psiloritis geopark

The climate

Generally, the climate of Crete is an overland Mediterranean climate. Its main characteristic is its mildness. As far as mildness and climate changes are concerned, the climate of Crete is considered to be privileged and that is due to the central location of the island in Eastern Europe.
The winter is mild mainly due to the warm and wet winds from southwest. On the contrary, during summer, mainly in August the climate is characterized by the northern breezy winds. The summer is warm with the temperature rising up to 30° C high and 22° C low during July. Summer begins in June and ends in September with July and August being almost rainless.

It is sunny approximately 300 days per year. Winter usually starts in the middle of December. At the lowland and semilowland areas the climate is mild or warm, while at the mountainous areas it is mild or cold. Finally, in a very small part of the mountainous areas the climate is wintery with intense snowfall and characteristics of an alpine landscape. Psiloritis is covered with snow that is preserved until spring, while in gorges and sunless spots it is preserved until summer.

Most of the rainfall takes place during December and January. During winter the maximum temperature is 16° C and the minimum is 9° C.