Despite early snowfall, Prague unlikely to see a white Christmas this year

While Prague is blanketed under a light cover of snowfall this weekend, the Czech capital is unlikely to experience a white Christmas, according to the latest forecast from meteorologists at the Czech Hydrometeorological Institute (CHMI). Other Czech locales, meanwhile, will be a bit luckier.

Temperatures across the country are expected to see deep lows this weekend, with an extreme frost warning issued by the Institute from 8 p.m. this evening through 9 a.m. Sunday morning. Areas across the country, including Prague, could see temperatures dip as far as 16 degrees below zero Celsius overnight.

"As the night of Saturday 17th December to Sunday 18th December will be mostly cloudless and there will be a blanket of snow everywhere, temperatures will drop to between 9 and 14 degrees below zero Celsius, with occasional lows of up to minus 16 degrees Celsius", the (CHMI) writes.

"It is recommended to protect yourself with multiple layers of warm clothing and suitable footwear. Small children, the elderly, and sick citizens should limit the length of their stay outside. Warm drinks, food, and exercise help against the cold."

Despite the extreme low temperatures, however, a warm front is expected to heat up the country just in time for the Christmas holidays next weekend. In Prague, temperatures are forecast to hit highs of up to 8 degrees Celsius by Friday.

Despite the current snowfall, the CHMI gives Prague just a 20 percent chance to see a white Christmas this year. That's slightly better than Plzeň, which the Institute gives a 15 percent chance to see snowfall during the Christmas weekend.

Cities in Moravia, meanwhile have a better chance of seeing a white Christmas this year. The CHMI gives Brno a 35 percent chance of seeing snowfall next weekend, while Ostrava has the highest probability of a white Christmas of the country's major cities at 65 percent.

Of course, areas of the Czech Republic at high elevation are all but assured to experience a white Christmas. Lysá hora in the Beskydy mountains, which currently has 72 centimeters of snow on the ground, and Pec pod Sněžkou, which has 25 centimeters on the ground, will both keep their snow despite the elevated temperatures across the country.

"We determine the probability based on how much snow is lying in a given location, how much is expected to fall according to the forecast, and based on the temperatures we expect by Christmas," CHMI spokesperson Aneta Beránková explains.

"For example, there is already so much snow on Lysá hora at the moment that it will definitely not melt [by Christmas]."

Prague hasn't had a much luck seeing a white Christmas in recent years; this century, the Czech capital has experienced a true white Christmas just twice, in 2001 and 2010. Over the past 60 years, Prague has had about a 28 percent probability of having a white Christmas.