This February was the warmest on record in the Czech Republic since records began in 1961, surpassing typical March temperatures in most years. According to the Czech Hydrometeorological Institute (CHMU), the average temperature reached 5.7 degrees Celsius, exceeding the 1991-2020 standard by 6.1 degrees. This remarkable deviation was announced in a press release issued this week.
“February 2024 was significantly warmer (by 2.0 degrees Celsius) than the warmest February so far recorded between 1966 and 2020. Such a high positive deviation has not been recorded for any month in the period since 1961,” said CHMU.
During ten days in February, mostly in the first half of the month, the deviation of the average temperature from the standard was more than seven degrees Celsius.
“Thus, this February was even warmer than most months of March; according to the average temperature it would rank as the fifth warmest March,” CHMU added.
February also had high precipitation, on average more than 150% of the standard precipitation for the period in the Czech Republic.
Due to the exceptionally warm weather, the vegetation woke up much earlier this year and the “phenological pre-spring” started five weeks ahead of schedule. The pollen season started earlier, in the first decade of February. First the hazel trees bloomed, and now also alders, poplars, yews and willows. Among the spring herbs, people can see snowdrops and snowflakes, crocuses and liverworts, and the first leaves of marsh marigolds and anemones are appearing.
According to CHMU, the whole winter has been very warm and rainy. The average temperature reached 2.4 degrees Celsius and thus this winter has been so far the second warmest after the winter of 2006/2007. Meteorologists plan to publish a detailed assessment of the winter in the coming days.
