The winter just ending was the fourth warmest on record at the Clementinum weather station in central Prague since 1775, the Czech Hydro-Meteorological Institute said on Thursday.
The average temperature recorded during the winter was 4.6 degrees Celsius; the warmest winter on record in Prague, in 2006/2007, saw an average temperature of 5.8 degrees Celsius.
February was a particularly warm month, according to the Czech Hydrometeorological Institute.
The meteorological winter refers to the period from 1 December to the end of February. The average temperature during this past winter was 2.3 degrees warmer than the reference value calculated on the basis of data from 1991 to 2020.
The second warmest was the winter of 2019/2020, with an average temperature of 5.1 degrees, while the third one in 2015/16, with an average temperature of 4.9 degrees.
In contrast, the coldest winter in the last 247 years was measured by meteorologists in the centre of Prague at the turn of 1829 and 1830. The average temperature dropped to minus 6.1 degrees Celsius.
“February 2022 ranked fourth out of the 248 February so far since 1775, which means that it will fit into two percent of the warmest February during the measurement period,” said meteorologist Pavel Jůza.
The coldest February since 1775 was experienced in the centre of Prague in 1929, with an average temperature of minus 11 degrees Celsius.
The beginning of the Clementinum series is considered to be the year 1775. Until 1783 the series includes gaps in observation times or entire days, but from January 1, 1784 it is continuous and entirely free of gaps as viewed according to modern criteria.
Likewise, atmospheric precipitation (rainfall, snowfall) was measured as early as 1752, but regular and reliable precipitation measurements at the Clementinum only begin on May 1, 1804.
At first, air temperature and pressure were measured twice a day – in the morning (either at sunrise or, in summer, two hours after sunrise) and in the afternoon at around 3 PM.
From 1800 until the end of the year 1839, observations and measurements were performed every two hours starting at sunrise and finishing at 10 PM. After 1840, observations took place every day and every hour from 10 AM until 8 PM.
