Near Record Sunshine in Reykjavík

It looks like this year will be the third sunniest in history in Reykjavík, Morgunblaðið reports. According to meteorologist Trausti Jónsson, only 1924 and 2012 were sunnier. Meteorological measurements in Reykjavík go back 149 years.

The total hours of bright sunshine in Reykjavík so far this year count 1,559.1. The record from 1924 is 1,630.6 hours of bright sunshine, followed by 1,587.1 hours in 2012.

Only four times in just over a century have there been more than 28 hours of bright sunshine in December, which would be needed this year to bring 2019 to second place. That happened in 2010, when the December sun shone for 31.8 hours, in 1976, 2009 and 1981, when the bright sunshine hours were 30,2, 29.2 and 29.1, respectively.

So far this year, average temperatures in the country are above average. In Reykjavík, the average temperature for the first 11 months of the year was 6.3° C (43° F), which is 1.6 degrees above the 1961-1990 average, and 0.4 degrees  above that of the past decade. These figures put 2019 in 6^th or 7^th place historically.

In Akureyri, North Iceland, the average temperature for the first 11 months of the year was 4.8° C (41° F), which is 1.1 degrees above the 1961-1990 average, but 0.2 degrees below that of the past decade.

So far this year, precipitation in Reykjavík and Akureyri has been 11 and 15 percent above average, respectively.