Climatology
This page presents Norway's climate context for the current climatology, 1991-2020, derived from observed, historical data. Information should be used to build a strong understanding of current climate conditions in order to appreciate future climate scenarios and projected change. You can visualize data for the current climatology through spatial variation, the seasonal cycle, or as a time series. Analysis is available for both annual and seasonal data. Data presentation defaults to national-scale aggregation, however sub-national data aggregations can be accessed by clicking within a country, on a sub-national unit. Other historical climatologies can be selected from the Time Period dropdown list.
Observed, historical data is produced by the Climatic Research Unit (CRU) of University of East Anglia. Data is presented at a 0.5º x 0.5º (50km x 50km) resolution.
Most of Norway has a maritime climate with mild winters and cool summers. Because of the influence of the North Atlantic Ocean, Norway has a much warmer climate than its latitudinal position would indicate. On an annual basis, the highest normal (1961 – 1990) annual air temperatures (up to 7.7°C) are found along the south-western coast. Outside the mountain regions, the lowest annual mean temperatures (down to -3.1°C) are found on the Finnmark Plateau. The absolute lowest and highest temperatures measured at official weather stations on the mainland are -51.4°C and +35.6°C, respectively. Because of the prevailing westerly winds, moist air masses flow regularly in from the ocean giving abundant precipitation over most of Norway. Areas just inland from the coast of western Norway experience the most precipitation. This zone of maximum precipitation is one of the wettest in Europe, and several sites in this region have normal annual precipitation of more than 3,500 mm.