Algarve Weather
With over three thousand hours of sunshine each year, it is clear why Algarve
is an ideal summer destination. And yet, visitors who vow to come back each year
don't limit their vacations for the summer months of July and August, finding
swimming to be just as fun towards the end of spring all the way to the end of
autumn. Even the rainy season in Algarve will be punctuated with a lot of fine,
dry days as well.
Golf aficionados and sun worshipers absolutely love this coastal region of
Portugal. Of course, it is warmer and dryer down on the beach than up in the
northern mountains, which successfully block the cold winds from the North and
prevent Algarve tourists from having their splendid day in the sun. Still, the
Algarve coast has its share of rain and cold wind in the winter, thanks to the
chilly winds from the Atlantic Ocean. Rain is expected between the months of
October and March, with January and February having the most rain, though
rationed out in short bursts.
If you're worried about rain ruining your vacation, opt to visit more in the
summer and spring rather than autumn, and of course winter. But even winter days
are warm in Algarve, hitting all-time lows of only 15 to 20 degrees Celsius,
mostly in January. The evenings are cooler in the winter, but never falling to
zero, even at its absolute coldest. Locals will tell you that it never rains at
all in the summer, and while this is true, it feels as much all year round. The
amount of rainfall in Algarve can be so negligible that both locals and visitors
hardly notice that it rains here at all.
Summer often hits 28 degrees Celsius, sometimes daring to climb to 30 degrees
and beyond. There is an absence of rain in July and August, and the sun is out
for at least 12 hours each day. Algarve is quite capable of serving up
incredibly hot days, but these are not altogether uncomfortable since the gusty
Atlantic winds deliver the cool every now and then. However, tourists from very
damp and very cold countries will find an Algarve summer much too much and they
will opt for a cooler vacation site. Or they should plan to visit Algarve in the
spring or autumn instead of summer. You will still have a lot of sun, minus the
uncomfortable heat.
If you're having trouble deciding which of Algarve's multitude of beaches to
visit, you could take into consideration the temperature of the ocean in the
different locations on the Algarve coast. Westward, the waters are Atlantic and
not Mediterranean, and are therefore get colder as you move farther away from
the Mediterranean Sea.
Locals still amaze tourists with their tales of snow falling on the beach in
January of 2006, which was a winter that not many had forgotten nor will soon
forget. With its three thousand hours of sun each year, it is indeed impossible
for snow on the beach in Algarve to go unnoticed. |
