Weather and climate in Costa Tropical (Andalusia)

In the Costa Tropical (also known as Costa de Granada or Costa Granadina), the part of the Spanish southern coast belonging to the province of Granada, the climate is Mediterranean, with mild, relatively rainy winters and hot, sunny summers.
The wind blows frequently: in the cold half of the year, it comes along with Atlantic depressions, while in summer, it blows as afternoon breeze.
There are towns like La Herradura, Almuñécar, Salobreña, Motril (the capital), Torrenueva, Calahonda, Castell de Ferro, La Mamola, and La Rábita.
Behind the coast, there are elevations overlooking the sea: they are the foothills of the Sierra Nevada, the highest mountain range in the Iberian Peninsula, which is at no great distance: the highest peaks over 3,000 meters (10,000 feet) are located about 35 kilometers (20 miles) away from the coast.

The daily average temperature ranges from about 13 °C (55.5 °F) in January to about 26 °C (79 °F) in August.
The rains in the Costa Tropical are scarce, since they slightly exceed 300 millimeters (12 inches) per year, in fact, the landscape is arid. Anyway, the rains follow the Mediterranean pattern, in fact, most of them fall from October to April, while in summer, it hardly ever rains.

Winter, from December to February, is a mild season, and it's characterized by sunny periods alternating with periods of bad weather, with wind and rain, which, however, are not very frequent.
There is a good number of sunny days, with daytime temperatures reaching 18/20 °C (64/68 °F) even in winter. With the wind from Africa, it can instead exceed 20 °C (68 °F).
Very cold days are rare: only in the coldest nights, the temperature can go down to the freezing point, but even in these cases, during the day, the temperature usually rises above 10 °C (50 °F).
Snow on the Costa Tropical is extremely rare. In January 2005, snow whitened the beaches, a phenomenon that had not occurred for decades.

Spring, from March to May, is mild and sunny, with rainy days still possible but not very frequent. Starting from May, and sometimes also in April, the first hot days begin to occur, with highs around 30 °C (86 °F).

Summer, from June to mid-September, is hot and sunny. Typically, the temperature hovers around 28 °C (82 °F) in June and September and around 30/32 °C (86/90 °F) in July and August, the weather is hot and muggy, but the sea breeze blows, in short, it is the typical Mediterranean summer. However, when the wind blows from the interior of Andalusia, the heat can be intense, and the temperature can reach 35/37 °C (95/99 °F) and sometimes up to 40 °C (104 °F).

Autumn, from mid-September to November, is initially warm, and then becomes gradually milder, while Atlantic fronts become gradually more frequent. In October, there are still many warm and sunny days, especially in the first half. By November, we are well into autumn, in fact, the weather is mild, but it's also often cloudy and quite rainy.



The amount of sunshine in the Costa Tropical is very good in summer, when clear skies prevail. In the other seasons, there are many sunny periods, but cloudy periods are also possible.
On average, there are almost 3,000 hours of sunshine per year.
Given the infiltration of water from the Atlantic Ocean, the sea in the Costa Tropical is never very warm to swim in. Actually, it is still very cool in June, when the water temperature is about 20 °C (68 °F), then it rises to 22 °C (72 °F) in July and September, and reaches 23 °C (73 °F) in August, when it becomes acceptable for swimming.

Best Time

The best time to visit the towns of the Costa Tropical for walking and hiking, corresponds to the periods from mid-April to mid-May and from mid-September to mid-October, especially if you have in mind a trip to Granada, which is often hot in summer.
For a beach holiday, the best time is instead the summer, from June to mid-September.
In summer, you can go hiking in Sierra Nevada, where you will obviously find a climate becoming cooler with increasing altitude.
In winter, you can combine a ski holiday in Sierra Nevada to some moments of relaxation on the coast, where you will find many mild and sunny days.

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