Italy Climate Patterns

Italy's climate splits fairly cleanly along the Apennines. The south and the coasts follow a Mediterranean pattern -- hot, dry summers and mild, wetter winters -- while the Po Valley in the north has a more continental climate, with genuinely cold, foggy winters and hot, humid summers unlike anything found along the Mediterranean coast at the same latitude.

The Alps and Dolomites are a climate of their own: alpine conditions with heavy winter snowfall and short, cool summers, cold enough most years to sustain the ski season that draws a large share of the north's winter visitors.

Rainfall is heaviest in autumn nationwide and lightest in summer in the south, though the north sees rain spread more evenly across the year. Coastal cities like Genoa and stretches of the Amalfi coastline can also see intense, localized autumn storms, a pattern regional forecasts call "nubifragio."