Palermo climate

Name: Palermo
Address: IT

Palermo is warmest in August, with average highs of 30 °C, and coldest in February, when nights average 8.4 °C. October is the wettest month (81 mm) and July the driest (6.5 mm). Figures are 1991–2020 climate normals.

Across a full year Palermo averages 625 mm of rain, 119 days above 25 °C and 0 days below freezing.

Italy · 14 m elevation · population 648,260 · 1991–2020 normals

Temperature below 0 °C to above 30 °C Rain band height is that month’s share of the wettest month

Warmest month August 30 °C
Coldest month February 8.4 °C
Driest month July 7 mm
Wettest month October 81 mm
Least cloud July 9 % cloud
Hottest on record August 41 °C
Coldest on record December -0.1 °C
Warmest sea August 27 °C

What to expectPalermo through the year

Palermo has a clear annual cycle: average daily highs run from 14 °C in February to 30 °C in August, a swing of 16 °C in mean temperature across the year.

Counted across a normal year, 119 days a year reach 25 °C, 40 of them reach 30 °C, 0 nights drop below freezing. The warmest reading in the 1991–2020 record is 41 °C, in August.

Rain is strongly seasonal. October averages 81 mm against 7 mm in July — 12 times as much. Planning around the dry months matters more here than planning around temperature.

The sea off Palermo is warmest in August at 27 °C and coldest in February at 14 °C. Sea temperature lags the air by a month or two, which is why late summer swims warmer than early summer at the same air temperature.

Month by month

Month	Avg high	Rainfall	Cloud
January	14.0 °C	69 mm	58 %
February	14.0 °C	72 mm	54 %
March	16.3 °C	67 mm	50 %
April	18.8 °C	59 mm	49 %
May	22.7 °C	36 mm	39 %
June	27.0 °C	15 mm	24 %
July	29.9 °C	7 mm	9 %
August	30.5 °C	19 mm	14 %
September	26.7 °C	61 mm	38 %
October	23.3 °C	81 mm	48 %
November	18.9 °C	68 mm	56 %
December	15.3 °C	72 mm	58 %

Temperature month by month

Month	Avg high	Avg low	Mean	Record high	Record low	Days above 25 °C	Days above 30 °C
January	14.0 °C	8.8 °C	11.4 °C	20.7 °C	0.9 °C	0	0
February	14.0 °C	8.4 °C	11.2 °C	22.8 °C	2.3 °C	0	0
March	16.3 °C	9.8 °C	13.0 °C	29.4 °C	3.7 °C	0	0
April	18.8 °C	11.8 °C	15.4 °C	28.5 °C	5.2 °C	1	0
May	22.7 °C	15.4 °C	19.2 °C	36.8 °C	9.2 °C	6	1
June	27.0 °C	19.5 °C	23.5 °C	40.8 °C	13.6 °C	21	5
July	29.9 °C	22.3 °C	26.2 °C	39.8 °C	16.2 °C	31	13
August	30.5 °C	23.1 °C	26.8 °C	41.1 °C	18.8 °C	31	16
September	26.7 °C	20.4 °C	23.5 °C	35.8 °C	13.7 °C	22	4
October	23.3 °C	17.3 °C	20.2 °C	33.2 °C	10.3 °C	8	1
November	18.9 °C	13.6 °C	16.2 °C	28.2 °C	6.5 °C	0	0
December	15.3 °C	10.4 °C	12.8 °C	23.0 °C	-0.1 °C	0	0

Rain, sun and wind month by month

Month	Rainfall	Wet days	Daylight	Cloud cover	Humidity	Wind	Sea temp
January	69 mm	10	9.8 h/day	58 %	80 %	15 km/h	15.0 °C
February	72 mm	10	11 h/day	54 %	77 %	17 km/h	14.4 °C
March	67 mm	10	12 h/day	50 %	76 %	16 km/h	14.6 °C
April	59 mm	9	13 h/day	49 %	74 %	15 km/h	15.8 °C
May	36 mm	6	14 h/day	39 %	72 %	13 km/h	18.6 °C
June	15 mm	3	15 h/day	24 %	68 %	13 km/h	22.4 °C
July	7 mm	2	15 h/day	9 %	65 %	13 km/h	25.8 °C
August	19 mm	3	14 h/day	14 %	67 %	12 km/h	27.0 °C
September	61 mm	9	12 h/day	38 %	73 %	13 km/h	25.3 °C
October	81 mm	10	11 h/day	48 %	78 %	13 km/h	22.6 °C
November	68 mm	10	10 h/day	56 %	79 %	15 km/h	19.6 °C
December	72 mm	11	9.5 h/day	58 %	79 %	16 km/h	16.7 °C

How Palermo compares

The same four figures for nearby destinations, so the numbers above have something to be read against. Summer high is the warmest month's average high; winter low is the coldest month's average low.

Destination	Summer high	Winter low	Rain per year	Days above 25 °C
Palermo	30 °C	8.4 °C	625 mm	119
Catania · Italy	32 °C	7.2 °C	564 mm	130
Messina · Italy	30 °C	8.3 °C	940 mm	108
Reggio Calabria · Italy	31 °C	6.7 °C	1,041 mm	113
Valletta · Malta	28 °C	11 °C	384 mm	95

Where Palermo ranks

Ranking	Position	Value
Best beach destinations in Europe in June	1st of 50	95/100
Warmest sea temperatures in Europe in August	3rd of 50	27 °C
Warmest sea temperatures in Europe in July	3rd of 50	26 °C
Warmest sea temperatures in Europe in September	4th of 50	25 °C
Warmest sea temperatures in Europe year-round	6th of 50	20 °C
Best beach destinations in Europe in July	7th of 50	97/100

Planning a trip? See the best time to visit Palermo.

QuestionsCommon questions about Palermo’s climate

When is the best time to visit Palermo?

That depends on what you want, so the honest answer is a comparison rather than a single month. May, June, October sit closest to 20 °C on average, August is the warmest month and July the driest. The month-by-month table above has the full picture.

How hot does Palermo get?

In August, the warmest month, daily highs average 30 °C. About 40 days a year pass 30 °C. The highest value in the 1991–2020 record is 41 °C.

How cold does it get in winter?

Nights average 8.4 °C in February, the coldest month. A normal year has 0 nights below freezing.

Which month is wettest in Palermo?

October, averaging 81 mm over 10 days with rain. The driest month is July with 7 mm. The year as a whole averages 625 mm.

Are these figures a forecast?

No. They are 1991–2020 climate normals: the average of thirty years, which describes what a month is usually like in Palermo rather than what any particular week will bring. Individual years can differ substantially from the normal.

Data sources and method

ERA5 / ERA5-Land reanalysis — Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), ECMWF. Copernicus Licence
Open-Meteo — Open-Meteo.com. CC BY 4.0
NOAA OISST v2.1 — NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory. Public domain
GeoNames — GeoNames.org. CC BY 4.0

Normal period: 1991–2020
Data point: 38.117°, 13.364° , 14 m above sea level (the coordinates the reanalysis values are taken for)
Dataset version: era5-1991-2020-scores1.1
Last processed: 1 August 2026

Measured values come from ERA5 reanalysis and are reproduced unchanged. Calculated by us: monthly rankings, daylight hours, beach and comfort scores. Full formulas are on the methodology page.

Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026. Neither the European Commission nor ECMWF is responsible for any use that may be made of the Copernicus information or data it contains.