page_title: Brocken
section_title: Climate
hierarchical_section_title: Brocken / Geography / Climate
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Klimadiagramm nach Walther und Lieth, metrisch, °Celsius und Millimeter, erstellt mit Geoklima 2.1 English: climate chart in the format by Walther and Lieth, metric, °Celsisus and millimeters, made with Geoklima 2.1
context_page_description: The Brocken, also sometimes referred to as the Blocksberg, is the highest peak of the Harz mountain range and also the highest peak of Northern Germany; it is located near Schierke in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt between the rivers Weser and Elbe. Although its elevation of 1,141 metres is below alpine dimensions, its microclimate resembles that of mountains of about 2,000 m. The peak above the tree line tends to have a snow cover from September to May, and mists and fogs shroud it up to 300 days of the year. The mean annual temperature is only 2.9 °C. It is the easternmost mountain in northern Germany; travelling east in a straight line, the next prominent elevation would be in the Ural Mountains in Russia.
  The Brocken has always played a role in legends and has been connected with witches and devils; Johann Wolfgang von Goethe took up the legends in his play Faust. The Brocken spectre is a common phenomenon on this misty mountain, where a climber's shadow cast upon fog creates eerie optical effects.
  Today the Brocken is part of the Harz National Park and hosts a historic botanical garden of about 1,600 alpine mountain plants.
context_section_description: The Brocken is a place of extreme weather conditions. Due to its exposed location in the north of Germany its peak lies above the natural tree line. The climate on the Brocken is like that of an alpine location or even that of Iceland's 1,600 – 2,200 m zone. This is due to its short summers and very long winters, with many months of continuous snow cover, strong storms and low temperatures even in summer. The summit, however, does not have an alpine climate, as the average summer temperature is above 10 °C (50 °F).
  Due to its significant height difference compared with the surrounding terrain the Brocken has the highest precipitation of any point in northern central Europe, with an average annual precipitation (1961–1990) of 1,814 millimetres. Its average annual temperature is 2.9 °C.
  The Brocken weather station has recorded the following extreme values:
  Its highest temperature was 29.0 °C on 20 August 2012.
  Its lowest temperature was –28.4 °C on 1 February 1956.
  In 1973 it had 205 days of snow cover.
  Its greatest depth of snow was 380 cm on 14 and 15 April 1970.
  Its highest measured wind speed was 263 km/h on 24 November 1984.
  Its greatest annual precipitation was 2,335 mm in 1981.
  Its least annual precipitation was 984 mm in 1953.
  The longest annual sunshine was 2004.5 hours in 1921.
  The shortest annual sunshine was 972.2 hours in 1912.
  The Brocken also holds the record for the greatest number of days of mist and fog in a single calendar year in Germany - 330 days in 1958
  - and has an average of 120 days of snowfall per year.
caption: Climatic diagram for 1961-1990 normals
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