Weather & Climate

Climate overview

Corsica has a Mediterranean climate with hot summers and moderate, dry, clear winters. Climate varies with altitude and mountain forms though. It's rather alpine than Mediterranean in the mountains. The main mountain range divides the island roughly in half -- the North is hotter than the South, while the East is wetter than the West.

Temperatures

Annual temperatures for Ajaccio

The chart on the right shows monthly temperatures in degrees Celsius (°C - use Celsius to Fahrenheit conversion calculator to get values in degrees Fahrenheit) for Ajaccio located in the Southwest cost of Corsica. The range between the low and high averages are represented by the yellow bars. The blue line shows the lowest recorded temperature, while the red line shows the highest recorded temperature.

As you can see, frost is not usual in the coastal areas, but it can appear between November and April. It freezes and snows more often in the mountains -- for instance the famous GR20 path is open only between mid-July to the end of October. Camping is possible between May and October in lower altitudes. Average sea temperatures range from about 19 °C in June and October to 23 °C in August. The sea is usually too cold to swim in between November and May.

In spring or autumn you may feel colder due to the strong wind, that blows in the mountains and in the seaside.

Sunshine and rainfall

There's an annual average of 71 hours of sun a day. Average sunlight varies from 4-5 hours a day in winter to 10-12 hours a day in summer. Again, there are usually more cloudy in the mountains.

The rainiest months are March, April, October and November. It's generally dry from May to September, especially on the cost. Storms are common in the mountains during summer. In general, the East is wetter than the West. The table below shows the average rainfall in millimetres as well as number of wet days by month.

Long-term averages for Ajaccio

Month	Average Sunlight (hours)	Temperature				Relative humidity		Average Precipitation (mm)	Wet Days (+0.25 mm)
		Average		Record		Relative humidity
		Low	High	Min	Max	AM	PM
January	4	3	13	-5	21	84	66	76	12
February	5	4	14	-6	23	85	67	65	10
March	6	5	16	-4	26	85	67	53	9
April	8	7	18	-2	29	85	66	48	9
May	10	10	21	3	33	83	69	50	8
June	11	14	25	7	37	78	65	21	4
July	12	16	27	9	37	75	65	10	1
August	11	16	28	9	39	78	64	16	2
September	9	15	26	8	36	83	64	50	6
October	7	11	22	2	31	84	63	88	10
November	5	7	18	-2	26	87	66	97	11
December	4	4	15	-4	22	85	66	98	13

Corsica weather resources

Long-term averages (temperatures, precipitation etc.)
- Average temperatures in Bastia (WorldClimate)
- Average temperatures (incl. low&high), pressure and rainfall in Ajaccio (WorldClimate)
- Historical weather for Ajaccio (Weatherbase)
- Historical weather for Bastia (Weatherbase)
- Historical weather for Bonifacio (Weatherbase)
- Historical weather for Calvi (Weatherbase)
- Historical weather for Solenzara (Weatherbase)
- Mediterranean climate in general (Wikipedia)
Weather forecast
- Meteo Consult - detailed today's weather forecast for 16 Corsican towns including Bastia, Sain-Florent, Calvi, Corte, Asco, Ajaccio, Aleria, Porto-Vecchio, Bonifacio. 5-day forecast and 9-day weather trends available for registered users.
- Corsica Weather on MSN.com - current weather conditions, 5-day forecast and monthly averages for Bastia, Ajaccio and Bonifacio. Neat graphic, animated maps, RSS feed.
- Meteo France - Region Corse - very detailed weather information in French. 4-day forecast for 12 Corsican towns including smaller ones like Pietracorbara, Vescovato, L'Ile Rousse and Sartene.
Celsius to Fahrenheit conversion calculator

Last modified on Sun, 2011-05-22 11:27