November was rather cold in Iceland and early in the month there was heavy snowfall in the northeastern part of the country. December has to be very warm in order for a new annual heat record to be set, but that is not considered likely.
There was a lot of snow in Akureyri in November. Photo by Páll Stefánsson.
In south and west Iceland the month was rather dry with little snow, as stated in the weather review of the Icelandic Meteorological Office for November, Morgunbladid reports.
However, it was cold with an average temperature of 0.6°C (33.1°F) in Reykjavík, which is 0.6°C lower than the average in 1961-1990, and the coldest month in the capital since October 2008.
In Akureyri in the north the average temperature in November was -1.5°C (29.3°F), which is 1.1°C below average. In Höfn in the southeast the average temperature was 1.6°C (34.9°F), 0.4°C below average.
The warmest November day was in Skaftafell, southeast Iceland, on November 1 when the temperature reached 12.4°C (54.3°F) and the coldest day was on November 28 in Mödrudalur in northeast Iceland when the temperature dropped to -23.2°C (-9.8°F).
The month was rather bright in Reykjavík with 73.6 sunny hours, 35 hours above average. It was the sunniest November in the capital since 2000.
Akureyri saw a total of 27 hours of sunshine in November, which hasn’t been as high since 1937. It is just as well locals took advantage of the sunlight as it will be very sparse throughout December.
However, if they are lucky, the snow will continue to brighten up the environment. Akureyri saw 28 days of complete snow cover in November, which is ten days above average.
In Reykjavík, on the other hand, days of full snow cover were only three, which is three days below the average November.
Air pressure during the first 11 months of this year has been unusually high in Iceland—it hasn’t been higher over that period since 1888.
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