Sjenica Falls to 3 Degrees Tonight, Heat Back by Wednesday
After a weekend of 38-degree heat and no rain, the summer's coldest night is here, just 3 to 4 degrees in Sjenica. Then heat returns: RHMZ says 36, meteorologist Djuric says 37 on Wednesday.
Did we get the cooldown forecast wrong? Partly. The cold front arrived, but without a single drop of rain, and now the coldest night of the summer so far is ahead of us, followed immediately by a fresh spell of heat.
We reported that the weekend would bring 37 degrees and that real cooling wouldn’t arrive until September 10. Since then, the picture has changed. On Saturday, September 5, temperatures in Serbia hit 38 degrees, highest in the central, eastern and southeastern regions, where the heat also sparked wildfires. Late in the day the cold front reached Vojvodina, then Belgrade and central Serbia by evening, and later the south and east of the country, accompanied by very strong northwest winds. There was no rain, just a cooldown.
How Cold Was Sunday
Around noon on Sunday, temperatures ranged from 25 to 30 degrees, with 28 in Belgrade. Kopaonik recorded 16, while Zlatibor and Sjenica each measured 22. Serbia’s Republic Hydrometeorological Service (RHMZ) forecast a Sunday high of 28 to 32 degrees, with lows ranging from 14 in the southeast to 22 in the Timok Krajina region, and 19 to 29 in Belgrade. Winds were light to moderate from the northwest, occasionally strong, especially in the east of the country.
Why Tonight Will Be So Cold
The night between Sunday and Monday will be clear and very cold, caused by strong radiative heat loss from the ground. That’s why the swing is so sharp: there are no clouds to trap the day’s warmth.
By region:
- Belgrade and the Timok and Negotin Krajina regions: down to 14 degrees
- Mountain areas: around 5 degrees
- The Pester Plateau and Sjenica: 3 to 4 degrees, locally even lower
- Elsewhere: mostly 6 to 10 degrees
If you’re in those areas, tonight calls for a heavier blanket and a closed window, not the light summer sheet you’ve been using the past few weeks.
Monday and Tuesday: Real Summer Weather, Without the Heat
Monday is forecast to be sunny and warm, genuine summer weather but without extreme heat, with highs of 28 to 32 degrees. For the start of the week, RHMZ forecasts highs of 30 to 33 degrees.
Wednesday: 36 or 37 Degrees
Here the sources disagree. RHMZ’s forecast for Wednesday puts the high at up to 36 degrees. Meteorologist Djordje Djuric goes a step further.
“It will be very warm again on Tuesday and Wednesday, and downright hot on Wednesday, with temperatures reaching up to 37 degrees,” Djuric said in his weather forecast.
A one degree difference sounds trivial, but it’s enough to decide whether you pack a water bottle in your bag or not.
When the Real Rain Arrives
The heat won’t break until after Wednesday. In its seven day forecast, RHMZ states:
“Late in the day on Wednesday in the western regions, and from Thursday elsewhere, variable cloudiness is expected along with frequent rain and local thunderstorms, accompanied by falling temperatures.”
Djuric adds that the change won’t be gentle.
“From Thursday there will be a sharp change in the weather and a cooldown, and from Friday the weather across Serbia will finally match the calendar,” the meteorologist said.
Three Things to Do Before Tonight
- Close your windows in the evening, not the morning. The sharpest temperature drop comes in the hours before dawn, so save the airing out for the afternoon.
- Keep a heavier blanket within reach, even if you put it away last week because of the heat. The difference between tonight and Wednesday is more than 30 degrees.
- Don’t plan a night trip to Pester or Sjenica without a jacket. Three to four degrees means frost on the grass at dawn.
Our advice is simple: don’t pack away your summer clothes just yet. Wednesday still calls for a short sleeved shirt, and by Thursday a heavier layer won’t hurt.
