When to go to Istria: The climate of Istria

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Due to the protection of the Alpine chain to the north and the mountains of the interior to the east, the climate in Istria is mild on the coasts, with hot, dry summers, but with temperatures mitigated by the breeze (mistral). The average maximum summer temperatures along the Istrian coast are around 25 / 28°C and between 22 and 25°C in the central area of the peninsula.

THE BORA

Even the winters are mild but rainy, except for the days when the Bora blows, which brings good weather, but intense cold. This wind that comes from the north and north-east is formed due to the large temperature difference between the internal areas of the Balkans and the warm Adriatic coast. During the winter months, between December and March, the Bora sometimes blows with extreme violence and gusts over the whole of Istria and Carnaro. The sirocco which blows between October and March brings considerable humidity and heavy rainfall.

The average minimum winter temperatures along the Istrian coast are around 5°C, while in the internal plateau they are 2°C. The average annual temperatures are around fifteen degrees Celsius along the coast. While in the central internal plateau they vary around 11 degrees Celsius. Mountainous areas have significantly lower average annual temperatures of the order of 8°C. Istria enjoys an average of around 2,000 to 2,400 hours of sunshine per year. The sea water temperature in Istria varies between 9 / 10°C in March and 24 / 25°C in August.

The heaviest rains in the autumn and spring months increase in quantity as we move inland. Precipitation varies between about 800 / 900 mm along the west coast, 1,000 mm in the central areas of the peninsula, up to 2,000 mm in the mountainous areas in the north-east and on Monte Maggiore (Učka).

The internal plateau of the Istrian peninsula has a continental transition climate with harsh winters and very hot summers, the rains, not too abundant, are concentrated mainly in the intermediate seasons, spring and autumn.