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The climate of Norway
Norway has a mild climate considering its location. Under the strong influence of the Atlantic Ocean winters are fairly cold. However, it could have been much colder if you look at the degrees of latitude in between which the country is situated. The Atlantic Gulf Stream causes the sea water to be relatively warm, because of this it hardly ever freezes over. Only during extremely cold winters the sea water off the most northerly coast of Norway may freeze over. Norway has five climate types according to the Köppen Geiger climate classification. The coastal areas in the south and southwest have a moderate maritime climate, type Cfb. Characteristic of this climate type are fairly mild winters and summers with precipitation all year round. Small regions along the west coast have a cool maritime climate (type Cfc) with slightly lower temperatures both during summer and winter than in the southern part of the country.

The interior in the south and southwest has a moderate continental climate (type Dfb). Here the sea has little influence on the climate causing the weather to be more unstable and winters to be colder. Further to the north a combination of three climate types can be found. The largest part of the interior has a cool continental climate (type Dfd) changing into a tundra climate (type ET). Several higher regions in central Norway have a high mountain climate (type EH). Almost 90% of Norway has a subarctic climate (overall classification). Characteristic of this climate type are relatively short summers, the possibility of extremely low temperatures (-30 to -40)

 

Climate information of places and areas in Norway
The climate information on this page is only brief. Specific information about weather and climate can be found on the climate pages per area or town. As for Norway the following climate information is available:

Alesund
Bergen
Finnmark
Frederikstad
Geilo
Geiranger
Gol
Hamar
Haugesund
Kristiansand
Leknes
Lillehammer
Oslo
Stavanger
Svalbard
Tromsø
Trondheim

Influence of the Atlantic Ocean
The influence of the Atlantic Ocean causes temperatures to be tempered during the summer in the southern part of the country. During the winter temperatures remain mild along the coast because of this influence. In the interior this effect is much smaller and consequently temperatures may be much lower here than along the coast. The ocean also supplies many rain depressions causing especially the southwestern part of Norway to have high precipitation figures, a large part of which falls in the form of snow during the winter.

Wind
The ocean also causes the wind to blow freely. The coastal areas in Norway are very windy. The joined forces of wind and sea water have formed a large part of the characteristic landscape with many fjords and rugged rocks. About three quarters of the time the wind blows fiercely along the coast. The windiest part is the most southeasterly tip. The wind that is supplied over Skagerrak to Færder Fyr and Frederikstad causes stormy weather for about 30 days per year.

Cool summers
Summers in Norway are fairly cool. Under the influence of high pressure areas over Scandinavia it may get warm in June, July and August. However, temperatures higher than 25-28 degrees Celsius are uncommon. It may get slightly warmer on a single day, but this is exceptional. Summers in Norway are characterized by long days. In the southern part the night only lasts for 5-6 hours in June. In the most northern part the sun doesn’t set at all, here you can enjoy the midsummer night. In the northern half of Norway summers are cool. During the summer daytime temperatures hardly ever rise above 20 degrees Celsius (14-15 degrees Celsius on average). During the night temperatures are just above freezing point. No ideal conditions for a sunny holiday. However, the weather is very pleasant to go walking, cycling or take photographs of this part of Scandinavia.

Precipitation
Norway has the reputation of being a wet country. However, this is only partially true. The lower areas along the west coast are fairly wet. Depending on the exact location these areas get 800-1,200 millimeters of annual precipitation. On the windward side of the mountains rain clouds are forced up the mountains causing precipitation figures to be high. This is especially the case in the southern part of Norway where precipitation figures may rise as high as 2,000-4,000 millimeters per year. Characteristic of this region is the slightly drier spring and a wet fall in which precipitation is often combined with wind. During the winter a large part of the precipitation falls in the form of snow, hail and glazed frost. Only along the coast there may be rainfall instead of wintry precipitation. The leeward side of the mountains is much drier. The valleys in Oppland are driest with 300-400 millimeters of annual precipitation. The driest city in Norway is Skják with only 278 millimeters of annual precipitation. The most northerly situated province in Norway, Finnmark can also be referred to as dry. The northwestern part of Finnmark gets about 450 millimeters of annual precipitation, the rest of the province can record 300 millimeters of annual precipitation on average. The cities located along the Oslo Fjord, including the capital Oslo are fairly dry as well. On average this region gets about 500-600 millimeters of annual precipitation.

 

Climate figures
The figures below are based on long term weather and climate records. They are an average for the southern part of Norway. The largest deviations are: the northern part of the country is much colder; the temperature of the sea is colder in the north and the west coast is much wetter, especially the region between Stavanger and Kristiansund. On the same degree of latitude large differences in temperatures may occur which is caused by the influence of the sea and the differences in altitude.

average
 maximum
temperature (°C)

average
minimum

temperature (°C)
average
hours of sunshine

per
day
average days with precipitation
per month
average
mm
precipitation
per month
average
sea
temperature (°C)
January -1 -7 1 19 5
February -1 -7 2 17 4
March 4 -4 3 18 5
April 8 0 5 16 6
May 14 6 7 15 10
June 19 10 8 16 14
July 20 11 7 18 16
August 20 10 6 18 18
September 13 7 5 20 15
October 8 4 3 21 12
November 3 -2 2 21 8
December 1 -5 1 22 6
= 0-5 mm ● = 6-30 mm ● = 31-60 mm ● = 61-100 mm ● = 101-200 mm ● = over 200 mm
= 0-0.2 inches ● = 0.2-1.2 inches ● = 1.2-2.4 inches ● = 2.5-4 inches ● = 4.1-8 inches ● = over 8 inches

More climate information
Climate tables are useful but they don’t give an overall picture of the climate and possible weather conditions during a period of time. How high the chances are of hot or cold weather or hurricanes can often not be found in these tables. This is why we offer extra climate information per month. The figures below are for the larger part of Norway. However, local deviations may occur. Chances of wintry weather are much higher in the central part of Norway as well as in the northern part and in the higher regions. The western part of the country may experience long lasting precipitation. In the western part of the country chances of summer weather are small to nil with the exception of the southern part. UV-index figures are lower in the northern part than shown in the figures below.
 

chance of
(very) hot

weather

chance of
(very) cool
weather
chance of
long-term

precipitation
chance of
hurricanes
(cyclones)
chance of
sunny days

UV-index

January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December
click here for the explanation of the symbols

 

Disclaimer
The information at this site was carefully composed from climate data collected by meteorological services, meteorological offices, climate experts and other sources. “More climate info” is based on statistics, climate data and personal experience. No rights can be derived from this site. Weather has no memory and gives no guaranties. Nothing is as changeable and unpredictable as the weather. The authors of this site feel in no way responsible for any damages caused by misinterpretation or other circumstances that may influence your holiday or trip to a certain destination. We provide information, it’s up to the reader to use it to it’s benefit.

 

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