Mild coast, frosty north-east: a climate map

Winter draws the map

The climate normals for 1991-2020 describe a country where the sea shapes the winter far more than the summer. The lowest mean temperature of the coldest month, −4.3 °C, is found in Švenčionys District Municipality, and the highest, −0.6 °C, in Neringa Municipality. For the warmest month the extremes are only 17.4 °C and 19.1 °C, so the climate varies much more in winter than in summer.

Frost follows the same pattern. The lowest count of frost days per year, 65, belongs to Neringa Municipality, while the highest count, 126, belongs to Švenčionys District Municipality. Between those extremes, the capital Vilnius City Municipality has 113 frost days a year, more than the port city of Klaipėda City Municipality with 85. Inland, Kaunas City Municipality has 105.

The figure below lists the ten municipalities with the highest number of frost days. It is dominated by municipalities in Utena County, together with those around the capital and the regional city of Šiauliai City Municipality, which appears on the list itself.

Heating needs and the shape of the land

Heating degree days condense the length and severity of the cold season into a single number. The highest value, 4,148, is found in Zarasai District Municipality, and the lowest, 3,530, in Neringa Municipality, while the median municipality stands at 3,884.

Location matters in ways that distance from the capital would not suggest. The regional city of Šiauliai City Municipality has more heating degree days than the capital Vilnius City Municipality, 4,076 against 3,923, even though it lies further west. The port city of Klaipėda City Municipality has only 3,580. Over the whole year the mean temperature is 8.3 °C in Klaipėda City Municipality, 7.4 °C in Vilnius City Municipality and 6.7 °C in Zarasai District Municipality, against 7.5 °C in the median municipality.

Altitude explains part of the picture, but only a small part, because nothing here resembles a mountain range. The highest average altitude, 176 m, is found in Šalčininkai District Municipality, and the lowest, 12 m, in Palanga City Municipality. The higher ground lies inland and to the east, away from the moderating influence of the sea.

The map therefore has two ingredients: distance from the Baltic and, to a lesser degree, altitude. The coastal strip has the gentlest winters, the interior gets colder as one moves east, and the north-east records the longest cold season.

Rain and snow come in from the sea

Annual precipitation is led by the coast. The highest total, 860 mm, is recorded in Neringa Municipality, and the lowest, 605 mm, in Joniškis District Municipality. The figure below lists the ten municipalities with the highest precipitation; they are concentrated in the west of the country.

Winter shows the sea effect most clearly. Precipitation from December to February runs from 109 mm to 200 mm, with the lowest total in Joniškis District Municipality and the highest in Neringa Municipality. In summer the contrast fades: the totals run only from 212 mm to 251 mm.

What falls from the sky also differs. In Neringa Municipality snow accounts for 11% of annual precipitation and in Klaipėda City Municipality for 13%, while in Ignalina District Municipality it reaches 21% and in Zarasai District Municipality 20%.

Summer warmth belongs to the south

In summer the map is turned around. The highest mean temperature of the warmest month, 19.1 °C, is recorded in Druskininkai Municipality, while the lowest, 17.4 °C, is recorded in Telšiai District Municipality. The gap is smaller than in winter, yet it still separates the south from the north-west.

Cooling degree days, which add up the warmth above a comfort threshold, tell a similar story. The highest value, 18, is found in Druskininkai Municipality, against 10 in the median municipality. The figures remain small in absolute terms, which is typical of a cool temperate climate.

Reading the normals with care

The normals are estimates for each municipality, and small differences should not be over-read. Municipalities that share the same value, or that differ by only a fraction of a degree, are effectively tied, and a ranking among them says little. The large gaps are the ones that count: the sea against the interior, the south against the north-west.

These patterns also change little from one year to the next, because they reflect geography. A cold winter or a hot summer shifts every municipality together, while the order between the coast, the capital region and the north-east stays much the same. The links below lead to the full rankings and to the county pages where neighbouring municipalities can be compared.