In Paros, an island of the Cyclades, and in the neighbouring sister island Antiparos, the climate is Mediterranean, with mild and rainy winters, and warm and sunny summers. The average temperature of January is 11 °C (52 °F), that of July and August is 24.5 °C (76 °F).
Here are the average temperatures.

The island is windy, and in summer is cooled by a frequent northerly wind. The wind has been exploited for centuries by windmills.
Precipitation follows the Mediterranean pattern, so it is concentrated from October to March, and is not abundant, since it amounts to about 480 millimetres (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.

The interior of the island is occupied by hills, whose highest point is 732 metres (2,402 feet) above sea level.

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 from the Balkans can bring cold days, in which highs can remain below 10 °C (50 °F), and sometimes even snow can fall.

Spring, from mid-March to May, is mild and sunny, and also quite windy. From 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 is 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 touches 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 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.

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.

When to go

The best time to go to Paros for beach life 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.
For excursions, spring it's OK, in April and May, but since it is almost never hot, you can usually stroll around the island also in summer, which usually we do not recommend in Mediterranean climates, and in general in places where in summer it can be hot.

Back to the Cyclades Islands.