Weather and Climate in Venice

In Venice there is a moderated Mediterranean climate. Differently from the southern Mediterranean sea, there are extremely differences between summer and winter. In the sumer time, the temperatures seldom exceed 30°C; but in the winter time, the frost line can be reached some days. In the evenings and at nights the temperatures cool down to approximately  5-10°C, so that also in the summer time, sometimes a jumper is needed if one gets out at night.

In the lagoon of Venice, the bathing season is limited to the summer months that are also known by us which are from May to August. But as the sea saves its temperature for a certain period of time, in September or even in October it is still possible to have a pleasant bath if the temperatures of the air are respectively high enough.

In Venice, there are rainfalls the whole year through. Also in the partly hot sumer months there are several rainy days per month. But in the Mediterranean area, a rain shower is not necessarily attached to an unpleasant decrease of the temperature. Such short-termed rainshowers can also be avoided by visiting a cozy coffee bar, and sometimes, when the air temperatures are hot, a small shower is a welcomed refreshment. The main rain-months are May and November, as the rainfall-graphic shows.

Beside the water and air temperatures, sunshine hours and rainfall days, another weather-phenomenon is very significant for the city of Venice: during the winter half year, floodwater frequently appears; the local people call it acqua alta. If a flood wave presses some massive water masses from the sea to the lagoon city, Venice is literally inundated. Then the water level increases so strongly that for example one can only wade on the floodwater through the Piazza San Marco with gumboots. Some warning sirens annunciate the floodwaters, and as fast as the wind, the boardwalks and the pedestrian trays are arranged on which people can cross the waters without wetting their feet. For the tourists, the floodwater is rather a small adventure than an obstacle; but for the inhabitants of Venice, the increasingly frequent appearing floodwaters are a bothering plague in their daily lifes.

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Copyright: Patrick Wagner, www.tourist-guide.biz