Weather & Climate
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Climate
Cyprus
has an intense Mediterranean climate with the typical seasonal rhythm strongly
marked in respect of temperature, rainfall and weather generally. Hot, dry
summers from mid-May to mid-October and rainy, rather changeable winters from
November to mid-March are separated by short autumn and spring seasons.
In
summer the island is mainly under the influence of a shallow trough of low
pressure extending from the great continental depression centered over southwest
Asia. It is a season of high temperatures with almost cloudless skies.
Temperatures are high in summer and the mean daily temperature in July
and August ranges between 29 C on the central plain to 22 C on the Troodos
mountains, while the average maximum temperature for these months ranges between
36 C and 27 C respectively. Winters are mild with a mean January temperature of
10 C on the central plain and 3 C on the higher parts of the Troodos mountains
and with an average minimum temperature of 5 C and 0 C respectively.
Relative humidity of the air is on average between 60% and 80% in winter
and between 40% and 60% in summer with even lower values over inland areas
around midday. Fog is infrequent and visibility is generally very good. Sunshine
is abundant during the whole year and particularly from April to September when
the average duration of bright sunshine exceeds 11 hours per day.
In winter Cyprus is near the track of fairly frequent small depressions which cross the Mediterranean Sea from west to east between the continental anticyclone of Eurasia and the generally low pressure belt of North Africa. These depressions give periods of disturbed weather usually lasting for a day or so and produce most of the annual precipitation, the average rainfall from December to February being about 60% of the average annual total precipitation for the island as a whole, which is 500 mm.
Winds are generally light to moderate and variable in direction. Strong winds may occur sometimes, but gales are infrequent over Cyprus and are mainly confined to exposed coastal areas as well as areas at high elevation.