Podkarpackie voivodeship lies on the contact between the maritime climate of north-western Europe and the eastern European continental climate. Its climate is also influenced by its surface relief and physiographic division. Therefore, three climate zones can be distinguished here:
- lowland - Sandomierz Basin
- submontane - the Carpathian Foothills
- mountainous -Beskid Niski and Bieszczady
The lowland climate of the Sandomierz Basin is characterised by hot summers, warm winters and relatively little precipitation. The average annual temperature here is +8ºC; in summer the daytime temperature reaches +18ºC, while in winter it is -3ºC. The average amount of precipitation - the smallest in the province - ranges from 565 mm near Tarnobrzeg to 700 mm on the Kolbuszowa Plateau. It is frosty here for 40-55 days. The duration of snow cover is about 70 days. There are westerly winds.
The features of transitional climate are visible in the Carpathian Foothills. The average temperature in a year is +7ºC, in summer daytime it reaches +18ºC and in winter -3 to -5ºC. The average precipitation ranges from about 750 mm in the western part to 800 mm in the eastern part. Frost occurs here for about 50 days and frosts even up to 150 days a year. Snow cover persists for about 80 days. The prevailing winds are south-westerly.
In the western part of Beskidy Mountains the average annual temperature is +6ºC, daytime temperature in summer +17ºC, in winter -5ºC. In the Bieszczady Mountains it is respectively +5ºC, +16ºC, -6ºC. On average it is frosty for about 75 days, and in the higher parts of the Bieszczady even for 100 days. Here also the precipitation is the highest in the voivodeship, 800-1000 mm, but in some parts of the Bieszczady it reaches even 1200 mm. Snow cover remains in the Low Beskids even to 150 days, in the Bieszczady even to 200 days, and here it can reach a thickness of 300 cm. Southern winds dominate.
Daily amplitudes in Podkarpackie can exceed 30ºC. The lowest temperature (Polish cold pole) was recorded in Stuposiany -43ºC. At the same time, Chmiel in Bieszczady is the sunniest place in Poland.