On Thursday, the highest air temperature in the country reached +13.9 degrees in Gulbene and Madona, setting a new national heat record for March 12, according to data from the Latvian Environment, Geology and Meteorology Centre (LCSGM).
The previous record was +13.5 degrees in 1997 in Mersrags.
The local heat record was broken at 13 observation points: at the meteorological stations of Aluksne, Dagda, Daugavpils, Gulbene, Madona, Priekuli, Rezekne, Riga, Rujiena, Skriveri, Skulte, Zilani, and Zoseni.
At 16:00, the air temperature in the LCSGM observation network ranged from +4 degrees in the ports of Liepaja and Ventspils to +13.5 degrees in Rezekne.
Over the past two weeks, heat records were recorded on nine days, with a total of 61 temperature records broken.
In the morning, the first thunderstorm of the year was recorded in some areas of central and eastern Latvia. Several dozen lightning strikes were registered across the country, with the highest activity observed in the southern part of the Vidzeme Highlands - around Madona.
