December Weather in Praia da Vitória PortugalDaily high temperatures are around 63°F, rarely falling below 58°F or exceeding 68°F. Daily low temperatures are around 56°F, rarely falling below 49°F or exceeding 62°F. For reference, on August 11, the hottest day of the year, temperatures in Praia da Vitória typically range from 67°F to 78°F, while on February 13, the coldest day of the year, they range from 54°F to 62°F. The figure below shows you a compact characterization of the hourly average temperatures for the quarter of the year centered on December. The horizontal axis is the day, the vertical axis is the hour of the day, and the color is the average temperature for that hour and day. Avalon, California, United States (4,894 miles away); Antofagasta, Chile (5,147 miles); and Mossel Bay, Western Cape, South Africa (5,948 miles) are the far-away foreign places with temperatures most similar to Praia da Vitória (view comparison). CloudsThe month of December in Praia da Vitória experiences essentially constant cloud cover, with the percentage of time that the sky is overcast or mostly cloudy remaining about 62% throughout the month. The highest chance of overcast or mostly cloudy conditions is 63% on December 15. The clearest day of the month is December 30, with clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy conditions 38% of the time. For reference, on December 15, the cloudiest day of the year, the chance of overcast or mostly cloudy conditions is 63%, while on July 17, the clearest day of the year, the chance of clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy skies is 75%. PrecipitationA wet day is one with at least 0.04 inches of liquid or liquid-equivalent precipitation. In Praia da Vitória, the chance of a wet day over the course of December is essentially constant, remaining around 34% throughout. For reference, the year's highest daily chance of a wet day is 35% on December 5, and its lowest chance is 5% on July 10. RainfallTo show variation within the month and not just the monthly total, we show the rainfall accumulated over a sliding 31-day period centered around each day. The average sliding 31-day rainfall during December in Praia da Vitória is gradually decreasing, starting the month at 3.3 inches, when it rarely exceeds 5.5 inches or falls below 1.0 inches, and ending the month at 2.8 inches, when it rarely exceeds 5.4 inches or falls below 0.7 inches. The highest average 31-day accumulation is 3.4 inches on December 10. SunOver the course of December in Praia da Vitória, the length of the day is essentially constant. The shortest day of the month is December 21, with 9 hours, 27 minutes of daylight and the longest day is December 1, with 9 hours, 39 minutes of daylight. The earliest sunrise of the month in Praia da Vitória is 7:47 AM on December 1 and the latest sunrise is 19 minutes later at 8:06 AM on December 31. The earliest sunset is 5:26 PM on December 7 and the latest sunset is 10 minutes later at 5:36 PM on December 31. Daylight saving time is observed in Praia da Vitória during 2024, but it neither starts nor ends during December, so the entire month is in standard time. For reference, on June 20, the longest day of the year, the Sun rises at 6:23 AM and sets 14 hours, 53 minutes later, at 9:16 PM, while on December 21, the shortest day of the year, it rises at 8:02 AM and sets 9 hours, 27 minutes later, at 5:30 PM. The figure below presents a compact representation of the sun's elevation (the angle of the sun above the horizon) and azimuth (its compass bearing) for every hour of every day in the reporting period. The horizontal axis is the day of the year and the vertical axis is the hour of the day. For a given day and hour of that day, the background color indicates the azimuth of the sun at that moment. The black isolines are contours of constant solar elevation. MoonThe figure below presents a compact representation of key lunar data for December 2024. The horizontal axis is the day, the vertical axis is the hour of the day, and the colored areas indicate when the moon is above the horizon. The vertical gray bars (new Moons) and blue bars (full Moons) indicate key Moon phases. The label associated with each bar indicates the date and time that the phase is obtained, and the companion time labels indicate the rise and set times of the Moon for the nearest time interval in which the moon is above the horizon.
HumidityWe base the humidity comfort level on the dew point, as it determines whether perspiration will evaporate from the skin, thereby cooling the body. Lower dew points feel drier and higher dew points feel more humid. Unlike temperature, which typically varies significantly between night and day, dew point tends to change more slowly, so while the temperature may drop at night, a muggy day is typically followed by a muggy night. The chance that a given day will be muggy in Praia da Vitória is essentially constant during December, remaining around 0% throughout. The lowest chance of a muggy day during December is 0% on December 30. For reference, on August 12, the muggiest day of the year, there are muggy conditions 51% of the time, while on March 3, the least muggy day of the year, there are muggy conditions 0% of the time. WindThis section discusses the wide-area hourly average wind vector (speed and direction) at 10 meters above the ground. The wind experienced at any given location is highly dependent on local topography and other factors, and instantaneous wind speed and direction vary more widely than hourly averages. The average hourly wind speed in Praia da Vitória is increasing during December, increasing from 17.5 miles per hour to 18.5 miles per hour over the course of the month. For reference, on December 26, the windiest day of the year, the daily average wind speed is 18.7 miles per hour, while on July 16, the calmest day of the year, the daily average wind speed is 10.0 miles per hour. The highest daily average wind speed during December is 18.7 miles per hour on December 26. The wind direction in Praia da Vitória during December is predominantly out of the south from December 1 to December 22 and the west from December 22 to December 31. Water TemperaturePraia da Vitória is located near a large body of water (e.g., ocean, sea, or large lake). This section reports on the wide-area average surface temperature of that water. The average surface water temperature in Praia da Vitória is gradually decreasing during December, falling by 2°F, from 64°F to 62°F, over the course of the month. Growing SeasonDefinitions of the growing season vary throughout the world, but for the purposes of this report, we define it as the longest continuous period of non-freezing temperatures (≥ 32°F) in the year (the calendar year in the Northern Hemisphere, or from July 1 until June 30 in the Southern Hemisphere). Temperatures in Praia da Vitória are sufficiently warm year round that it is not entirely meaningful to discuss the growing season in these terms. We nevertheless include the chart below as an illustration of the distribution of temperatures experienced throughout the year. Growing degree days are a measure of yearly heat accumulation used to predict plant and animal development, and defined as the integral of warmth above a base temperature, discarding any excess above a maximum temperature. In this report, we use a base of 50°F and a cap of 86°F. The average accumulated growing degree days in Praia da Vitória are increasing during December, increasing by 292°F, from 4,741°F to 5,033°F, over the course of the month. Solar EnergyThis section discusses the total daily incident shortwave solar energy reaching the surface of the ground over a wide area, taking full account of seasonal variations in the length of the day, the elevation of the Sun above the horizon, and absorption by clouds and other atmospheric constituents. Shortwave radiation includes visible light and ultraviolet radiation. The average daily incident shortwave solar energy in Praia da Vitória is essentially constant during December, remaining within 0.1 kWh of 1.9 kWh throughout. The lowest average daily incident shortwave solar energy during December is 1.9 kWh on December 15. TopographyFor the purposes of this report, the geographical coordinates of Praia da Vitória are 38.733 deg latitude, -27.067 deg longitude, and 85 ft elevation. The topography within 2 miles of Praia da Vitória contains significant variations in elevation, with a maximum elevation change of 817 feet and an average elevation above sea level of 157 feet. Within 10 miles contains significant variations in elevation (2,612 feet). Within 50 miles contains large variations in elevation (3,376 feet). The area within 2 miles of Praia da Vitória is covered by water (50%), trees (28%), and grassland (15%), within 10 miles by water (74%) and grassland (18%), and within 50 miles by water (98%). Data SourcesThis report illustrates the typical weather in Praia da Vitória, based on a statistical analysis of historical hourly weather reports and model reconstructions from January 1, 1980 to December 31, 2016. Temperature and Dew PointThere is only a single weather station, Lajes Field, in our network suitable to be used as a proxy for the historical temperature and dew point records of Praia da Vitória. At a distance of 4 kilometers from Praia da Vitória, closer than our threshold of 150 kilometers, this station is deemed sufficiently nearby to be relied upon as our primary source for temperature and dew point records. The station records are corrected for the elevation difference between the station and Praia da Vitória according to the International Standard Atmosphere , and by the relative change present in the MERRA-2 satellite-era reanalysis between the two locations. Please note that the station records themselves may additionally have been back-filled using other nearby stations or the MERRA-2 reanalysis. Other DataAll data relating to the Sun's position (e.g., sunrise and sunset) are computed using astronomical formulas from the book, Astronomical Algorithms 2nd Edition , by Jean Meeus. All other weather data, including cloud cover, precipitation, wind speed and direction, and solar flux, come from NASA's MERRA-2 Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis . This reanalysis combines a variety of wide-area measurements in a state-of-the-art global meteorological model to reconstruct the hourly history of weather throughout the world on a 50-kilometer grid. Land Use data comes from the Global Land Cover SHARE database , published by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Elevation data comes from the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) , published by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Names, locations, and time zones of places and some airports come from the GeoNames Geographical Database . Time zones for airports and weather stations are provided by AskGeo.com . Maps are © OpenStreetMap contributors. DisclaimerThe information on this site is provided as is, without any assurances as to its accuracy or suitability for any purpose. Weather data is prone to errors, outages, and other defects. We assume no responsibility for any decisions made on the basis of the content presented on this site. We draw particular cautious attention to our reliance on the MERRA-2 model-based reconstructions for a number of important data series. While having the tremendous advantages of temporal and spatial completeness, these reconstructions: (1) are based on computer models that may have model-based errors, (2) are coarsely sampled on a 50 km grid and are therefore unable to reconstruct the local variations of many microclimates, and (3) have particular difficulty with the weather in some coastal areas, especially small islands. We further caution that our travel scores are only as good as the data that underpin them, that weather conditions at any given location and time are unpredictable and variable, and that the definition of the scores reflects a particular set of preferences that may not agree with those of any particular reader. Please review our full terms contained on our Terms of Service page. |