Average Weather at Ponta Delgada / Nordela Acores Portugal

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At Ponta Delgada / Nordela Acores, the summers are short, warm, humid, dry, and mostly clear and the winters are long, cool, windy, and partly cloudy. Over the course of the year, the temperature typically varies from 55°F to 77°F and is rarely below 50°F or above 80°F.

The warm season lasts for 2.5 months, from July 11 to September 26, with an average daily high temperature above 74°F. The hottest day of the year is August 15, with an average high of 77°F and low of 68°F.

The cool season lasts for 5.0 months, from December 3 to May 3, with an average daily high temperature below 65°F. The coldest day of the year is February 17, with an average low of 55°F and high of 62°F.

The figure below shows you a compact characterization of the entire year of hourly average temperatures. The horizontal axis is the day of the year, the vertical axis is the hour of the day, and the color is the average temperature for that hour and day.

At Ponta Delgada / Nordela Acores, the average percentage of the sky covered by clouds experiences significant seasonal variation over the course of the year.

The clearer part of the year at Ponta Delgada / Nordela Acores begins around June 15 and lasts for 3.0 months, ending around September 15. On July 18, the clearest day of the year, the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 80% of the time, and overcast or mostly cloudy 20% of the time.

The cloudier part of the year begins around September 15 and lasts for 9.0 months, ending around June 15. On December 22, the cloudiest day of the year, the sky is overcast or mostly cloudy 62% of the time, and clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 38% of the time.

A wet day is one with at least 0.04 inches of liquid or liquid-equivalent precipitation. The chance of wet days at Ponta Delgada / Nordela Acores varies throughout the year.

The wetter season lasts 6.9 months, from September 15 to April 13, with a greater than 17% chance of a given day being a wet day. The chance of a wet day peaks at 31% on December 6.

The drier season lasts 5.1 months, from April 13 to September 15. The smallest chance of a wet day is 4% on July 17.

Among wet days, we distinguish between those that experience rain alone, snow alone, or a mixture of the two. Based on this categorization, the most common form of precipitation throughout the year is rain alone, with a peak probability of 31% on December 6.

Rainfall

To show variation within the months and not just the monthly totals, we show the rainfall accumulated over a sliding 31-day period centered around each day of the year. Ponta Delgada / Nordela Acores experiences significant seasonal variation in monthly rainfall.

The rainy period of the year lasts for 10 months, from August 19 to June 22, with a sliding 31-day rainfall of at least 0.5 inches. The most rain falls during the 31 days centered around December 12, with an average total accumulation of 3.0 inches.

The rainless period of the year lasts for 1.9 months, from June 22 to August 19. The least rain falls around July 21, with an average total accumulation of 0.2 inches.

The length of the day at Ponta Delgada / Nordela Acores varies significantly over the course of the year. In 2017, the shortest day is December 21, with 9 hours, 33 minutes of daylight; the longest day is June 21, with 14 hours, 47 minutes of daylight.

The earliest sunrise is at 6:20 AM on June 14, and the latest sunrise is 1 hour, 44 minutes later at 8:04 AM on October 28. The earliest sunset is at 5:23 PM on December 7, and the latest sunset is 3 hours, 45 minutes later at 9:08 PM on June 28.

Daylight saving time (DST) is observed at Ponta Delgada / Nordela Acores during 2017, starting in the spring on March 26, lasting 7.1 months, and ending in the fall on October 29.

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.

Ponta Delgada / Nordela Acores experiences significant seasonal variation in the perceived humidity.

The muggier period of the year lasts for 4.4 months, from June 21 to November 2, during which time the comfort level is muggy, oppressive, or miserable at least 13% of the time. The muggiest day of the year is August 28, with muggy conditions 49% of the time.

The least muggy day of the year is February 27, when muggy conditions are essentially unheard of.

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 at Ponta Delgada / Nordela Acores experiences significant seasonal variation over the course of the year.

The windier part of the year lasts for 7.0 months, from October 5 to May 6, with average wind speeds of more than 7.5 miles per hour. The windiest day of the year is December 26, with an average hourly wind speed of 9.6 miles per hour.

The calmer time of year lasts for 5.0 months, from May 6 to October 5. The calmest day of the year is July 18, with an average hourly wind speed of 5.4 miles per hour.

The predominant average hourly wind direction at Ponta Delgada / Nordela Acores varies throughout the year.

The wind is most often from the south for 5.0 days, from January 27 to February 1; for 2.4 weeks, from February 26 to March 15; and for 1.9 weeks, from December 6 to December 19, with a peak percentage of 32% on December 18. The wind is most often from the west for 3.6 weeks, from February 1 to February 26; for 3.6 weeks, from March 15 to April 9; for 1.0 weeks, from May 23 to May 30; for 1.3 months, from October 3 to November 11; for 2.7 weeks, from November 17 to December 6; and for 1.3 months, from December 19 to January 27, with a peak percentage of 36% on May 27. The wind is most often from the north for 1.5 months, from April 9 to May 23; for 4.1 months, from May 30 to October 3; and for 6.0 days, from November 11 to November 17, with a peak percentage of 41% on July 6.

Ponta Delgada / Nordela Acores 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 water temperature experiences some seasonal variation over the course of the year.

The time of year with warmer water lasts for 2.6 months, from July 17 to October 6, with an average temperature above 71°F. The day of the year with the warmest water is August 25, with an average temperature of 74°F.

The time of year with cooler water lasts for 4.8 months, from December 21 to May 16, with an average temperature below 63°F. The day of the year with the coolest water is March 2, with an average temperature of 61°F.

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 experiences extreme seasonal variation over the course of the year.

The brighter period of the year lasts for 3.5 months, from May 7 to August 24, with an average daily incident shortwave energy per square meter above 6.4 kWh. The brightest day of the year is July 16, with an average of 7.6 kWh.

The darker period of the year lasts for 3.5 months, from October 29 to February 13, with an average daily incident shortwave energy per square meter below 3.1 kWh. The darkest day of the year is December 15, with an average of 2.0 kWh.

For the purposes of this report, the geographical coordinates of Ponta Delgada / Nordela Acores are 37.741 deg latitude, -25.698 deg longitude, and 0 ft elevation.

The topography within 2 miles of Ponta Delgada / Nordela Acores contains significant variations in elevation, with a maximum elevation change of 666 feet and an average elevation above sea level of 170 feet. Within 10 miles contains significant variations in elevation (2,776 feet). Within 50 miles contains large variations in elevation (3,553 feet).

The area within 2 miles of Ponta Delgada / Nordela Acores is covered by water (63%) and trees (22%), within 10 miles by water (74%) and grassland (15%), and within 50 miles by water (97%).

This report illustrates the typical weather at Ponta Delgada / Nordela Acores, based on a statistical analysis of historical hourly weather reports and model reconstructions from January 1, 1980 to December 31, 2016.

Temperature and Dew Point

Ponta Delgada / Nordela Acores has a weather station that reported reliably enough during the analysis period that we have included it in our network. When available, historical temperature and dew point measurements are taken directly from this weather station. These records are obtained from NOAA's Integrated Surface Hourly data set, falling back on ICAO METAR records as required.

In the case of missing or erroneous measurements from this station, we fall back on records from nearby stations, adjusted according to typical seasonal and diurnal intra-station differences. For a given day of the year and hour of the day, the fallback station is selected to minimize the prediction error over the years for which there are measurements for both stations.

In this case, the only station close and reliable enough to use as a fallback is Santa Maria Acores.

Other Data

All data relating to the Sun's position (e.g., sunrise and sunset) are computed using astronomical formulas from the book, Astronomical Tables of the Sun, Moon and Planets , 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 aiports and weather stations are provided by AskGeo.com .

Maps are © Esri, with data from National Geographic, Esri, DeLorme, NAVTEQ, UNEP-WCMC, USGS, NASA, ESA, METI, NRCAN, GEBCO, NOAA, and iPC.