The Czech Hydrometeorological Institute is the state institution responsible for monitoring and forecasting weather, climate and hydrological phenomena; its roots go back to the State Meteorological Institute founded in Prague in 1919.
The Czech Hydrometeorological Institute, abbreviated ČHMÚ, is a state institution based in Komořany in Prague. It is responsible for monitoring weather, climate and hydrological phenomena across the country and for forecasting them.[1]
Tasks
According to its website, the institute provides meteorological and hydrological information, issues warnings about extreme weather and takes part in protecting people and property. Together with scientific institutions and foreign organisations, the ČHMÚ carries out research and development in meteorology, hydrology and air quality.[1]
History to 1969
After the end of the First World War, in 1919, a number of experts left the Vienna institution for the Czech lands and founded the State Meteorological Institute in Prague. It was to collect and scientifically process observations from the territory of Czechoslovakia, support meteorological research, take part in international cooperation, compile weather forecasts daily and, at the request of the authorities, issue official expert opinions. Its first director was Rudolf Schneider (1881–1955), who had previously worked at the central institute in Vienna.[2]
The hydrological and meteorological services were long organised separately. They were merged in 1953, with effect from 1 January 1954, when the Hydrometeorological Institute was created. In the 1950s, units were set up for aerology, hydrological forecasting, publications and the library, atmospheric radioactivity, and climatology. In 1963 construction began on hydrological centres in Brno, Ostrava, Ústí nad Labem, Prague, Hradec Králové, České Budějovice and Plzeň, which form the basis of today's seven branches. In 1967 a third field, air quality protection, was incorporated into the institute.[2]
From 1969
In 1969, within the federal arrangement of the state, the Czech and Slovak Hydrometeorological Institute was created, with seats in Prague and Bratislava. Between 1970 and 1980 the institute developed: the observatory in Libuš in Prague began operating and the Regional Telecommunication Centre was built. In 1980 the institute received its present name, Czech Hydrometeorological Institute.[2]
In 1989 the central office moved from Holečkova Street to a building in Komořany, where it is still based. The weather radar at Skalky in Moravia was put into operation in 1996, and the radar on the hill Praha in the Brdy in 2000. The central forecasting office was established in 1999. In 2020 the institute adopted a new visual identity and changed its logo.[2]
On 28 October 2024, President of the Republic Petr Pavel awarded the institute's director Marek Rieder the Medal of Merit, First Class, for services to the state in the field of the security of the state and its citizens.[2]
Chronology
- — The Czech Hydrometeorological Institute stated that this year, from January to the end of September, is the third driest since 1961: 395 millimetres of precipitation fell in Czechia, 73 per cent of the 1991–2020 normal. → ČTK / České noviny iDNES.cz