The mid-November chill seems to have skipped the Sumava Mountains once more. On Friday afternoon, thermometers there showed a surprising 21°C — warmer than in many lowland cities. Even before noon, the mountain town of Kašperské Hory basked in spring-like warmth under a clear sky.
The unexpected heat wave was driven by a flow of exceptionally warm, dry air combined with a strong temperature inversion, which kept the lower valleys cool while mountain slopes enjoyed a fén-like warming. According to František Vavruška from the Czech Hydrometeorological Institute (ČHMÚ), Friday’s 21°C reading in Kašperské Hory broke the local November record from 1967 by nearly three degrees.
Data from the Šumava weather stations tell a consistent story. In Churáňov, observers measured 19.7°C — comfortably surpassing the previous high of 17.6°C set in 2010. The village of Kvilda-Perla followed suit with 19.3°C, a sharp climb above the 2002 record of 14.5°C. Even Pohoří na Šumavě, located in the Novohradské Mountains, reached 20.7°C, crushing its former record of 14.3°C from 2020.
While mountaintops basked in near-summer warmth, the lower elevations remained seasonally cool. Cities and towns between Prague and Brno reported maximum daytime temperatures of just 5 to 10°C — a striking contrast born of the inversion layer separating the plains from the peaks.
Meteorologists expect the warm spell to persist through the weekend, though the temperature disparities between highlands and valleys should begin to ease. By Monday, a cold front moving in from the west is forecast to break the inversion, bringing a swift return to more typical November chill across the Czech Republic.
The recent extremes underscore how volatile this year’s weather has been across Central Europe — a reminder of how shifting atmospheric currents can blur the lines between autumn and spring, even deep into November.