Croatia weather: From the sun of the coast to the snows of the mountains

With four seasons well defined Croatia enjoys a moderate climate, in which the warm sun of the summer and the cold in the winter is never unbearable, while spring and autumn are generally very pleasant.

The division of the territory in three geographical bands naturally reflects on the climate, which becomes continental in the north-oriental part of the Country, alpine in the central mountain region, and typically Mediterranean along the coastal belt and on the islands. Warm summers, dry and full of sun characterize the climate of the Adriatic coast, where the winters are mild and wet. In July the medium temperature is between 22.8 and 25.9 centigrade degrees, while in the month of January it oscillates between 4 and 6 degrees, but more one goes to the south more is hot. In average there are 2500 hours of sun a year, which it makes the Dalmatian coast one of the sunniest in Europe and the island of Hvar beats the absolute record with an average of 2715 annual hours of sun.

The precipitations are everywhere enough, but the snow on the coast is so rare that ends always on the first pages of the newspapers. The temperature of the sea varies in the summer between 22 and 25 centigrade degrees; along the coast it often overcomes the 25. In winter the middle temperature of the sea oscillates between 8 and 13 degrees.

A particular mention for the climate and the landscape of the Dalmatian coast deserve the winds. In the summer, during the day, from the sea to the earth blows the mistral that mitigates the hot sun. The sirocco, a warm and humid wind (jugo), originates from southeast, and usually announces a change of weather. Among all the winds the more feared is the bura, that blows along the northeast coast, more frequently in winter than in summer, with gusts that can overcome the 120 hourly kms and lifting waves two meters and a half high.The summer bura usually brings beautiful weather, even if it is not advisable to be out in the sea, especially in the channel of Velebit, when it reaches its maximum strength. In the coastal hinterland prevails a submediterranean climate, with torrid summers and rigid winters.

On the mountains the temperature in winter easily goes down under zero: rain and snow abound, particularly on Gorski Kotar and on Velebit, and the snowy mantle covers these mountains for 60 days a year, while on the highest peaks the snow holds for more than 100 days a year.

The classical continental climate characterizes the north-oriental regions of the Croatia (Pokuplje, Hrvatsko Zagorje, Medimurje, Podravina, Moslavina, Slavonia, Baranja, Posavina): here the summers are warm, with frequent storms and the cold winters, with snow that in the highest zones remains 25 to 40 days a year.