SEASONS: Munich has a four-season year. Spring (mid-April through May) brings frequent spells of warmer weather, and a burgeoning of new growth. Summer (June through August) features long days and full foliage. Autumn (September and October) comes with shortening days and the fall of leaves. Winter (November through mid-April) is the season of cold and snow, with the trees standing with bare branches. Munich's elevation (some 1,700 feet above sea level) makes all the seasons about 5░ cooler than similar places at lower elevations.
SUNNIEST MONTHS: July and August are the only two months that get sunshine on more than half of their daylight hours in most years. In general, some 41% of the year's daylight hours will be sunny--from a high of 52% in August, to a low of 19% in December.
September will get the most clear days, about one day in four. December, on the other hand, will pass most of its days with no visible sunshine at all.
WARMEST MONTHS: June through the first few days in September. During these months, afternoons are mild to warm, and rarely hot. Nights are generally cool, and occasionally crisp. The hottest actual temperature of the year will be around 88░ (it will feel like only 86░), and will probably occur in July.
During this season, only a few nights will be hot enough that you will sleep better with some sort of room-cooling. Usually an open window is more than sufficient.
COOLEST MONTHS: Early November through the first few days in April. At this time of year, you can expect frosty mornings on more than half of the days--four out of five from early December through February. During this last-mentioned period, you should be ready for afternoon temperatures to remain below freezing on about a third of the days. The coldest temperature of the year will be around -1░, and will probably occur in January.
Snowfalls are common during the winter months. The ground is usually both frozen and snow-covered for much of the winter. During the winter, most of the precipitation occurs as snow--with an occasional dash of freezing rain. It takes from ten to fifteen inches of snow (depending upon how "wet" it is) to melt down to one inch of precipitation.
DRIEST MONTHS: March in late winter, and September and October in the autumn. Some 48% of the year's days will get no measurable precipitation; that is, they will get less than a hundredth of an inch. March will have 55% such days, whereas June will get only 40%. A "dry day" in the table, however, is one with less than a tenth of an inch--a more useful measure. It takes at least that much to wet the ground under the trees.
Most of this precipitation comes from the passing frontal systems that characterize all of Europe. Some of the summer rain is due to local thunderstorm systems, while much of the winter precipitation comes from the clouds formed when winds from the north are forced to rise on their approach to the Alpine highlands.
THINGS TO KNOW: Munich gets frequent spells of f÷ehn weather. These are periods of unusually warm and dry winds that descend from the Alps to the south. During the winter months, they frequently clear the skies of much of the cloud cover, and melt any snow that may be lying around.
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