Winter Weather in Crete Greece

Daily high temperatures decrease by 5°F, from 65°F to 60°F, rarely falling below 51°F or exceeding 71°F. The lowest daily average high temperature is 59°F on February 7.

Daily low temperatures decrease by 5°F, from 54°F to 49°F, rarely falling below 42°F or exceeding 60°F. The lowest daily average low temperature is 48°F on February 10.

For reference, on July 27, the hottest day of the year, temperatures in Crete typically range from 73°F to 84°F, while on February 9, the coldest day of the year, they range from 48°F to 59°F.

The figure below shows you a compact characterization of the hourly average winter temperatures. 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.

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The winter in Crete experiences gradually decreasing cloud cover, with the percentage of time that the sky is overcast or mostly cloudy decreasing from 39% to 33%. The highest chance of overcast or mostly cloudy conditions is 41% on December 12.

The clearest day of the winter is February 28, with clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy conditions 67% of the time.

For reference, on December 12, the cloudiest day of the year, the chance of overcast or mostly cloudy conditions is 41%, while on July 18, the clearest day of the year, the chance of clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy skies is 100%.

A wet day is one with at least 0.04 inches of liquid or liquid-equivalent precipitation. In Crete, the chance of a wet day over the course of the winter is essentially constant, remaining around 30% throughout.

For reference, the year's highest daily chance of a wet day is 34% on December 24, and its lowest chance is 0% on July 25.

Rainfall

To show variation within the season and not just the monthly totals, we show the rainfall accumulated over a sliding 31-day period centered around each day.

The average sliding 31-day rainfall during the winter in Crete is gradually decreasing, starting the season at 2.3 inches, when it rarely exceeds 4.0 inches or falls below 0.9 inches, and ending the season at 1.8 inches, when it rarely exceeds 3.3 inches or falls below 0.7 inches.

The highest average 31-day accumulation is 2.7 inches on December 28.

Over the course of the winter in Crete, the length of the day is rapidly increasing. From the start to the end of the season, the length of the day increases by 1 hour, 27 minutes, implying an average daily increase of 59 seconds, and weekly increase of 6 minutes, 50 seconds.

The shortest day of the winter is December 21, with 9 hours, 46 minutes of daylight and the longest day is February 28, with 11 hours, 24 minutes of daylight.

The latest sunrise of the winter in Crete is 7:28 AM on January 6 and the earliest sunrise is 39 minutes earlier at 6:50 AM on February 28.

The earliest sunset is 5:06 PM on December 5 and the latest sunset is 1 hour, 7 minutes later at 6:14 PM on February 28.

Daylight saving time is observed in Crete during 2024, but it neither starts nor ends during the winter, so the entire season is in standard time.

For reference, on June 20, the longest day of the year, the Sun rises at 6:04 AM and sets 14 hours, 33 minutes later, at 8:37 PM, while on December 21, the shortest day of the year, it rises at 7:24 AM and sets 9 hours, 46 minutes later, at 5:10 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.

The figure below presents a compact representation of key lunar data for the winter of 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.

We 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 Crete is essentially constant during the winter, remaining around 0% throughout.

For reference, on August 12, the muggiest day of the year, there are muggy conditions 50% of the time, while on January 1, the least muggy day of the year, there are muggy conditions 0% of the time.

This 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 Crete is gradually increasing during the winter, increasing from 12.8 miles per hour to 13.7 miles per hour over the course of the season.

For reference, on February 9, the windiest day of the year, the daily average wind speed is 14.3 miles per hour, while on May 23, the calmest day of the year, the daily average wind speed is 9.6 miles per hour.

The highest daily average wind speed during the winter is 14.3 miles per hour on February 9.

The hourly average wind direction in Crete throughout the winter is predominantly from the north, with a peak proportion of 43% on January 23.

Crete 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 Crete is decreasing during the winter, falling by 6°F, from 66°F to 60°F, over the course of the season.

Definitions 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 Crete 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 Crete are very rapidly decreasing during the winter, decreasing by 5,334°F, from 5,612°F to 279°F, over the course of the season.

This 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 Crete is rapidly increasing during the winter, rising by 1.6 kWh, from 2.6 kWh to 4.2 kWh, over the course of the season.

The lowest average daily incident shortwave solar energy during the winter is 2.3 kWh on December 20.

For the purposes of this report, the geographical coordinates of Crete are 35.342 deg latitude, 25.142 deg longitude, and 89 ft elevation.

The topography within 2 miles of Crete contains only modest variations in elevation, with a maximum elevation change of 348 feet and an average elevation above sea level of 75 feet. Within 10 miles contains only modest variations in elevation (2,595 feet). Within 50 miles contains large variations in elevation (8,071 feet).

The area within 2 miles of Crete is covered by artificial surfaces (46%) and water (44%), within 10 miles by water (50%) and cropland (26%), and within 50 miles by water (78%).