Climate characteristic

Spatial distribution and total amount of the precipitation depends on the altitude and wind direction. The northwest prevailing winds bring moisture from the Atlantic Ocean and the windward parts of the mountain ranges (western slopes) have the higher average annual rainfall than the eastern leeward slopes. Generally, the mountain areas and the western parts of the Czech territory have higher average annual rainfall than the lowlands and eastern part of the territory.

Maximum of the precipitation is in the summer (June and July) and minimum in the winter. The winter precipitation could be also the snow (see Fig. 3 below).

Average annual rainfall is 686 m, minimum near town of Žatec in Central Bohemia (410 mm) and maximum on the Lysá hora Mt. in eastern Silesia (1391 mm). The mountain areas have annual rainfall above 1200 mm and the driest parts of the CR below 500 mm (northwestern Bohemia, Prague area). The area with the lowest amount of annual rainfall are under the influence of so called rain shadow of the Krušné hory Mts.

Fig. 1. Spatial distribution of the average annual precipitation 1981-2010 (Source: Czech Hydrometeorological Institute).

Fig. 2. Monthly average precipitation in 2019 (blue), long-term average (orange) and deviation from average (grey) (Source: Czech Hydrometeorological Institute).

Fig. 3. Average seasonal snow cover depths in 1961-2000 (Source: Atlas of the landscape of the Czech Republic).