Climate
Alicante enjoys a Mediterranean climate with mild winter temperatures, warm to hot summers, and little rain concentrated in equinoctial periods. Scientists tend to classify the climate of Alicante region according to Köppen climate classification as semi-arid (BSk). On average the temperature ranges between 16.8 °C (62 °F) and 6.2 °C (43 °F) in January and between 30.6 °C (87 °F) and 20.4 °C (69 °F) in August, with an average annual temperature of 17.8 °C (64 °F). Daily oscillations in temperature are very small due to the influence of the sea, although occasional periods of Westerly wind can result in temperature ranges in excess of 15 °C (27 °F). Annual oscillations in temperature are also small meaning that winters are mild and summers are warm.
The average amount of rainfall is 336 mm (13.2 in) per year. September and October are the wettest months due to torrential rain caused by the cold drop, which can reach over 200 mm in a single 24 hour period causing severe flooding. Because of this irregularity, only 37 rainy days are observed on average per year, and the annual number of sunshine hours is 2,864.
The record maximum temperature of 41.4 °C (107 °F) was observed in Alicante on 4 July 1994. The record minimum temperature of −4.6 °C (24 °F) was registered on 12 February 1956. The worst flooding in modern history occurred on 30 September 1997 when 270.2 mm (10.6 in) of rainfall fell within six hours.
| Climate data for Alicante | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Average high °C (°F) | 16.8 (62.2) |
17.8 (64.0) |
19.2 (66.6) |
20.9 (69.6) |
23.6 (74.5) |
27.2 (81.0) |
30.1 (86.2) |
30.6 (87.1) |
28.4 (83.1) |
24.4 (75.9) |
20.4 (68.7) |
17.6 (63.7) |
23.1 (73.6) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 11.5 (52.7) |
12.4 (54.3) |
13.7 (56.7) |
15.5 (59.9) |
18.4 (65.1) |
22.2 (72.0) |
24.9 (76.8) |
25.5 (77.9) |
23.1 (73.6) |
19.1 (66.4) |
15.2 (59.4) |
12.5 (54.5) |
17.8 (64.0) |
| Average low °C (°F) | 6.2 (43.2) |
7.0 (44.6) |
8.2 (46.8) |
10.1 (50.2) |
13.3 (55.9) |
17.1 (62.8) |
19.7 (67.5) |
20.4 (68.7) |
17.8 (64.0) |
13.7 (56.7) |
10.0 (50.0) |
7.3 (45.1) |
12.6 (54.7) |
| Precipitation mm (inches) | 22 (0.87) |
26 (1.02) |
26 (1.02) |
30 (1.18) |
33 (1.3) |
17 (0.67) |
6 (0.24) |
8 (0.31) |
47 (1.85) |
52 (2.05) |
42 (1.65) |
26 (1.02) |
336 (13.23) |
| Avg. precipitation days (≥ 1 mm) | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 37 |
| Mean monthly sunshine hours | 177 | 180 | 230 | 246 | 278 | 300 | 333 | 304 | 255 | 220 | 179 | 163 | 2,864 |
| Source: Agencia Estatal de Meteorología | |||||||||||||
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