The climate of Budapest is temperate and transitional — somewhere between the mild, rainy weather of Transdanubia, the variable continental climate of the flat and open Great Plain to the east and the almost sub-Mediterranean weather of the south. Budapest has four distinct seasons with great variability within the seasons.[1].
| Climate data for Budapest | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 18.1 (64.6) |
19.7 (67.5) |
25.4 (77.7) |
30.2 (86.4) |
34.0 (93.2) |
39.5 (103.1) |
40.7 (105.3) |
39.4 (102.9) |
35.2 (95.4) |
30.8 (87.4) |
22.6 (72.7) |
19.3 (66.7) |
40.7 (105.3) |
| Average high °C (°F) | 1.2 (34.2) |
4.5 (40.1) |
10.2 (50.4) |
16.3 (61.3) |
21.4 (70.5) |
24.4 (75.9) |
26.5 (79.7) |
26.0 (78.8) |
22.1 (71.8) |
16.1 (61.0) |
8.1 (46.6) |
3.1 (37.6) |
15.0 (59.0) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | −1.6 (29.1) |
1.1 (34.0) |
5.6 (42.1) |
11.1 (52.0) |
15.9 (60.6) |
19.0 (66.2) |
20.8 (69.4) |
20.2 (68.4) |
16.4 (61.5) |
11.0 (51.8) |
4.8 (40.6) |
0.4 (32.7) |
10.4 (50.7) |
| Average low °C (°F) | −4 (24.8) |
−1.7 (28.9) |
1.7 (35.1) |
6.3 (43.3) |
10.8 (51.4) |
13.9 (57.0) |
15.4 (59.7) |
14.9 (58.8) |
11.5 (52.7) |
6.7 (44.1) |
2.1 (35.8) |
−1.8 (28.8) |
6.3 (43.3) |
| Record low °C (°F) | −25.6 (−14.1) |
−23.4 (−10.1) |
−15.1 (4.8) |
−4.6 (23.7) |
−1.6 (29.1) |
3.0 (37.4) |
5.9 (42.6) |
5.0 (41.0) |
−3.1 (26.4) |
−9.5 (14.9) |
−16.4 (2.5) |
−20.8 (−5.4) |
−25.6 (−14.1) |
| Precipitation mm (inches) | 38.5 (1.516) |
36.7 (1.445) |
37.4 (1.472) |
47.2 (1.858) |
64.5 (2.539) |
69.8 (2.748) |
50.4 (1.984) |
49.5 (1.949) |
42.7 (1.681) |
46.9 (1.846) |
59.9 (2.358) |
49.3 (1.941) |
592.8 (23.339) |
| Sunshine hours | 55 | 84 | 137 | 182 | 230 | 248 | 274 | 255 | 197 | 156 | 67 | 48 | 1,933 |
| Source: www.met.hu[2] | |||||||||||||
Contents |
Spring is usually glorious with abundant sunshine and scattered showers. The temperature starts to rise markedly in April, highs usually reach the 25°C mark at the end of the month, though short cold spells with lows in the 0-5°C zone and ground frost may strike even in mid-May.
Summers have a split personality: prolonged hot periods with highs between 32-35°C interchange with short, cooler, wet periods following cold fronts from the West with highs between 18-25°C. Humidity is occasionally high in summer mostly secondary to the influence of the mediterranean. However in general the heat is dry, and nighttime temperatures are very pleasant especially in the residential suburbs. In the asphalt jungle of Pest however temperatures above 25°C at midnight are not uncommon. Thunderstorms, some of them can be violent with heavy gusts and torrential rainfall are not rare. Budapest marks the northernmost point for hot summers on the continent. The highest temperature ever recorded was 40,7°C on July 20, 2007.[3]
Highs can stay above 20°C until the end of October. Nights get colder and the first frost arrives usually in the second week of October. Short cool spells vary with brilliant weather, the Indian Summer can last for weeks on end. November brings abundant rain, sometimes snow and a drastic fall in temperature (a 10°C fall throughout the month).
Winters are variable and unpredictable. Westerly winds bring mild oceanic air with highs between 5-10°C, almost no frost and scattered rain or snow showers. Depressions moving in from the Mediterranean Sea can bring snowstorms with 20–40 cm falling in a single day, followed by bitter cold air from Russia. Atlantic depressions and south wind can bring unusually warm weather with highs reaching 15°C even in January. The Siberian high brings every other year a brilliantly sunny but very cold period lasting for a week or two with lows in the -15-20°C range. Anticyclones with centres above Western Europe produce cold inversion fog with no change in day and night-time temperatures, they stay around or a bit under 0°C. The fog can last for weeks on end. Mediterranean depressions moving above the inversion fog layer can bring a day or two of freezing rain.[4][5][6]