Cultural: What's the weather like in Poland

Now that is a good question!

photo from google images

This is one of the most common questions we are asked. Many people visualize Poland as a place that is constantly cold and that people wear Russian styled fur hats all winter long with long fur coats. They think that possibly even the sun doesn't shine on this part of the planet! 

LOL. Of course that's not true!

So...what's it like?

Well, this past week we had a heat wave - it was in the mid 90's F and we were suffering. Because, while it is true that the sun DOES shine on this part of the planet, it is not SE Asia or Central America, and the "norm" is not 80+F for the summer.

The average summer temperature is in the low 70's F around here -  in fact, 64F is the average. according to google for all of Poland - and it gets all the way up to about 75 F.  This year we may have raised that high a bit with this past week's temperatures.  Today, as I write this, we are expected to get up to about 80F, which, while quite warm, is quite a bit cooler than the mid 90'sF.  

For the most part, people do not have air conditioners.

If the temps even approach hot - people head for the Polish beaches. The water in the Baltic Sea never really gets warm - so mostly people just run in the water and come back out quickly.  To be sure they have a warm vacation, many Polish people go abroad to Spain, Turkey or even Egypt.

We often get a lot of rain in the summer.

 We can have a wide variety of weather here - I remember at times needing a heavy sweatshirt in July - but then sometimes it's almost 100 F. It's sometimes quite rainy and sometimes everything is desperately dry.

Because of these average summer temps, you can guess that cooler weather crops grow best in Poland. Things like potatoes, cabbage and broccoli and cauliflower and beets grow well here.  Pumpkins and corn are slower, but can be grown as well - just not quite as quickly or as surely as those other crops.

In the winter, we average just under freezing, at about 28F - with a good bit of the time the temps fluctuate above and below freezing, which frustrates my husband.

He said it is like constantly having "spring thaw" as the ground thaws and freezes - leaving water sitting on top of frozen ground - making for a mess. We will often have snow, but not necessarily a LOT of snow - it might be just enough to cover the ground (see picture below), but not really enough to play in.

In the mountainous region, they tend to get much more snow - which is nice for them since so many depend on the ski industry to make their living.

In summary- we usually have to turn on the heat starting in October and often have to heat through April - this past year, we even had to build a fire in May.

October through April is seven months of the year that we consider it chilly enough to need heat - so, quilts are a welcome addition to most homes here in Poland.

And now you know!

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