Climate - Paros (Greece)

In Paros, an island of the Cyclades, and on the neighbouring sister island Antiparos, the climate is Mediterranean, with mild, rainy winters and warm, sunny summers.
The island is windy, and in summer, it is cooled by a frequent northerly wind. The wind has been exploited by windmills for centuries.
The interior of the island is occupied by hills, whose highest point is 732 meters (2,402 feet) above sea level.
The daily average temperature ranges from 11 °C (52 °F) in January to 24.5 °C (76 °F) in July and August. Here are the average temperatures.

Precipitation follows the Mediterranean pattern, so it is concentrated from October to March, and it's not abundant, in fact, it amounts to about 480 millimeters (19 inches) per year, and this is confirmed by the aridity of the landscape. In summer, it practically never rains. Here is the average precipitation.

Winter, from December to mid-March, is mild, quite rainy and windy. The wind, frequent and sometimes intense, intensifies the feeling of cold. Sometimes, cold air masses from the Balkans can bring cold days, when highs can remain below 10 °C (50 °F), and occasionally, even snow can fall.

Spring, from mid-March to May, is mild and sunny, and also quite windy. By mid-May, the Meltemi starts to blow, a persistent wind, cool and dry, blowing from the north for a few days in a row, especially in the daytime, but sometimes even at night.

Summer, from June to mid-September, is warm and sunny, but also windy. The Meltemi blows for long periods, especially in July and August, and it's stronger in the afternoon, but can insist also in the evening. With this wind, the maximum temperature remains almost always below 30 °C (86 °F), and even in the hottest periods, when in other parts of Greece it reaches or exceeds 40 °C (104 °F), here, it doesn't go above 33/35 °C (91/95 °F).

Autumn, from mid-September to November, is initially warm and sunny, but it gradually becomes cooler and more rainy. Autumn too, is windy: as long as the weather is good, the Meltemi still blows, while later, the southern wind blows, brought by disturbances coming from the Atlantic Ocean or the Mediterranean Sea.



The amount of sunshine in Paros is great in summer, when blue skies prevail, while it's not high from November to February, when the sky is often cloudy, although sunny days may occur also in midwinter. Here are the average sunshine hours per day.

The temperature of the sea is never very high because the wind that blows in summer tends to keep it a bit low, and it reaches a maximum of 23 °C (73 °F) from July to September; in June, it is still a bit cool, about 21 °C (70 °F). Here are the average sea temperatures.

Best Time

The best time to go to Paros for a beach holiday is the summer, from June to mid-September.
It's better to bring a sweatshirt for cool evenings, which occur mainly in June, but given the intensity of the wind, those who are sensitive to cold may feel a bit cool also in July and August.
Spring, in April and May, is fine for excursions, but since it is almost never hot, you can usually stroll around the island even in summer, which usually we do not recommend in Mediterranean climates, and in general, in places where summer is hot.

Back to the Cyclades Islands.