Climate of Spain
The territory of Spain stretches out from the north to the south and due to a branching of mountain ranges the climate of this country differs significantly across regions. The climate of Spain can also be differentiated in vertical belts.
The northern regions are located in relatively unique conditions –strong influence of humid sea masses from the Atlantic can be felt here; a reason for which winters in Galicia, Asturias, Cantabria, and Bask Country are mild from (from +8°С to +14°С) and relatively humid, while summers are moderately warm (from +21°С to 26°С). The region is protected from the north by gigantic wall of the Pyrenees Mountains (height reaches 3404 meters), thus the temperature in the mountain regions can drop to -7°С during winter and summers are rarely warmer than +22°С. Meanwhile, the same mountain range acts as a trap for the warm air coming from the south –from African territory, which causes the summers to get really hot, it is not unusual to witness as much as +32°С during the day. The narrow coastline to the north of the Pyrenees falls into the category of temperate oceanic climate. There are up to 1200mm of precipitations, predominantly during the autumn-winter period. Regions located slightly higher in the mountains regularly receive generous snowfalls and frost.
The central region of Spain is located in an area of high plateaus and Meseta Mountains; this is why the climate here is close to temperate continental –day and night temperature can differ by as much as 10-15 degrees even in the summer. The winters here are dry and relatively cold for such a southern region (from -4°С to +8°С), summers are hotter (up to +30°С during the day) and even dryer. The average summer temperature in Madrid, Spain holds around the +25°С mark (nonetheless can drop to +16°С at night even if the day registered a +38°С high), during winter –around +5°С. There is rarely more than 500mm of precipitation during the year in this region, mostly in spring and autumn. In the highlands of Aragon and Northern Castilla one can witness considerable amounts of snow each winter. Many peaks in the Pyrenees, Sierra-Nevada and Sierra-de-Guadarrama remain covered with snow all year round.
The western coast of the country is located in the subtropical Mediterranean climate zone. The summers here are warm and dry, and winters are very mild. Air temperature during summer can reach +36-38°С with an average of about +27°С; in winter the thermometers will rarely drop below +12°С and usually hold around +14-18°С (the Mediterranean coast of Spain is rather long and thus the relatively higher temperatures on the southern end). The precipitation is modest (500-600mm per year) mostly during winter and autumn. Sea water during the summer can be as warm as +23-27°С; this is why the season lasts from May until October around here.
A subtropical Mediterranean climate can also be experienced on the Balearic Islands. However in spite of their location the islands receive a slightly higher amount of precipitation compared to their continental climatic counterparts. And the summer temperatures are slightly lower as well -+26-28°С with days' highs around the +30-32°С mark. The beach season on the Balearic Islands commences as early as March, when water temperature reaches +18°С and ends in October.
On the islands of the Canary archipelago the climate is close to tropical monsoon. The proximity of a cold oceanic current considerably reduces the summer heat so common for the region; the current also stabilizes the temperature for the region and on any given island the average summer temperature oscillates between +18°С and +21°С with highs from +36°С tо +38°С, and during winter the thermometer does not fall below +12°С with highs reaching the +24°С mark. Either way the hot wind Harmattan, which blows from continental Africa can suddenly warm up the air during any time of the year but the summer trade winds almost always level that effect down. Water temperature is even more stable – +20-23°С all year round.
Precipitation is rather scarce –from 250 to 400mm per year. The Fuerteventura, Lanzarote, and the southern regions of Gran Canaria and Tenerife can be very dry (less than 200mm per year), and the north-western regions (especially the highlands) are much more humid. Local rainfalls are strong but short-lived, and often accompanied but thunderstorms.
