Climate
Paphos enjoys a subtropical-Mediterranean climate, with the greatest amounts of precipitation mainly occurring from mid-November to March. It practically never rains in the summer, (with an average of 0.1). In July and August, humidity measurements can go up to 85%.
Snowfall occurs rarely, approximately every 10 years, and does not normally lead to any significant disruption. Snowfall does occur in the hills of Tsada, 6 km north, almost annually. The last significant snowfall in the city centre occurred in the winter of 2001.
Heat waves in July and August are relatively common, when hot air masses from the Sahara desert drift over to Cyprus causing temperatures to rise. Cyprus has experienced drought-like conditions and the current trend of global warming is expected to increase the severity of these conditions. In the summer of 2008, Cyprus had to ship water by tanker from Greece to meet demand on the island.
| Climate data for Paphos | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Average high °C (°F) | 17.0 (62.6) |
16.9 (62.4) |
18.5 (65.3) |
21.3 (70.3) |
24.4 (75.9) |
27.7 (81.9) |
29.9 (85.8) |
30.4 (86.7) |
28.8 (83.8) |
26.6 (79.9) |
22.4 (72.3) |
18.6 (65.5) |
23.6 (74.5) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 12.5 (54.5) |
12.3 (54.1) |
13.6 (56.5) |
16.3 (61.3) |
19.5 (67.1) |
22.8 (73.0) |
25.2 (77.4) |
25.7 (78.3) |
23.8 (74.8) |
21.5 (70.7) |
17.5 (63.5) |
14.2 (57.6) |
18.7 (65.7) |
| Average low °C (°F) | 8.0 (46.4) |
7.6 (45.7) |
8.7 (47.7) |
11.3 (52.3) |
14.5 (58.1) |
17.8 (64.0) |
20.4 (68.7) |
21.0 (69.8) |
18.8 (65.8) |
16.4 (61.5) |
12.6 (54.7) |
9.7 (49.5) |
13.9 (57.0) |
| Precipitation mm (inches) | 80.2 (3.157) |
64.2 (2.528) |
34.3 (1.35) |
18.7 (0.736) |
5.30 (0.2087) |
1.60 (0.063) |
0.30 (0.0118) |
0.00 (0) |
3.80 (0.1496) |
18.0 (0.709) |
66.4 (2.614) |
93.9 (3.697) |
386.7 (15.224) |
| Avg. precipitation days (≥ 1 mm) | 9.9 | 8.0 | 5.5 | 4.1 | 1.3 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.6 | 2.5 | 5.8 | 8.7 | 46.6 |
| Mean monthly sunshine hours | 195.3 | 211.7 | 244.9 | 270.0 | 344.1 | 381.0 | 390.6 | 365.8 | 315.0 | 285.2 | 225.0 | 186.0 | 3,414.6 |
| Source: Meteorological Service (Cyprus) | |||||||||||||
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