The first day of astronomical winter is not record-breaking warm this year, but as IMWM weather forecaster Ewa Łapińska pointed out, there is a tendency for the temperature in this period to be higher and higher. After the thaw this week, snow has already fallen in the mountains, but there is still little of it. There were four centimeters of white snow in Zakopane on Saturday.
On December 21, the Sun passed the winter solstice, beginning astronomical winter. This year, astronomical winter in the northern hemisphere began on Saturday at 10.20.
On Saturday, the temperature ranged from about 2 degrees Celsius in the east of the country, through 4 degrees C in the center, to 5 degrees C in the west and 7 degrees C in Lower Silesia. IN Zakopane it was the coldest, the temperature there in the afternoon reached 0 degrees Celsius.
“There is a tendency”
– There is a tendency for the temperature to be higher and higher on December 21, but this year is currently not the best among the last ten years – said Ewa Łapińska, forecaster of the Institute of Meteorology and Water Management.
According to her, the warmest beginning of the astronomical winter took place in 2019, when the maximum temperature was 7 degrees Celsius in Warmia and Masuria up to 15 degrees C in Małopolska. That day, the lowest temperature recorded was 2 degrees Celsius in the north of the country.
Over the last thirty years, on December 21, the lowest temperature was recorded in 2009. In the Suwałki region, at the warmest moment of the day, the temperature reached -14 degrees C, while the record minimum temperature was recorded in the south-east and amounted to -22 degrees C. on December 21, 2009. the highest temperature recorded in the country was -1 degrees Celsius in the southwest of the country.
Extremely warm
This year's December is currently being described as very warm, and it's Friday IMWM it was an extremely warm day. The average daily temperature was as high as 11 degrees in some places. In Bielsko-Biała it was 15.5 degrees Celsius, but an even higher value was indicated by the meteorological station in Głuchołazy, where 16.4 degrees Celsius was recorded.
This large increase in temperature in the southern outskirts of Poland was related to the inflow of air from southwestern Europe and from foehn windwhich blows from the mountains towards the valleys, causing rapid warming in those areas.
IN Hel so far in December, no day has been recorded in which the temperature dropped below zero – reported IMWM.
White only in the mountains
If you are looking for snow in Poland, you can only find it in the mountains. After the thaw in the first half of the week, several centimeters had already fallen. On Saturday morning, there was 40 centimeters of snow on Śnieżka and this is the record snow cover currently in our country. 31 cm of snow was recorded on Kasprowy Wierch, and 4 cm in Zakopane.
The latest weather forecast for Christmas shows that white Christmas will most likely only be in the mountains this year. However, forecasters give a chance for snowfall on Christmas Eve also in the lowlands in south-eastern Poland.
Main photo source: PAP/Grzegorz Momot / IMWM