The climate in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Climate zone: Moderate zone of the northern hemisphere

The climate in Bosnia and Herzegovina is quite varied, but generally does not offer extreme climatic conditions. It is cold, wet and some nice summer months are also present. Due to the warmer temperatures the best time for traveling is from June to August. Less attractive are the cold months from November to March.

Temperature records of the last 67 years

The hottest temperature measured from 1955 to March 2022 was reported by the Mostar weather station. In August 2007 the record temperature of 43.1 °C was reported here. The hottest summer from July to September, based on all 4 weather stations in Bosnia and Herzegovina below 630 metres altitude, was recorded in 2012 with an average temperature of 24.8 °C. This average temperature will normally be measured every 4 to 6 hours, thus also including the nights. Normally, this value is 21.0 degrees Celsius. The average maximum daily temperature at that time was 32.1 °C.

The coldest day in these 67 years was reported by the weather station Tuzla. Here the temperature dropped to -22.0 °C in February 2012. Tuzla lies at an altitude of 307 meters above sea level. The coldest winter (January to March) was in 1956 with an average temperature of -1.9 °C. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, it is usual to have about 6.5 degrees more at 4.6 °C for this three-month period.

The most precipitation fell in December 1999. With 15.1 mm per day, the Mostar weather station recorded the highest monthly average of the last 67 years.

Long-term development of temperatures from 1991 - 2021

In contrast to single record values, a long-term development cannot simply be brought about by all weather stations in the country. Both the number and the locations are constantly changing. A simply calculated average value would give a falsified result. If several measuring stations in particularly cold mountain or coastal regions are added in one year, the average would already decrease as a result of this alone. If a station fails during the summer or winter months, it does not provide any values and falsifies the average again. The subsequent long-term development was therefore reduced to only 1 measuring points in order to have actually comparable data over as long a period as possible.

In the years 1991 to 2021 there were only these 1 weather stations in the whole country, which reported continuous temperature values (Mostar). From these weather reports we have created a long-term development that shows the monthly average temperatures. The hottest month in this entire period was July 2015 with 29.3 °C. February 2012 was the coldest month with an average temperature of 1.6 °C.

The average annual temperature was about 15.2 °C in the years after 1991 and about 16.3 °C in the last years before 2021. So in less than 31 years it has increased by about 1.1 °C. This trend only applies to the selected 1 weather stations in Bosnia and Herzegovina. A considerably more comprehensive evaluation of the global warming has been provided separately.

Data basis and methodology

The data of the individual measuring stations are based on the archives of the German Weather Service, individual values averaged and supplemented by own elements. In order to determine a representative national average, average values were first calculated for each part of the country, which were then summarized at the national level.