🇭🇷Croatia

Croatia is a Central European country spanning approximately 56,594 km² between 42°23′–46°33′N on the eastern Adriatic. The nation divides into three distinct natural regions: the Pannonian lowland in the north encompassing Zagreb and Slavonia, the mountainous Dinaric Alps spine crowned by Dinara at 1,831 meters (the country's highest peak), and the long Adriatic coastline with over 1,200 islands.

This topographic diversity creates a pronounced climate gradient from temperate oceanic and humid continental (Cfb/Dfb) across the Pannonian interior and inland mountains to hot-summer Mediterranean (Csa) along the Adriatic coast and islands including Split, Dubrovnik, and Hvar, with subarctic conditions (Dfc) on the highest Dinaric peaks. Regional winds (the cold dry Bora, the warm Sirocco, and Mediterranean frontal storms) strongly modulate local weather patterns.

Zagreb in the continental interior sees January highs of 5°C with nights of −2°C and July highs of 28°C, with 870 mm annual rainfall and snowy winters. Split on the Adriatic coast sees January highs of 11°C with nights of 6°C and July highs of 31°C, with 800 mm and dry summers, while Dubrovnik has January highs of 12°C with nights of 7°C and July highs of 28°C, with 1,060 mm. Osijek in continental Slavonia experiences harsh winters, with January highs of 3°C and nights of −3°C, and July highs of 28°C, with 660 mm precipitation. Rijeka on the Kvarner Gulf sees January highs of 9°C with nights of 3°C and July highs of 29°C, with 1,590 mm, and unlike most Mediterranean towns sees no summer drought. Velebit's high station at Zavižan stays near −1°C by day and −6°C at night in its coldest months, and ferocious Bora gusts reached a record 248 km/h at the Maslenica Bridge in 1998.

Our archive covers 2 Croatian cities with daily ERA5 reanalysis data going back to 1940. Comparing the last decade against the 1940–1970 baseline, mean temperatures across these cities have risen by about 2.1°C.