Climate

At the end of the Ice Age, about 12,000 years ago, the climate of Greece - itself never directly touched by the Ice Age glaciation - approached present conditions. In Classical times, it was like the mid-twentieth century with some minor variations. The Mediterranean climate is fairly dependable, characterized by a hot, dry summer (from April to October) and a mild winter punctuated by rainstorms and occasional snowstorms in the mountains and toward the north that bring almost all the annual precipitation. The storms move from west to east, bringing the heaviest precipitation to north-western Greece - over 1,400 mm near loannina - as the air masses strike the massive Pindos range, and cause a rain shadow in eastern Greece, including Athens, where the annual average is under 600 mm. Rainfall is quite variable and rarely lasts very long, although it can be quite heavy when it occurs. Its lack is often a severe problem in many Aegean islands.

The nearness of the sea moderates temperatures, and nights with frost are uncommon, but not unknown near sea level. The same could not be said of the mountains, where in winter shepherds wrapped themselves in heavy goatskin. Snow descended rarely to the lowlands in winter. Summers were another story, with temperatures rising to the high 20s or mid-30s C, which may explain why typical marketplace architecture was a colonnade simultaneously offering shade and breezes. Daytime heat in summer can be oppressive, although in Athens, for example, nights generally are cooler than days by around 10 degrees C. Sunshine is present during a high percentage of the possible time. The Greek sky is almost always blue, although Greeks would undoubtedly emphasize the ‘‘almost’’ in this sentence.

Winter storms made sailing dangerous, so the proper season for navigation was summer, with a prevailing north-east wind called ‘‘etesian’’ (‘‘annual’’). All statements about Greek weather have their exceptions, however. Violent summer thunderstorms, occasionally bringing tornados, can sweep out from the mountains, sending flash floods down streambeds and causing squalls at sea.