NOS News•today, 10:22
Cold and rain every year during King’s Day on April 27, while Queen’s Day on April 30 used to be sunny. Is that a feeling that is not based on facts among many people, or is the weather on King’s Day really worse than before on Queen’s Day, just three days later?
“I have come to a quite surprising conclusion for myself,” said weather forecaster Roosmarijn Knol, who checked it out, in the radio program NOS With an Eye on Tomorrow. “You might think: what difference do those three days make? But if you look at the weather statistics, it turns out that there is a difference between the days.”
What about that? “On April 27 it is on average 15 degrees and on April 30 it is more than 16 degrees. So April 27 is no less than one degree colder than April 30,” says Knol. “In addition, it also rains more on that day. So in several areas the weather is really less on King’s Day than on Queen’s Day.”
Knol himself was surprised by this. “I thought it might be a few tenths of a degree. Not more than 1 degree. That is really quite a difference.”
‘Not one clear cause’
It is difficult to explain that it is colder and wetter on April 27, says Knol. “It could be that that day is a bit closer to winter and that it is therefore a bit more changeable. You could also say that it has become a bit warmer in recent years and that the atmosphere contains more moisture. That is also the trend that we keep seeing with climate change. But there is not one clear cause.”
The warmest April 27 and 30 are not far apart, says Knol. “The warmest Queen’s Day was in 1993, when it was 27 degrees. The warmest April 27 was in 2007, when it was 27.3 degrees. That was not yet a holiday. The warmest King’s Day was 2020 with 20.3 degrees.”
According to Knol, the weather forecast for King’s Night and King’s Day does not look rosy this year either. “We are coming out of a changeable weather picture and that will continue during King’s Night. It will be quite a cold night, with temperatures between 3 and 6 degrees Celsius. Tomorrow during the day it will not be much warmer than 16, 17 degrees. That temperature is not once so low, but from time to time there are showers over the country. So if you are at the flea market or partying outside, you can get a shower like this.”
The Red Cross even warns of low temperatures during King’s Night and in the early morning of King’s Day. According to the aid organization, people would do well to have a sweater or jacket with them. “Certainly during King’s Night and in the early morning, for lovers of dress markets, this is not an unnecessary luxury,” says the Red Cross.
The aid organization is present today and tomorrow at approximately 120 locations throughout the Netherlands. In Amsterdam and Utrecht, among others, there are permanent posts with emergency responders throughout the city, and three or four volunteers from the Red Cross will be present at small events.
About 5 degrees on King’s Night is not a very pleasant prospect for people who walk around outside. Yet it can always be colder, says Knol. “Last year it was 1.2 degrees below zero. And the coldest night was Queen’s Night of 1954, when it froze 2.5 degrees.”
