Climate - Venice (Italy)

The climate of Venice, the capital of the Veneto region, is moderately continental, similar to that of the Po Valley, with cold, moist winters and hot, muggy summers, but it's slightly tempered by the Adriatic Sea.
The average temperature of the coldest month (January) is of 3.5 °C (38 °F), that of the warmest months (July, August) is of 23 °C (73 °F). Here are the average temperatures.

Precipitation totals to 750 millimeters (29.5 inches) per year and is well distributed over the seasons. There are two relative maxima in spring and autumn, when Atlantic depressions are more frequent; in these cases, the south-east wind ("scirocco") blows, which collects moisture over the Adriatic Sea. Here is the average precipitation.

In addition to the sirocco, Venice is subject to the bora, a cold wind blowing from the plains of Eastern Europe, especially in winter and spring. The bora sweeps the Venetian plain and the lagoon of Venice, although with a lower force than in Slovenia and in Trieste, where it is channeled through the mountains.
The phenomenon of the so-called acqua alta (high water) occurs in bad weather conditions, and it's due to a combination of wind (the sirocco, which obstructs the flow of rivers into the sea) and tide (which raises sea level).
In November 2020, the Mose, the system of mobile dams that should protect the city from the highest tides, went into operation.



Winter, from December to February, is cold, damp and gray. The coldest months are, as is normal in the Po-Venetian plain, January and December. At night, light frosts occur often enough.
Fog is quite frequent, until March.
When the bora blows, the air feels colder than it actually is because of the wind chill.
During the most intense cold waves, the temperature can drop below -5 °C (23 °F). At Tessera airport, the cold record, -13.5 °C (7.5 °F), was set in January 1963. Other very low values were -12 °C (10.5 °F) in January 1968 and January 1985, -9 °C (16 °F) in January 1987, February 1991 and December 1996, -11 °C (12 °F) in December 2009, and -9 °C (16 °F) in February 2012.
Sometimes, frost can also occur in early March or in late November. During the coldest winters, the lagoon can freeze, as happened in 1929, 1956, 1963, 1985, and in February 2012.



Snow in Venice is seen almost every year, but is almost never abundant, in fact, the bora is originally a dry wind, and generally brings at most light snowfalls, while when it snows in the western Po Valley (see Milan), here, the sirocco raises the temperature and brings rainfall.
On average, less than 5 cm (2 in) of snow fall per year. Venice is therefore one of the least snowy cities in northern Italy.

Spring, from March to May, is a quite rainy and unstable season. There is a moderate amount of sunny days, but there can still be cold and foggy days (especially in March) as well as periods of bad weather and wind. Typically, by the second half of April, the temperature becomes pleasant in a more stable manner, but the bora can sometimes still blow, lowering the temperature for a few days, also in May.

Summer, from June to August, is usually sunny, and it's often also hot and muggy, though the breeze tempers a little the heat. In the afternoon, thunderstorms can break out, while the bora can sometimes blow, bringing a bit of cool weather.
The temperature reached 36.5 °C (97.5 °F) in July 2006, 36 °C (97 °F) in August 2011 and in July 2015, and 35.5 °C (96 °F) in August 2003, in July 2010 and in August 2017.

Autumn, from September to November, is initially pleasant (in September and sometimes in early October), with many sunny days, alternating with some rainy periods, and then it gradually becomes more cold, cloudy and rainy.



The amount of sunshine in Venice is good in late spring and summer, from May to August, when there are many sunny days, and it is still acceptable in September. In the rest of the year, it is not high because there are many cloudy days, and even a bit of fog in the coldest months. On average, there are around 2,000 hours of sunshine per year. Here are the average sunshine hours per day.

The sea, in the Venetian lagoon, but also along the coast of the Northern Adriatic Sea (see Jesolo), is warm enough for swimming in July and August, when the water temperature reaches 25/26 °C (77/79 °F), while it is still a bit cool in June. Here are the average sea temperatures.

Best Time

The best periods to visit Venice are spring and autumn, and in particular, from mid-April to mid-June and in the month of September. However, in both periods, some rainy days are possible. July and August, and more rarely the second half of June, can be hot and sultry; in August, there are many tourists (and many mosquitoes...), and the lagoon doesn't always smell good.