The climate in Svalbard

Climate zone: arctic polar zone

The climate in Svalbard is predominantly frosty cold and in the winter months the mercury does not even reach the positive range. In the cold season, the maximum temperatures are well below zero. The warmest and rainiest part of the country is Jan Mayen. The coldest is Svalbard. Due to the warmer temperatures, the best time for traveling is from May to October. Less attractive are the cold months from November to April.

Temperature records of the last 112 years

The hottest temperature measured from 1912 to February 2024 was reported by the Ny Alesund weather station. In August 2008, the record temperature of 20.5 °C was reported here. The hottest meteorological summer from June to August, based on all 4 weather stations in Svalbard , was recorded in 2004 with an average temperature of 6.5 °C. This average temperature will normally be measured every four to six hours, thus also including the nights. Normally, this value is 4.3 degrees Celsius. The average maximum daily temperature at that time was 8.4 °C.

The coldest day in these 112 years was reported by the Ny Alesund weather station. Here the temperature dropped to -30.2 °C in March 2020. Ny Alesund lies at an altitude of eight meters above sea level. The coldest winter (December to February) was in 1917 with an average temperature of -23.1 °C. In Svalbard, it is usual to have about 15.8 degrees more at -7.2 °C for this three-month period.

The most precipitation fell in October 1987. With 7.3 mm per day, the Jan Mayen weather station recorded the highest monthly average of the last 112 years.

Record months last year

We compared the record values of the past months with those of the same months in previous years. We used the same criteria to examine the respective maximum and minimum values in the categories of average temperature, precipitation, hours of sunshine and the maximum and minimum temperatures measured throughout the country. We have listed all measured values that have not been reached in Svalbard for 10 or more years.

• At -6.43°C, January 2024 was the coldest January in 13 years (-9.40°C in 2011).
• With just 1.10 liters of precipitation in 2024, January was drier than it had been for 11 years (0.98 l/m² in 2013).
• At 6.43°C, August 2023 was the warmest August in 17 years (6.60°C in 2006).
• At 5.67°C, July 2023 was the coldest July in 11 years (5.28°C in 2012).
• The lowest temperature of -14.00°C reached in May 2023 was last seen in the same month 14 years ago (-14.40°C in 2009).
• With 2.03 liters of precipitation in 2023, April was the wettest in 36 years (2.45 l/m² in 1987).
• With a total of 11.00 rainy days, it rained more often in April 2023 than it has in the same month for 17 years (12.00 days in 2006).

The most recent months after February 2024 are not yet available here. We only calculate climatic comparisons after a large number of weather stations on a continent have checked and published their data.

Long-term development of temperatures from 1924 - 2023

In contrast to single record values, long-term development cannot simply be brought about by all weather stations in the country. Both the number and the locations are constantly changing. An average value would give a distorted result. If several measuring stations in particularly cold mountain or coastal regions are added in one year, the average would decrease as a result of this alone. If a station fails during the summer or winter months, it does not provide any values and distorts the average again. The subsequent long-term development was therefore reduced to only 1 measuring points in order to have comparable data over as long a period as possible.

In the years 1924 to 2023, there were only these 1 weather stations in the whole country, which reported continuous temperature values (Jan Mayen). From these weather reports, we have created a long-term development that shows the monthly average temperatures. The hottest month in this entire period was September 1934 at 8.0 °C. February 1943 was the coldest month with an average temperature of -14.5 °C.

The average annual temperature was about -0.1 °C in the years after 1924 and about 0.8 °C in the last years before 2023. So in less than 100 years, it has increased by about 0.9 °C. This trend only applies to the selected 1 weather stations in Svalbard. A considerably more comprehensive evaluation of global warming has been provided separately.



Data basis: German Weather Service, individual values averaged and supplemented by own elements.