Does it snow in Greece?

Known as the Cradle of Western Civilization, Greece, home to one of the most influential ancient civilizations in history for its invaluable philosophical, social, political, and cultural contributions, stands as one of the main bastions of the ancient world in the present. Not surprisingly, Greece retains much of the monuments that once made it the favorite nation of the gods.

Greece undoubtedly has more tourist destinations than any other country in the region, so it's easy to get overwhelmed. Everything in this country is a great tourist attraction since it not only stands out for its museums, temples, monasteries, and other historical traces; left by the Mycenaean and Hellenic cultures but also for its beautiful natural destinations: lands, mountains, cities, and costs.

Snow in Greece? ❄

Exceptionally located between Europe, Asia, and Africa, bordering large bodies of water such as the Aegean Sea, the Ionian Sea, and the Mediterranean Sea, Greece has a considerable climatological diversity. The latter is not surprising since Greece boasts the eleventh longest coastline in the world and one of the most impressive mountain ranges in the region.

While most of Greece's thirteen regions, including the autonomous state of Mount Athos, experience a Mediterranean climate (Csa, Csb, Cfa, and Cfb), there are some exceptions.

These climatic exceptions occur most frequently in those regions bordering Albania and North Macedonia, in other words, West Macedonia, Central Macedonia, and East Macedonia & Thrace regions, which exhibit continental climate types.

For this reason, it is not surprising that the snowiest cities in Greece are precisely in the northern and northwestern regions of the country.

The most prominent of these cities are undoubtedly Florina and Kozani. The latter, for example, reaches an average snow accumulation of more than 2 inches in December. 

The climate of Greece ⛅

GREECE WEATHER

General characteristics

According to the Köppen climate classification, counting types and subtypes, Greece exhibits up to 9 climate types throughout its territory, from Hot-summer Mediterranean (Csa) to Polar (ET).

Due to such diversity, any general explication of the characteristics of Greece’s climate is useless since these aspects will depend exclusively on the prevailing climatological factors in each of the Greece regions.

Technical characteristics

Some of the following technical characteristics have been calculated by averaging climatological data for the several regions of Macedonia, Thessaly, Attica, Aegean islands, Peloponnese, Crete, and the Pindus and Rhodope mountains. 

• Climate types (Köppen climate classification):
  • Hot-summer Mediterranean (Csa).
  • Warm-summer Mediterranean (Csb).
  • Humid subtropical (Cfa).
  • Oceanic (Cfb).
  • Warm-summer Mediterranean continental (Dsb).
  • Dry-summer subarctic (Dsc).
  • Warm-summer humid continental (Dfb).
  • Subarctic (Dfc).
  • Tundra (Et).
• Average maximum temperatures in summer: 85.19 °F (29.55 °C).
• Average maximum temperatures in winter: 54.15 °F (12.3 °C).
• Average minimum temperature in summer: 50.23 °F (10.1 °C).
• Average minimum temperatures in winter: 40.13 °F (4.5 °C).
• Daily mean in summer: 76.37 °F (24.6 °C).
• Daily mean in winter: 47.21 °F (8.4 °C).
• Average annual rainfall: 20.12 inches (51.1 cm).
• Hottest regions:
  • Athens.
  • Crete.
  • The Cyclades.
  • The Dodecanes.
  • The Peloponnese.
  • The Ionian Islands.
  • Some areas of the Central Continental Greece region.
• Highest record temperature: 112.6 °F / 44.7 °C (Downtown Athens).
• Coldest regions: Florina and the Pindus and Rhodope mountains.
• Lowest record temperature: -20.2 °F / -28.9 °C (Florina, West Macedonia).
• Snowiest month: December.
• Coldest month: January.

When does it snow in Greece? 🌨

Does it snow in Greece in October?

Yes, it might snow in October. During this month, the city of Florina, located in the West Macedonia region, receives up to 7.2 hours of snowfall or sleet on average. Likewise, Kozani, also located in West Macedonia, exhibits up to an inch of snow accumulation on average.

Does it snow in Greece in November?

Yes, it might snow in November. As in the previous month, snowfall remains limited to the coldest and highest cities and areas of West Macedonia, except for the city of Komotini, the capital of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace, which registers up to an inch of snow accumulation on average during this month.

Does it snow in Greece in December?

Yes, it does! Once winter begins, on average, most regions of Greece experience snowfall greater than 0.1 inches in their capitals, with Kozani showing the highest accumulation of all (2.5 inches).

Does it snow in Greece in January?

Yes, it does! However, despite being the coldest month of the year, the average snow accumulation exhibited in January is slightly less than that recorded in December.

Does it snow in Greece in February?

Yes, it does! Compared to the previous month, the snowfall hardly decreased in intensity and frequency, even increasing in some cities such as Kozani, Thessaloniki, and Karyes.

Does it snow in Greece in March?

Yes, it might snow in March. Despite being the last month of the winter season, at least half of Greece's regions record snowfall above an average inch accumulation.

Does it snow in Greece in April?

Yes, it might snow in April. Oddly enough, it is still possible to see some minor snowfall in Epirus, West Macedonia, East Macedonia & Thrace.

Where does it snow in Greece? 🌨

Below, we present a map of the territorial division of Greece in which the distribution of snowfall in the thirteen regions and the one autonomous state (Mount Athos) that make up the country is roughly exemplified:

1. In this case, the darker the blue color, the higher the average snow accumulation for the county in its snowiest month (December).
2. This map is not an exact definition but rather an approximation of the behavior of snowfall in Greece since only the capitals are taken into account and not all the cities and towns that make up the thirteen regions (and Mount Athos autonomous state) at the time of its creation.

How much does it snow in Greece? 🌨

Next, we expose a comparison chart of the average snow accumulation throughout a sliding 31-day period (centered on the day in question) in the fourteen capitals of the thirteen regions and the one autonomous state of Greece:

The numbers shown in the table above represent inches.