Not Too Hot with Little Rain

[MARSKA]

Is it possible? A month that is Not too hot with little rain? Is there a 30 day period on the CF that one can pretty much expect cool to moderate temps and not too much rain?

During my 1st camino (CF; SJPDP to SDC) late Sept - Nov 1 2023 for the first 2 weeks I thought I would keel over and die from the heat. For the 2nd two weeks I thought I would turn into a wet, moldy, mophead.
A couple hot afternoons? Yeah. A few rainy days? Sure. But...the heat was oppressive until it started to rain. Then the rain started and never stopped. I mean, seriously, in my diary I recorded 2 days out of 42 where the temps were moderate and there was no precipitation.

Is this a usual weather pattern for fall? Is spring any better?

I've seriously considered other routes but my gut takes me back to the CF for camino #2. I just am wary of a repeat of those weather conditions (but who knows, right? Its the weather after all).

I'm looking at dates in 2024 and my first priority is to stay out of hell's furnace. My second is to not drown.

Thanks everyone and Buen Camino!

 

[lovelyshell]

I went in October-November and I feel like it was the perfect time to go. It was very warm on the Meseta but I’m from Southern California so it wasn’t too bad for me.

 

[trecile]

There are NO guarantees with weather!

I have to say that I was really lucky with my Camino del Norte/Primitivo in May and June, but I wouldn't count on a repeat next year.

You can play around with this website

Camino de Santiago - forecast and historical weather

Get a personal daily weather forecast for the Camino de Santiago for the exact dates you're planning to go. Or browse to pick the best time of year.

caminoweather.com

 

[C clearly]

my first priority is to stay out of hell's furnace. My second is to not drown.

No, no, you forget! Your first priority is to get out on the Camino whenever you can. Your second priority may be staying out of the furnace, and the third is to not drown.

 

[LindaH]

Is it possible? A month that is Not too hot with little rain? Is there a 30 day period on the CF that one can pretty much expect cool to moderate temps and not too much rain?

During my 1st camino (CF; SJPDP to SDC) late Sept - Nov 1 2023 for the first 2 weeks I thought I would keel over and die from the heat. For the 2nd two weeks I thought I would turn into a wet, moldy, mophead.
A couple hot afternoons? Yeah. A few rainy days? Sure. But...the heat was oppressive until it started to rain. Then the rain started and never stopped. I mean, seriously, in my diary I recorded 2 days out of 42 where the temps were moderate and there was no precipitation.

Is this a usual weather pattern for fall? Is spring any better?

I've seriously considered other routes but my gut takes me back to the CF for camino #2. I just am wary of a repeat of those weather conditions (but who knows, right? Its the weather after all).

I'm looking at dates in 2024 and my first priority is to stay out of hell's furnace. My second is to not drown.

Thanks everyone and Buen Camino!

My three walks on the CF were all in Spring with quite different weather so I really think it’s just luck.
The first in April/May was the coldest with ice at altitude but was dry - just two rainy days in 35.
The second in May/June was a bit warmer but was still cool and included nine straight days of pouring rain and mud.
The third also May/June was the most mixed with freezing fog and sleet over the Pyrenees, a few uncomfortably warm days for walking and a few rainy days.
There is a common concept among hikers that there is no such thing as bad weather, just the wrong clothes or gear!

 

[Jodean]

My last 2 on the CF from mid-April to end of May were perfect. We had a bit of rain on several days, but nothing horrible and we had lots of brisk, cold mornings (2 to 5°) that warmed up quickly, but never really got too hot. It seemed to rain a lot in the late afternoons and at night though.

 

[markie6]

For me Early September in Spain is right in the Goldilocks zone. YMMV tho

 

[wynrich]

We have walked many times in April/early May and weather has mostly been great. Pleasantly cool and not a terrible amount of rain. We also walked late September and October and weather was great then as well. But ... weather can be so unpredictable.

 

[Damien Reynolds]

I went in October-November and I feel like it was the perfect time to go. It was very warm on the Meseta but I’m from Southern California so it wasn’t too bad for me.

Well, usually. In 2023 I walked the Frances from SJPdP (only making it to Astorga before I had to bail) having always enjoyed Oct-Nov previously.. But last time it rained a bunch and the wind was insane. Like seriously crazy.

There are sometimes exceptions to expectations and I just have to roll the dice.

IMO, shoulder months are the best. That's like May/September.

 

[Anamiri]

Is it possible? A month that is Not too hot with little rain? Is there a 30 day period on the CF that one can pretty much expect cool to moderate temps and not too much rain?

During my 1st camino (CF; SJPDP to SDC) late Sept - Nov 1 2023 for the first 2 weeks I thought I would keel over and die from the heat. For the 2nd two weeks I thought I would turn into a wet, moldy, mophead.
A couple hot afternoons? Yeah. A few rainy days? Sure. But...the heat was oppressive until it started to rain. Then the rain started and never stopped. I mean, seriously, in my diary I recorded 2 days out of 42 where the temps were moderate and there was no precipitation.

Is this a usual weather pattern for fall? Is spring any better?

I've seriously considered other routes but my gut takes me back to the CF for camino #2. I just am wary of a repeat of those weather conditions (but who knows, right? Its the weather after all).

I'm looking at dates in 2024 and my first priority is to stay out of hell's furnace. My second is to not drown.

Thanks everyone and Buen Camino!

I've walked in September twice. The first time I encountered a heatwave and there was no respite for 2 weeks.
Last time it was much cooler, the heatwave finished just before we walked.
I also walked May into June. Coolish to begin with, not too much rain whilst I was walking (it rained in the late afternoon and evenings), but extremely hot by late June.
I have always encountered rain in Galicia.

 

[Damien Reynolds]

I have always encountered rain in Galicia.

You know what they say...

 

[MARSKA]

Omg you all are just too nice! After posting I realized I might have sounded quite whiny - oh it's too hot .... Oh it's too cold ..oh it's too wet.... But you didn't jump on that at all. You just gave me some great replies!!!; thank you!

 

[hokiebobwise]

I walked in July 2023. For the 2 weeks we walked I think we had one day over 80 degrees. There were a few days where it was 50 in the AM and no higher than 75 at peak time. Unusual I would thinks, since it was 106 on the day we departed Madrid

 

[dougfitz]

Looking at the standard climate values on the AEMET site for Pamplona and Santiago for average days that there was more than 1 mm of rain, the chances of there being 30 straight days without rain would (approximately) be:

• Pamplona in Jul - 0.0098 (or about 1 in 100)
• Santiago in Aug - 0.0002 (or about 2 in 10,000)

You would have to be very lucky!

 

[David Tallan]

When I walked from October 1 (2018) on the Portugues (from Porto) it was too hot the first few days but not after that and didn't rain until we got to Galicia (where rain is always a possibility).

When I walked in June and July (2023) on the Madrid/Frances/Salvador/Primitivo/Finisterre-Muxia it wasn't too hot and rainy. It was a bit hot on the Frances bit in the Meseta, but when I set out early and didn't walk too late in the afternoon, I never walked in anything beyond the mid-20s. And yes, it was apparently obscenely hot later in July, but that didn't reach us in the mountains or in Galicia. I was getting emails from people asking "how are you surviving the heat?" and thinking "it was 10 degrees when I set out this morning".

 

[Peterexpatkiwi]

When I walked in June and July (2023) on the Madrid/Frances/Salvador/Primitivo/Finisterre-Muxia it wasn't too hot and rainy. It was a bit hot on the Frances bit in the Meseta, but when I set out early and didn't walk too late in the afternoon, I never walked in anything beyond the mid-20s. And yes, it was apparently obscenely hot later in July, but that didn't reach us in the mountains or in Galicia. I was getting emails from people asking "how are you surviving the heat?" and thinking "it was 10 degrees when I set out this morning".

I can but echo David's response as far as the Primitivo is concerned. From memory I was about two weeks behind him, I started mid July & finished a few days before the end. Several distinctly brisk mornings, decent daytime temperatures - I think the maximum was 28 (82) degrees. A far cry from the 35 to 45 degrees that people on the Frances were experiencing.
The only thing I did get was a lot of mist.
Rain? 2 very light and short showers whilst on the Primitivo proper. But full on rain the day I walked into Santiago.
Gotta love Galicia!

 

[MARSKA]

Looking at the standard climate values on the AEMET site for Pamplona and Santiago for average days that there was more than 1 mm of rain, the chances of there being 30 straight days without rain would (approximately) be:

• Pamplona in Jul - 0.0098 (or about 1 in 100)
• Santiago in Aug - 0.0002 (or about 2 in 10,000)

You would have to be very lucky!

Thanks Doug! Those odds are very revealing.
However, can you please clarify this part of what you wrote?

"... average days that there was more than 1 mm of rain, the chances of there being 30 straight days without rain..."

Read it carefully - it doesn't make sense. If there is more than 1mm of rain, there is not going to be no rain. What am I missing? Did you intend to say the chances of 30 days without rain for Pamp in July is about 1:100 and 2:10,000 for a dry 30 day spell in Aug in SDC?

I certainly would not expect rain to be absent walking the CF from Pamplona to SDC at any time of year.
BUT I was very surprised to have 14 consecutive days of driving rain from Leon to SDC. Is this common or is it unusual? The same with very hot weather with highs of 30c - 33c from Pamplona to a bit past Castrojeriz (13 -14 days more or less). Common? Unusual? Very unusual?

*** I guess my REAL question is (sometimes it takes me awhile to figure out) this: In general, is there any time of year along the CF that it is neither raining hard for many days at a time nor over 30c for many consecutive days (other than Dec, Jan, Feb) ? ****

Very interesting - looking at the AMET site I can see several areas on the CF where thresholds were exceeded in Oct 2023 for intensity of rainfall, amount of rainfall, and wind gusts. I can't seem to find temps though.
https://www.aemet.es/en/serviciosclimaticos/datosclimatologicos/superacion_umbrales?p=09&w=0
https://www.aemet.es/en/serviciosclimaticos/datosclimatologicos/superacion_umbrales?p=31&w=0

Thanks Doug for making me aware of the AMET website!

 

[dougfitz]

Read it carefully - it doesn't make sense.

AEMET publish the average number of rainy days for a place by month. The chance of it not raining can be calculated from this, ie the number of days in the month minus the number of rainy days divided by the number of days in the month. The chance of it not raining for 30 straight days is then the chance of it not raining on one day raised to the power of 30. The number gets small very quickly, and gets smaller in the rainier months, although that is probably pretty obvious.