Average Weather at Gibraltar International Airport Gibraltar

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At Gibraltar International Airport, the summers are short, warm, humid, arid, and mostly clear and the winters are long, cool, wet, windy, and partly cloudy. Over the course of the year, the temperature typically varies from 52°F to 82°F and is rarely below 46°F or above 89°F.

The warm season lasts for 2.8 months, from June 22 to September 16, with an average daily high temperature above 78°F. The hottest day of the year is August 5, with an average high of 82°F and low of 70°F.

The cool season lasts for 4.2 months, from November 19 to March 24, with an average daily high temperature below 65°F. The coldest day of the year is January 21, with an average low of 52°F and high of 61°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 Gibraltar International Airport, 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 Gibraltar International Airport begins around June 7 and lasts for 3.0 months, ending around September 7. On July 18, the clearest day of the year, the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 94% of the time, and overcast or mostly cloudy 6% of the time.

The cloudier part of the year begins around September 7 and lasts for 9.0 months, ending around June 7. On October 30, the cloudiest day of the year, the sky is overcast or mostly cloudy 46% of the time, and clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 54% 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 Gibraltar International Airport varies throughout the year.

The wetter season lasts 7.5 months, from September 28 to May 12, with a greater than 13% chance of a given day being a wet day. The chance of a wet day peaks at 26% on November 17.

The drier season lasts 4.5 months, from May 12 to September 28. The smallest chance of a wet day is 0% on July 24.

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 26% on November 17.

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. Gibraltar International Airport experiences significant seasonal variation in monthly rainfall.

The rainy period of the year lasts for 8.5 months, from September 11 to May 27, with a sliding 31-day rainfall of at least 0.5 inches. The most rain falls during the 31 days centered around November 28, with an average total accumulation of 3.2 inches.

The rainless period of the year lasts for 3.5 months, from May 27 to September 11. The least rain falls around July 28, with an average total accumulation of 0.0 inches.

The length of the day at Gibraltar International Airport varies significantly over the course of the year. In 2017, the shortest day is December 21, with 9 hours, 42 minutes of daylight; the longest day is June 21, with 14 hours, 37 minutes of daylight.

The earliest sunrise is at 7:03 AM on June 13, and the latest sunrise is 1 hour, 37 minutes later at 8:40 AM on October 28. The earliest sunset is at 6:06 PM on December 5, and the latest sunset is 3 hours, 36 minutes later at 9:42 PM on June 28.

Daylight saving time (DST) is observed at Gibraltar International Airport 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.

Gibraltar International Airport experiences extreme seasonal variation in the perceived humidity.

The muggier period of the year lasts for 3.8 months, from June 20 to October 14, during which time the comfort level is muggy, oppressive, or miserable at least 15% of the time. The muggiest day of the year is August 25, with muggy conditions 56% of the time.

The least muggy day of the year is February 11, 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 Gibraltar International Airport experiences mild seasonal variation over the course of the year.

The windier part of the year lasts for 6.3 months, from October 25 to May 3, with average wind speeds of more than 5.6 miles per hour. The windiest day of the year is February 23, with an average hourly wind speed of 6.4 miles per hour.

The calmer time of year lasts for 5.7 months, from May 3 to October 25. The calmest day of the year is August 13, with an average hourly wind speed of 4.9 miles per hour.

The predominant average hourly wind direction at Gibraltar International Airport varies throughout the year.

The wind is most often from the west for 2.1 weeks, from January 7 to January 22; for 3.6 weeks, from January 27 to February 21; and for 2.9 months, from March 27 to June 23, with a peak percentage of 51% on May 2. The wind is most often from the east for 5.0 days, from January 22 to January 27; for 1.2 months, from February 21 to March 27; and for 6.5 months, from June 23 to January 7, with a peak percentage of 47% on March 10.

Gibraltar International Airport 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 2.7 months, from July 6 to September 28, with an average temperature above 69°F. The day of the year with the warmest water is August 12, with an average temperature of 72°F.

The time of year with cooler water lasts for 4.6 months, from December 14 to May 1, with an average temperature below 62°F. The day of the year with the coolest water is February 21, with an average temperature of 60°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 3.4 months, from May 7 to August 20, with an average daily incident shortwave energy per square meter above 7.0 kWh. The brightest day of the year is July 2, with an average of 8.2 kWh.

The darker period of the year lasts for 3.4 months, from October 27 to February 11, with an average daily incident shortwave energy per square meter below 3.6 kWh. The darkest day of the year is December 17, with an average of 2.4 kWh.

For the purposes of this report, the geographical coordinates of Gibraltar International Airport are 36.151 deg latitude, -5.350 deg longitude, and 0 ft elevation.

The topography within 2 miles of Gibraltar International Airport contains very significant variations in elevation, with a maximum elevation change of 1,332 feet and an average elevation above sea level of 50 feet. Within 10 miles contains very significant variations in elevation (2,185 feet). Within 50 miles contains large variations in elevation (6,266 feet).

The area within 2 miles of Gibraltar International Airport is covered by water (62%) and artificial surfaces (27%), within 10 miles by water (63%) and shrubs (13%), and within 50 miles by water (51%) and cropland (17%).

This report illustrates the typical weather at Gibraltar International Airport, 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

Gibraltar International Airport 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.

The stations on which we may fall back are Sania Ramel Airport, Tangier Ibn Battouta Airport, Jerez Airport, Málaga Airport, Morón Air Base, Naval Station Rota, Seville San Pablo Airport, and Córdoba Airport.

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.