Does it snow in Portugal?
Portugal, the country that gave us amazing, delicious food, impressive natural locations, the world’s most famous soccer player, and some of the most beautiful beaches on Earth.
But this country isn’t all about their natural places or their famous football team, it’s also about their unique climate and sub-weathers, which is what we are going to talk about today.
SNOWIEST MONTH
January
February
SNOWIEST PLACES
Braganza
Viseu
Vila Real
AVERAGE SNOW
Few inches
❄ Does it snow in Portugal? 🇵🇹
⛅ Climate of Portugal
When you think about Portugal, for some reason you think this is a huge country that must be thousands and thousands of miles long, but when you look at it on the map, it isn’t.
Contrary to what most people believe, Portugal is actually a very small country, one of the smallest in all Europe, to be realistic. It’s located right besides Spain, and although its small size, it is one of the most popular European destinations.
Now, we aren’t talking about Portugal’s size just because we want to, but because it actually matters when it comes to defining their overall climate and sub-climates.
You see, with countries so small, you wouldn't expect to experience more than one type of climate, but the reality is that Portugal is the European country with more climate diversity!
Yes, believe it or not, despite its small size, Portugal manages to have many different climates all in one place. But, just to get you out of doubts, the main climate of Portugal is mediterranean.
Now, when we say a country has a mediterranean climate, it is usually one of the nicest types of climates (after tropical) that a country could hope to have, since mediterranean means hot summer times and moderate winter months, with some rainfall in between.
This makes sense when you realize that countries that are surrounded by sea usually experience this type of climate. Which of course, makes Portugal a really nice country to visit any month of the year, especially during the summer season.
🌨 When does it snow in Portugal?
By now, you already know all the great things about Portugal. You know it is a small country, you know they have a mediterranean climate and a very changing weather.
But now, it is time to dig a little deeper into Portugal’s climate an figure out just how their weather is like during each station of the year, so we can know exactly when does it snow in Portugal.
- Let’s start by pretties station of the year, spring time, which in Portugal happens from March all the way to May, months during which the temperature is actually really nice. During spring time you can experience some low temperatures like 50 °F (10º C) but also very warm temperatures such as 73 °F (23º C), which makes spring the most perfect season of the year, at least weather wise.
- Then comes summer time, everyone’s favorite season, and it goes from June all the way to August. Of course, summer means sunny days and afternoons at the beach in Portugal, since the sun stays up in the sky for most hours of the days. During the summer months, you can expect to experience very warm, even hot temperatures that vary anywhere from 62 °F (17º C) to 82 °F (28º C), which means nice weather every single day of the summer.
- Finally comes autumn or fall, from September to November, a season with temperatures changing from 52 °F (11º C) to 80 °F (27º C), depending on how close the winter season is.
- Last, but definitely not least, comes winter time, which happens from December to February, and during which the temperature can vary anywhere from 46 °F (8º C) to 59 °F (15 º C), depending on the month and how far in the season you are.
Now, this might be raising a question whether when does snow season happen, and we must tell you: it happens during winter time. But you shouldn’t be too excited about experiencing snow in Portugal, since it doesn’t snow as much as you might think.
Actually, if you are thinking about going to Portugal during the winter time and see if it does snow during Christmas time, you might want to know that yes, it does, but not everywhere.
🌨 Where does it snow in Portugal?
Like we said, it doesn’t snow everywhere in Portugal, as a matter of fact, the towns and cities that are closest to the sea don’t experience any snow at all during the year.
However, there are places where snow happens, places such as Viseu, Vila Real and Braganza do experience snow during the winter time, just like the mountain areas of the country.
☃ How much does it snow in Portugal?
Now that you know when does it snow and where does it snow in Portugal, it is time to talk about how much does it snow, although you shouldn’t expect an outstanding number, since it usually snows just a few inches.
In average, Portugal gets from 20 to 35,7 inches of precipitation (meaning both snow and rainfall) during the year, which it isn’t too much when you compare it to other colder countries with a much more harsh winter.
⛷ Skiing in Portugal
Sadly, there aren’t too many places to ski in Portugal, since there isn’t too much snow and people actually rather go to the beach and enjoy the sun and the ocean.
However, if you’re looking to have some fun in the snow you can always to go the Serra da Estrela National Park, the only National Park and mountain with a ski resort full of snow slopes for you to enjoy!
Other than that, we recommend you to enjoy all the other beautiful places Portugal has to offer you! Go to see some history buildings, go to the beach, enjoy the country!