Cold snap in Czechia expected after record-warm October temperatures

A cold snap is expected in Czechia this weekend following an unprecedented warm October, ČTK reports. The daily highs will not exceed 13 degrees Celsius, according to the Czech Hydrometeorological Institute (ČHMÚ). This is in stark contrast with the most-recent weekend, where daily highs were over 25 degrees Celsius in several Czech regions.

Although daily highs will go up to 12 to 13 degrees Celsius, reasonable for this time of the year, the lows will drop to 1 degree Celsius this weekend in parts of the country, such as in Jihlava and Pardubice. On Friday, the majority of the country will experience rainfall, which is forecast to continue on Saturday in the east of the country.

It will get substantially colder from next weekend onwards, with lows forecast to fall close to, or below, freezing in parts of the country in less than two weeks. Although the Krkonoše mountains received their first snowfall earlier this year, no substantial snowfall is expected in the mountainous regions of the country until the end of the month.

Data shows that the average high temperature in Prague during November is about 7 degrees Celsius and the average low is 2 degrees Celsius. 

The coldest-ever November day in Czechia was recorded in 1858, when the temperature dropped to a freezing -16.9 degrees Celsius, according to the ČHMÚ. The warmest, an impressive 19.5 degrees Celsius, was in 1970.

The chilly November follows an unusually warm October, where temperatures reached as high as 26 degrees Celsius in Vimperk, South Bohemia. Several regions in the second half of October registered record-high temperatures for a specific day. For example, on Oct. 30, over 85 weather stations across Czechia recorded daily records. The same was the case on Oct. 16, when 19 weather stations measured new highs. 

The ČHMÚ released data today showing that 2022 had one of the warmest Octobers ever recorded in Prague, ČTK reports, at 2 degrees Celsius higher than the average of recent decades.

October’s warm weather may be indicative of climate change in Czechia and Europe. According to the World Meteorological Organization, Europe is the most at-risk continent for global warming and a dangerous increase in temperatures, ČT24 reports. Temperatures in Europe increased substantially from 1991 to 2021, at an average rate of approximately 0.5 degrees Celsius per decade.