This week I am doing a little world climate travel. And since it is summer and there are a few people who do not like the warm summer weather that we are having this summer I picked a location were winters are mild (for how far north they are) and summers are cool. And that location is Iceland.
Island is the world’s 18 largest island. It is just south of the Arctic circle being between 63° and 68° north and 13° and 25° west. Reykjavík is the capital and largest city with a population of 131,136 in a country of 364,134. Around three-quarters of the island is barren. Most plant life consists mainly of grassland, the most common tree native to Iceland is the northern birch.
Now what is the climate like in Iceland? especially in the southern coastal areas, that are strongly influenced by the warm waters of the Atlantic Gulf stream. The mean annual temperature for Reykjavík is 5°C (41°F) for comparison Grand Rapids is 48.9°. The mean average at Reykjavík in January is -0.4C that is 31.28°F in Grand Rapids January mean is around 24.6F In July at Reykjavík the mean is 11.2C that is 52.1F. Grand Rapids in July is around 72.3° F. At Reykjavík in winter the days are dark with less then 3 hours of daylight and it is very cloudy and at times windy and there is little or no snow but it rains a lot of the time. In the summer time there is more sun but the wind is cool. At Reykjavík the average H/L in January is a mild 36.5/27.7. there is no mention of snow fall. The record high for January is 51.3F and the record low is -3.5F For February the average h/l is 37.0/27.7 in March it is 38.1/28.6F April 43.0/32.9F May sees a average H/L of 49.5/38.8. In June the days are long with it not really dark at all. And with the long days the average H/L is 54.3/44.6 The record high in June is 72.3. By July the average H/L is 57.6/74.8 the record high is 78.3 In August the average H/L is 56.1/47.1 record high is 76.6. September the average H/L is 51.6/42.4. October 44.6/36.0. November 39.6/31.4 and December 37.6/28.8 As I said there in no mention of snow fall I am sure there are days where it does fall. But if you are looking for a place with cool summers with long days then Iceland should be one location to consider. Remember It is more expensive then Alaska.
Slim
Doing a RAIN DANCE here in The Ever GROWING Metropolis of ALLENDALE.
Farmer and My Garden of Paradise Need a Drnik
🙂
81* degrees out at thee YARDofBRICKS NE of GR not even close to the high temperature that was once predicted by wood TV 8 of 90* degrees today what’s new? …..Other then the fist haft of July this Summer has been a brezze with all the so called heat that was predicted to happen after our mini heat wave I haft to say September is getting closer and days are sure getting shorter have a nice Saturday night….INDTY
It was 88 today, 89 yesterday with a dew point still at 70, this is a breeze? Sorry, but this has been a long Summer of thick, hot air.
Indy CALLUJ
Great post Slim.
Rain with quiet thunder…
Sounds like a relaxation soundtrack :/
Sounds like the perfect climate for me, minus the cloudy days. Seems like our area is under clouds to for about 7 or 8 straight months.
It is very cloudy in Iceland. I think a great place for you to visit in the summer would be the pacific northwest. Oregon and Washington are great in the summer time. But then again the winters while mild are cloudy.
Slim
Wow interesting info Slim. I guess Iceland in not really very icy at all.