvasia will transition to 11a.

In fact Monemvasia has a higher average of absolute minimums compared to Ierapetra! Its 4.3C in Monemvasia NOA vs 3.9C in Ierapetra NOA. Kasos NOA being the Greece's champion with 6.0C 

Some light and/or short lasting freezes really do not matter, as long as they are followed by the next morning by warm temps in the upper teens and this is the case with non coastal at s.l. areas in south western Greece.  Coastal areas are simply beyond competition, you have only to look at what is cultivated successfully there. Speaking of southeastern mainland Greece, in summer 2004, right after the legendary cold spell) I travelled all along the eastern coastal strip of Peloponnese and everywhere orange harvest was destroyed (even in the otherwise very warm temperate Astros) and only in Evrotas delta oranges remained still edible but of quite low quality. On the other hand in spring of same year as above oranges in Chania were regularly juicy and sweet.

[southathens]

1 hour ago, Phoenikakias said:

 I travelled all along the eastern coastal strip of Peloponnese and everywhere orange harvest was destroyed (even in the otherwise very warm temperate Astros) and only in Evrotas delta oranges remained still edible but of quite low quality. On the other hand in spring of same year as above oranges in Chania were regularly juicy and sweet.

The areas you mention (Astros, Evrotas valley etc) are not that mild in the winter compared to SW Peloponnese let alone the extreme SE tip of mainland Peloponnese. In fact the Evrotas valley sees much lower Tmins compared to Athens during the winter (check the Sparta NOA met data). Even the Evrotas delta does not fair as well as the SW tip of the Peloponnese.

It is only the extreme SE tip of mainland Greece in the extreme SE coastal areas of Laconia that has this favourable climate, beating the SW of mainland Peloponnese as shown from the Monemvasia met data. Basically the prosinemos pattern (Aegean stream) almost never reaches extreme SE Peloponnese. Even in the freak cold snap of 2004 Monemvasia did not drop below zero according to a report from the HNMS director at that time. The only area of mainland Greece not to do so...

Edited August 22, 2022 by Manos33

[Phoenikakias]

Manos, here are some very instructive pictures taken today. They show the great asynchronization of weather in Athens Riviera and the rest of Saronik coast to the south east of former. On the right side of pictures is Varkiza and on the left Saronis and Sounion.

[southathens]

Yesterday the Athens Riviera was unusually rainy for August. While most coastal areas of the Riviera registered between 5mm and 10mm some areas of Glyfada far from the coast in Ano Glyfada registered 80mm+

That's very very rare for the Athens Riviera in August

Edited August 23, 2022 by Manos33

[Phoenikakias]

7 hours ago, Manos33 said:

Yesterday the Athens Riviera was unusually rainy for August. While most coastal areas of the Riviera registered between 5mm and 10mm some areas of Glyfada far from the coast in Ano Glyfada registered 80mm+

That's very very rare for the Athens Riviera in August

It was raining yesterday only about 200 m from the shore all day and night long at intervals and of course plenty of lightnings above sea, an awsome spectacle.

[Janni]

24 minutes ago, Phoenikakias said:

It was raining yesterday only about 200 m from the shore all day and night long at intervals and of course plenty of lightnings above sea, an awsome spectacle.

Here we have had many thunderstorms around our place. Last night there was one at approximately 100km to the south. In the picture you can see the lightnings and the Milky Way! 

[dalmatiansoap]

Talking about lightning on palms forum i must add this photo of robusta hit by the thunder in yesterday storm

 

Edited August 24, 2022 by dalmatiansoap
Adding picture

[Victor G.]

Here in Cholargos (not exactly Athens Riviera, but still in Athens!) we haven't seen the sun in three days, plus it has been raining non-stop since then.

I think it's the first time I see such a thing in the summer.

The weather here resembles November

[southathens]

52 minutes ago, Victor G. said:

Here in Cholargos (not exactly Athens Riviera, but still in Athens!) we haven't seen the sun in three days, plus it has been raining non-stop since then.

I think it's the first time I see such a thing in the summer.

The weather here resembles November

Yeah, it is one of the rarest August rain events in the history of Athens

[Victor G.]

5 minutes ago, Manos33 said:

Yeah, it is one of the rarest August rain events in the history of Athens

When I saw the weather models showing rain for a week, I said "Come on! A week's rain in August? No way"

Well....

[southathens]

Piraeus is locally close the registering a record minimum for August due to the rain right now. 

I remind everyone that the Piraeus HNMS station has never recorded below 20C in August for a period of 55 consecutive years between 1955-2010. Unfortunately it stopped working in 2010. 

Here is the Meteoclub Davis station in Piraeus which dropped down to 20.1C a bit earlier! It is operational from 2009 and has never dropped below 20C in August...Let's see..it would be interesting!

http://pireas.meteoclub.gr/

http://pireas.meteoclub.gr/zefyros/datasummary.html

Edited August 24, 2022 by Manos33

[southathens]

Also none of the NOA stations in Piraeus have ever dropped below 20C in August. It would be interesting to see if during the next few days Piraeus will manage to drop below 20C and break a long standing record of more than half a century...

Edited August 24, 2022 by Manos33

[southathens]

Rapid T increase in Piraeus since the rain stopped and sun came out. Now at around 26C. It seems the record will not be falling today...maybe tomorrow...

[Phoenikakias]

6 hours ago, Janni said:

Here we have had many thunderstorms around our place. Last night there was one at approximately 100km to the south. In the picture you can see the lightnings and the Milky Way! 

Bodensee?

[Phoenikakias]

Ahhh finally!

 

Edited August 24, 2022 by Phoenikakias

[Janni]

1 hour ago, Phoenikakias said:

Bodensee?

Φοινικούντα 

[Phoenikakias]

14 hours ago, Janni said:

Φοινικούντα 

Could you please check there, whether the historical local palm/clump is theophrasti or dactylifera?

[Janni]

3 hours ago, Phoenikakias said:

Could you please check there, whether the historical local palm/clump is theophrasti or dactylifera?

Do you know where it is?

[Phoenikakias]

36 minutes ago, Janni said:

Do you know where it is?

On the Lampes beach

https://humansofkalamata.gr/o-foinikas-toy-theofrastoy-stis-lampes-sto-diktyo-aionovion-dentron-ellinikis-epanastasis/

[southathens]

21 hours ago, Manos33 said:

Rapid T increase in Piraeus since the rain stopped and sun came out. Now at around 26C. It seems the record will not be falling today...maybe tomorrow...

So, it appears no met station in Piraeus dropped below 20.0C so far, with 2 more days to go with storms in the Athens Riviera.

On an interesting note I checked the average summer minimums of the warmest Piraeus NOA station during the summer which is Pireas Pedagogiki NOA station and the average minimums are just stunning.

For the period 2017-2022 that the station is in operation we have the following average minimum temperatures:

June: 23.2C

July: 26.3C

August: 26.7C

Below  the link of the station for those who want to check out more

https://penteli.meteo.gr/stations/pireas-pedagogiki/

So, apparently these summer average minimums are the highest in Athens from all stations. It even beats marginally the average summer minimums of the Glyfada WeatherLink Davis station. More importantly, these values are also the second highest in the country after the stunning summer minimum temperatures in Lindos NOA station.

Which goes to show that it will take close to a miracle for Piraeus to record a minimum temperature below 20.0C in August. Let's see how it will play out since we still have 2 more days with storms in the Athens Riviera.

Edited August 25, 2022 by Manos33

[Victor G.]

1 hour ago, Phoenikakias said:

On the Lampes beach

https://humansofkalamata.gr/o-foinikas-toy-theofrastoy-stis-lampes-sto-diktyo-aionovion-dentron-ellinikis-epanastasis/

Took me a while of searching, but I'm sure I found its exact location

[Phoenikakias]

23 minutes ago, Victor G. said:

Took me a while of searching, but I'm sure I found its exact location

U have exact coordinates? We have to check  whether its morphology is similar to the population in Epidaurus, provided of course it is a theophrasti.

Edited August 25, 2022 by Phoenikakias

[Victor G.]

15 minutes ago, Phoenikakias said:

U have exact coordinates? We have to check  whether its morphology is similar to the population in Epidaurus, provided of course it is a theophrasti.

Check out  36.800581, 21.744426

Seems very similar to the image from the article you posted. There are no street views nearby, but you can click on the beach bar (Destino) and you'll find it there