Taormina Climate Patterns

Taormina has a Mediterranean climate moderated by the sea below it and softened further by its position on a south-east-facing terrace.

Summer

June to September is hot and dry, with daytime highs around 29 to 31°C in July and August and very little rain for months at a time. The elevation helps more than the numbers suggest: two hundred metres up, with a sea breeze funnelling along the coast, evenings on the Corso are markedly more comfortable than they are at sea level in Catania. Humidity is moderate rather than oppressive.

Winter

Winter is mild rather than cold. January and February highs sit around 14 to 16°C, frost is essentially unknown at this altitude by the sea, and the gardens stay green and flowering. This is why the town became a winter resort for northern Europeans in the nineteenth century rather than a summer one — the season it was originally built for is the opposite of the season it is busiest in now.

Rain

Around 600 to 700 millimetres a year, falling almost entirely between October and February and often in short heavy bursts rather than sustained grey days. Summer is reliably dry, which is the practical point for anyone planning around the outdoor theatre season.

Spring and autumn

April, May and October are the best months in every respect: warm days, cool evenings, sea still or already swimmable, and a fraction of the August crowd.

Etna and the scirocco

The volcano occasionally drops fine ash on the town, which is a nuisance rather than a hazard. The scirocco, blowing up from North Africa, can push temperatures sharply higher for a few days at any season and carries a haze of dust with it.