The end of a long, cold, snowy winter for lots of people is a good time to talk about the best climates in the world.
Now, we know that best climate can be pretty subjective, but many people would agree that a Mediterranean climate is probably as close to an ideal as any climate.
In our article, “Finding Your Ideal Climate Abroad,” Jan Null, a Certified Consulting Meteorologist, makes a strong case for the Mediterranean climate. “The Mediterranean climate falls in the temperate zone sweet spot where most people in the world live,” he told us. It’s called the mid-latitudes, the region between 30 and 45 degrees latitude, north and south. The Mediterranean climate, though, can be found in just a few places in the world and represents only about 2 percent of the earth’s surface.”
Weatherwise Magazine agrees. In a roundup story on the top best weather places in the world, they came up with this list, all within Null’s “sweet spot.”
#1 Viña del Mar, Chile – Located on the central coast of Chile, this place has sunshine and an average January high of 75 F and a low of 59 F. In July, Chile’s winter, the average high is 59 F and low 50 F with about 19 inches of rain during the winter months, which is very typical of a Mediterranean climate. No hurricanes, tornados, snow or other unseemly weather occurrences bother this area, just a bit of fog once in awhile.
#2 Las Palmas, Gran Canaria – The largest city in Spain’s Canary Islands is located just of the coast of southern Morocco. It has comfortable warmth throughout the year with an average high in August of 81 F and a low of about 70 F. The average January high is not quite 70 F and the low is almost 60 F. It also has lots of sunshine, little wind and about five inches of rain each year. A tropical storm, though, does occasionally wander through.
#3 Northwestern Coast of Morocco – Cold Atlantic Ocean currents keep this area cooler than it should be and produces little year-round temperature variability. In January, the average high is 63 F and the low 45 F. Summer brings an average high of 80 F and a low of 70F. The area receives lots of sunshine and less than six inches of rain each year and has no severe weather conditions at any time.
#4 Sassari, Sardinia – On the coast of northern Sardinia, Sassari has plentiful sunshine and an average summer high in July of 82 F and a low of 66 F. During January, the high plunges to an average 54 F and a low of 43 F. Winter rains bring nearly twenty-eight inches of precipitation.
#5 Barcelona, Spain – Hugging the Mediterranean shoreline of northeastern Spain, Barcelona’s August average high temperature is about 84 F and the low 70 F. January’s high is just under 57 F and the low hovers around 41 F. You’ll love the sunshine in Barcelona when it is not dropping its average annual 25 inches of precipitation.
Other top 10 Weatherwise Magazine best climate places, in descending order, are: Lisbon, Portugal; San Diego, U.S.; Adelaide, Australia; Southwestern South Africa (Cape Town area); and, Southwestern Australia (Perth area).
Although not included, the Lake Chapala region in Mexico also lays claim to a world-class climate, with year-round spring like weather owed to the moderating influence of the lake and its 5,000-foot elevation on Mexico’s mountainous central plateau.
