March 9, 2020 - Temperatures will reach 20 degrees in parts of Croatia this week and above average temperatures are expected Wednesday through Friday. Local meteorologists share their thoughts on whether Winter is officially over.

The Croatia State Meteorological Institute posted a forecast for the coming week and, as things stand, temperatures will rise quite a bit, according to Željka Orešković/Telegram on March 9, 2020. It looks like weather will be spring-like, with alternating sun and clouds, and there may be a few brief showers. However, that doesn’t mean that the definitive end of winter has arrived.

Telegram consulted with the experts, N1 television meteorologist, Tea Blažević, and Nova TV meteorologist, Darius Brzoja, and asked them to provide more detail about what to expect this week. They agreed that we cannot expect a long-term weather stabilization and that the end of Winter cannot yet be confirmed.

Croatia Temperatures Will Reach 20 Degrees Celsius

"The temperature will rise, especially on Wednesday and Thursday. On Wednesday, the Banovina and Kordun areas will be the warmest, where temperatures will reach 20 degrees. On Thursday, however, we can expect temperatures ​​around 20 degrees for most of the interior, and up to 21 in some places, which is definitely above average,” Blažević predicts, adding that she would not speculate on the end of winter because this is quite short-term. Meteorologist Brzoja agreed with her assessment.

"This week will be warmer, especially on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. In many parts of the country temperatures will reach 20 degrees. It will be warm even in the highlands, where it will be at least 15 degrees, if not more. It will be the same in coastal areas. However, sea temperatures are still cool during the beginning of spring, which does not allow air temperatures to rise as they would on land. Maybe temperatures will hover around 20 degrees along the Southern Adriatic,” he added.

Although it will be mostly dry and sunny until Friday, it will get worse by the end of the week. "Toward the end of the week temperatures will fall again, and they could be even slightly lower than average. This will be compounded by worsening conditions expected on Friday. By Friday it will be mostly dry with light showers at night from Monday to Tuesday,” Blažević says. Brzoja adds that Tuesday will be cool but will be warmer than today.

Dario Pribeg | Unsplash

Dry with Intermittent Clouds This Weekend

Although the forecasts for the weekend are a bit more uncertain, except for the rain from Friday to Saturday, it should be relatively dry with intermittent clouds. "It's not going to be a completely sunny weekend. It may rain early Saturday, but mostly dry throughout the day. Problems may arise from by a storm near Velebit. It is expected to start at the end of Friday, and continue into the night on Saturday, which could cause traffic problems,” Blažević says.

Dario Brzoja, on the other hand, foresees colder mornings: “Wednesday to Friday will be a beautiful introduction to spring. It's first sign of Spring, so people will enjoy it and feel the spring coming. However, he emphasized that the mornings will be quite chilly. It will be between 0 and 5 degrees inland, which means that everyone should dress appropriately (in layers) to stay warm enough in the morning and not get too hot in the afternoon."

Follow our Lifestyle page for updates on the arrival of Spring 2020 in Croatia.