Hvar climate

The island Hvar is characterized by gentle winters, warm summers and many hours of sunshine. Gentle and moist winters (January in Hvar has an average temperature of 8.4° C) have many advantages, among other things enabling winter tourism in Hvar. Maximum temperatures are never too high to render agriculture impossible (the highest recorded temperature of 37° C was reached in 1935). The average annual air temperature is around 16.5° C, while autumns are warmer than springs, which prolongs the growing period.

Hvar has an annual average of 7.7 hours sunshine per day and 3.8 hours of cloud (by comparison Dubrovnik has 7.0 hours of sunshine and 4.4 hours of cloud; Nice /South of France/ 7.2 and 4.2 respectively). A general belief in the health-giving effects of sunny regions led to the discovery of this “Adriatic Madeira” as early as the 19th century. It has the most hours of sunshine on the Adriatic coast, with as much as 2715 per year, and only small variations in temperature. “The Hygienic Society” was founded in 1868, and the first health hotel was opened in 1889, while The Centre for Allergies of the Croatian Academy of Arts and Sciences was founded in 1965.

Climate takes care that ardency of the Sun and warmth of the sea are cooled by summer, benevolent mistral. Mistral is a wind often connected with blooming of the fig-tree. It blows on Hvar from the northwest through Pakleni Channel. As a rule it starts to blow in the morning about 10 or 11 o’clock, becoming stronger as the sun goes up, and then after a purple sunset, that announces another beautiful morrow, it withers away in the warm and short summer night. Mistral blows constantly, but it stretches the sails of all kind; thus sailors like it. Rains are rare in summer months, but sometime when falling they make a welcome refreshment and short-term change.

The magnetic, summer attraction does not end with the autumn equinox. On the contrary, a period between autumn and spring equinoxes, brings a stimulating freshness of mild winter, slowed down pace of living, tranquillity and silence to all who like lush vegetation and miraculous changes, that are brought by jugo (sirocco) and bura (bora). It rarely snows during this winter period, in average once in every ten years, and when it does a real festivity to all residents of Hvar. Jugo brings frightfully respectful thunders and rains that fill cisterns of Hvar during late autumn and early winter, and the drizzle lulls to sleep. Bura, on the other hand, brings freshness, winds, clear air and the horizon that is limited only by the roundness of the Earth.