Climate - Prague (Czech Republic)

The climate of Prague, the Czech capital, is moderately continental, characterized by cold winters, with temperatures often below freezing (0 °C or 32 °F), and mild or pleasantly warm summers.
The city is located in the central-western part of Czechia, 250 meters (820 feet) above sea level (although there are nine hills, the highest of which is Petřín, 327 meters or 1,073 feet high).
Here are the average temperatures.

Precipitation is not abundant, in fact, it amounts to 530 millimeters (21 inches) per year, but it is well distributed over the months, with a maximum between the second part of spring and the summer, and a minimum in winter, when it usually occurs in the form of snow or sleet.
Here is the average precipitation.

Winter, from December to February, is cold: the average temperature is slightly below freezing. Owing to the stagnation of cold air in the lowest layers, there are many gray days, with snow typically light but quite frequent.
On the other hand, cold air masses of Siberian origin can lead to intense frosts, with temperatures plunging below -20 °C (-4 °F). Here are some values recorded in particularly cold winters: February 1940: -29 °C (-20 °F); February 1956: -28 °C (-18 °F); January 1982: -24 °C (-11 °F); January: 1985: -25 °C (-13 °F); January 1987: -24 °C (-11 °F); December 1996: -23 °C (-9 °F); February 2012: -22 °C (-8 °F).

Spring, from March to May, is a season characterized by unstable weather, with the first warm days, but also the return of cold weather, with possible snow showers and frosts in March, but sometimes also in April. In early May, it can still be cold, with lows near freezing. Typically, the temperature becomes mild in a more stable manner by the second half of May, the month when the first afternoon thunderstorms also begin to erupt.

Summer, from June to August, is very mild or pleasantly warm: daytime temperatures hover around 22 °C (71.5 °F) in June and 24 °C (75 °F) in July and August. Atlantic fronts can affect this area in this season as well, bringing a bit of rain. On the contrary, in fine weather, thunderstorms can break out in the afternoon.
In July and August, it can sometimes get hot, but all in all, the days when the temperature exceeds 30 °C (86 °F) are rare. However, the temperature reached 36 °C (97 °F) in July 1994, 37 °C (98.5 °F) in August 2003, 37.4 °C (99.3 °F) in August 2012, 36 °C (97 °F) in July and August 2015, and 37 °C (98.5 °F) on 30 June 2019.

In Autumn, the first half of September is still pleasant, then it gradually becomes gray and cloudy, with quite frequent rains. Already in October, the daytime temperature often remains below 15 °C (59 °F). The first snowfalls usually occur in November, which is in any case a cold month.



The amount of sunshine in Prague is decent from May to August, when sunny days are quite frequent, and there are on average 7 hours of sunshine per day, while it is definitely low from November to February, when there are only 1.5/2.5 hours of sunshine per day. On average, there are 1,670 hours of sunshine per year. Here are the average sunshine hours per day.

The latitude of Prague (50°05'N) is not high enough to observe the phenomenon of the white nights, in which the sun sets but it does not get completely dark even at midnight.
On June 21, the longest day of the year, the sun rises at 4:52 am and sets at 9:15 pm. On August 15, the sun rises at 5:52 am and sets at 8:20 pm. On December 21, the shortest day of the year, the sun rises at 7:58 am and sets at 4:02 pm.

Best Time

The best time to visit Prague runs from mid-May to mid-September, since it is the warmest and sunniest period of the year. Sometimes, it can be hot in July and August, while in other circumstances, nights can be cool or even a little cold even in these months, so it can be useful to bring a sweatshirt or sweater and a light jacket for the evening.