Climate and average weather in Cres

In Cres, the summers are warm, fairly dry, and mostly clear and the winters are cool, snowy, and partly cloudy.

Best: mid May to late September

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Cres typically varies from 5°C to 26°C, and is rarely below -1°C or above 30°C. July is the hottest month of the year, while January is the coldest.

Based on the travel score, the best time of year to visit Cres for warm-weather activities is from mid May to late September.

Hottest
Jul
26°
Coldest
Jan
Wettest
Nov
227 mm
Driest
Jul
53 mm
Rain / yr
1525 mm
123 wet days
Daylight
8.6–15.4 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
0 m
45.0°N
Clearest
Jul
32% cloud

Cres weather by month, at a glance

The whole year in one picture — sky, rain, humidity, temperature and travel score. Click any band to jump to its full chart.

Each stripe is one measure across the whole year, stacked so a single day reads top to bottom. The sky band runs overcast grey on top down to clear blue at the base — more blue means sunnier — followed by the rainfall curve, the humidity band, a temperature strip that tints each stretch of the year by how warm its average high is, and the travel-score line at the foot. Scan straight down any date to read that day across every measure at once; the score climbs highest around mid May to late September.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

Daily average highs and lows in Cres, from 1991–2020 of climate data. The shaded bands show the range most days fall in — 10th to 90th percentile.

The hot season lasts 3.3 months, from June 6 to September 13, with daily high temperatures above 22°C. The hottest month of the year in Cres is July, with an average high of 26°C and low of 21°C.

The cool season lasts 3.7 months, from November 25 to March 18, with daily high temperatures below 12°C. The coldest month of the year in Cres is January, with an average low of 5°C and high of 8°C.

Days typically run about 4°C warmer than nights year-round.

10°20°30°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan85
Feb95
Mar127
Apr1511
May1915
Jun2319
Jul2621
Aug2621
Sep2217
Oct1814
Nov1310
Dec106

Average hourly temperature in Cres

A compact picture of the whole year, hour by hour: each column is a day, each row an hour, and the color is the modeled average temperature. Darker overlays mark night, lighter ones the civil-twilight hours around sunrise and sunset.

Read left to right for the day of the year and top to bottom for the hour of the day; the color is the modeled temperature, cool blues through to hot reds on the same scale as the other charts. A vertical slice is a single day's swing — coolest just before dawn, warmest in the mid-afternoon — while a horizontal slice follows one hour across the seasons. The darker overlay marks night and the lighter one the twilight around sunrise and sunset. Colors run warmest on July afternoons, near 26°C, and coldest before dawn in January, near C.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec12 AM2 AM4 AM6 AM8 AM10 AM12 PM2 PM4 PM6 PM8 PM10 PM12 AM

Cres weather by month

Every month at a glance. Click a month for its detailed page.

MonthHigh / Low (°C)Rainfall (mm)Wet daysSnow daysDaylight (hours)Travel score
Jan / 13312.41.191.4
Feb / 130111.610.11.7
Mar12° / 11210.60.711.63.0
Apr15° / 11°9810.60.113.24.5
May19° / 15°1009.8014.66.3
Jun23° / 19°646.9015.37.6
Jul26° / 21°535.4015.17.9
Aug26° / 21°766.3013.97.8
Sep22° / 17°17110012.36.8
Oct18° / 14°18612.7010.75.5
Nov13° / 10°22714.30.29.43.4
Dec10° / 17713.118.61.9

Chance of rain

How likely it is to rain on a typical day, and how that shifts across the wetter and drier seasons.

Cres gets about 1525 mm of precipitation a year. On a typical day the chance of rain is often wet, but that rises and falls sharply with the seasons.

The wetter season lasts 5.9 months, from around Sep 12 to Mar 10, peaking in November at about 47% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Jul 25.

November is the wettest month by volume, with 227 mm over about 14 wet days; July is the driest, with 53 mm. Some of the cold-season precipitation falls as snow.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwetterdrierwettermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetNov 13 · 47%Jul 25 · 15%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan4112
Feb3911
Mar3311
Apr3611
May3210
Jun237
Jul175
Aug206
Sep3510
Oct4013
Nov4714
Dec4213

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Cres collects about 1525 mm of rain across 123 wet days — roughly 127 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. November is the wettest month with 227 mm, while July is the driest at just 53 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 39% of the year’s total, and some of the cold-season precipitation falls as snow.

050100150200250JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec13313011298100645376171186227177
Rainfall (mm)Rain daysSnow days
Jan133121
Feb130112
Mar112111
Apr98110
May100100
Jun6470
Jul5350
Aug7660
Sep171100
Oct186130
Nov227140
Dec177131

Snow in Cres

Average snowy days through the year, the snow-season span, and estimated snowfall — for ski trips and the perennial 'will there be snow at Christmas?' question.

Cres averages about 5 snowy days a year. Snow season runs roughly Dec 5 to Mar 18 — about 3.4 months.

February is snowiest, with roughly 1.6 days of snow and an estimated 7 cm of snowfall. Over the year that adds up to an estimated 22 cm of snow.

01234JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecsnow seasonFeb 20
Snow daysSnowfall (cm)
Jan14
Feb27
Mar12
Apr00
May00
Jun00
Jul00
Aug00
Sep00
Oct00
Nov02
Dec16

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

How often the daytime sky is clear, partly cloudy or overcast.

In Cres, the average share of the sky covered by clouds shows significant seasonal variation over the course of the year.

The clearer part of the year begins around May 11 and lasts for 4.9 months, ending around October 5. The clearest month is July, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 81% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around October 6 and lasts for 7.1 months, ending around May 10. The cloudiest month is December, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 57% of the time.

0%100%10%90%20%80%30%70%40%60%50%50%60%40%70%30%80%20%90%10%100%0%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecJul 14 · 82%Nov 25 · 41%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastcloudierclearercloudier
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan4555
Feb5050
Mar5644
Apr5545
May6139
Jun7228
Jul8119
Aug7822
Sep6535
Oct5743
Nov4456
Dec4357

Daylight, sunrise and sunset

DaylightNight

Hours of daylight through the year, with sunrise and sunset times.

The gold band is daylight — sunrise runs along its lower edge, sunset along the upper — so it widens toward summer and pinches toward winter, with night the dark area above and below. The longest day, around June 12, brings about 15 h 24 min of light; the shortest, around January 1, only 8 h 36 min — a swing of roughly 6 h 48 min.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan9.07:434:40
Feb10.17:135:21
Mar11.66:246:00
Apr13.25:256:40
May14.64:397:18
Jun15.34:217:44
Jul15.14:357:41
Aug13.95:097:03
Sep12.35:476:06
Oct10.76:265:09
Nov9.47:084:27
Dec8.67:404:17

Sunny days

How many genuinely sunny days each month brings — days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — banded into plain-language zones.

Cres averages about 13 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 9 and 21 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 4.5 months, from around May 17 to Sep 29. The sunniest month is August, with roughly 20 sunny days (bright).

The greyest month is November, down near 9 sunny days — about 53% fewer than the August peak.

0510152025JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgreyersunniergreyergloomymixedbrightbrilliantAug 821 daysNov 289 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan10Mixed
Feb10Mixed
Mar12Mixed
Apr12Mixed
May13Mixed
Jun16Bright
Jul20Bright
Aug20Bright
Sep15Mixed
Oct13Mixed
Nov9Mixed
Dec9Mixed

Humidity comfort

DryComfortableHumidMuggyOppressiveMiserable

Share of days at each humidity comfort level, based on the dew point — the measure that tracks how muggy it actually feels.

Humidity comfort is graded by the dew point — the temperature at which the air would be fully saturated — because it tracks how muggy it actually feels far better than relative humidity does. A low dew point feels dry and crisp; a high one feels sticky and oppressive no matter the reading on a humidity gauge.

In Cres, how humid it feels changes dramatically over the year.

The more humid part of the year lasts 4.2 months, from around May 27 to September 30. The muggiest month is August, when the air feels humid, muggy or worse about 78% of the time.

The most comfortable stretch runs from around October 1 to May 26, and April is the most comfortable month — the air is dry or comfortable 100% of the time.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecApr 12 · 100%Aug 2 · 16%muggycomfortablehumiddrycomfortablehumidcomfortable
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)Humid (%)Muggy (%)Oppressive (%)
Jan1000000
Feb1000000
Mar1000000
Apr964000
May56341010
Jun172539171
Jul81536373
Aug71537393
Sep32273280
Oct62281000
Nov909100
Dec1000000

Wind

Average wind speed through the year, banded into plain-language speed zones so a number reads as 'breezy' or 'calm' without knowing the scale.

This is the average sustained wind speed at the standard 10 metres above open ground — the steady flow a weather station reports, not the sharper gusts that come and go, which can run half again as fast. It's the number that says whether a place is generally breezy or calm.

Across the year, average wind speed in Cres is typically light breeze, near 12 km/h, and varies moderately with the seasons.

The windier part of the year lasts 5.9 months, from around Oct 7 to Apr 3. The windiest month is February, averaging about 15 km/h (light breeze).

The calmer part of the year runs from around Apr 4 to Oct 6, with June the calmest month at about 10 km/h.

05101520JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwindiercalmerwindiercalmlight breezeFeb 1 · 16 km/hJun 6 · 9 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan15light breeze
Feb15light breeze
Mar14light breeze
Apr11calm
May10calm
Jun10calm
Jul10calm
Aug10calm
Sep12calm
Oct13light breeze
Nov15light breeze
Dec15light breeze

Best time to visit Cres

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

To characterize how pleasant the weather is in Cres throughout the year, we compute two travel scores — one for general sightseeing, one for beach and pool weather.

Around mid September, Cres is still near the tail of its best-weather window — great conditions with the peak-season crowds already thinning.

Inferred from the travel-score curve; month-by-month visitor numbers are a planned addition.

The travel score favors clear, rainless days with daytime highs between 18°C and 28°C. Based on this score, the best time of year to visit Cres for general outdoor tourist activities is from mid May to late September, with a peak score in the last week of June.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationJun 27 · 8.0

The travel score (filled area), and its constituents: the temperature score (red line), the cloud cover score (blue line), and the precipitation score (green line).

Travel score (0–10)Rating
Jan1.4poor
Feb1.7poor
Mar3.0poor
Apr4.5fair
May6.3good
Jun7.6ideal
Jul7.9ideal
Aug7.8ideal
Sep6.8good
Oct5.5fair
Nov3.4poor
Dec1.9poor

The beach/pool score favors clear, rainless days with daytime highs between 24°C and 34°C. Based on this score, the best time of year to visit Cres for hot-weather activities is from mid June to early September, with a peak score in the last week of July.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationJul 28 · 7.7

The beach/pool score (filled area), and its constituents: the temperature score (red line), the cloud cover score (blue line), and the precipitation score (green line).

What to pack for Cres, by month

EssentialRecommendedOptional

Month by month, what's worth putting in the bag — from the temperature range, rain chance, sun and wind. Tap a month for a quick packing note.

For a warm-season trip around July (highs near 26°C), the essentials are light clothes and sun protection. In the cold season around January (highs near 8°C), pack a warm layer and rain gear.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In July, Cres sees daytime highs around 26°C and nights near 21°C. Pack sun protection. Worth having: light clothes. About 5 days see rain.

Sea temperature near Cres

Average ocean temperature at the nearest coast, month by month, banded into swim-comfort zones — the other half of the beach question.

The sea offshore is warmest in August at about 24°C and coldest in February near 11°C.

It's comfortable for a long swim from Jun 8 to Oct 3 — about 3.9 months when the water holds above 20°C.

10°15°20°25°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbracingcoolrefreshingwarmcomfortable to swim
Sea temperature (°C)Comfort
Jan12Bracing
Feb11Bracing
Mar11Bracing
Apr13Bracing
May17Cool
Jun21Refreshing
Jul24Refreshing
Aug24Warm
Sep21Refreshing
Oct19Cool
Nov16Cool
Dec14Bracing

UV index (midday) in Cres by month

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Clear-sky midday UV index through the year, shaded by the WHO exposure levels — how much sun protection each month calls for.

Under clear skies, the midday UV index in Cres peaks around July 17 at about 9 (very high) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near January 1 at about 1 (low).

The index reaches 3 or more — the level where the WHO recommends sun protection — in 8 months of the year.

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecLowModerateHighVery highModerateLowJul 17UV 9Jan 1UV 1
UV index (midday)Level
Jan1Low
Feb2Moderate
Mar4Moderate
Apr7High
May7High
Jun8Very high
Jul9Very high
Aug8Very high
Sep5Moderate
Oct3Moderate
Nov2Low
Dec1Low

Average hourly UV index in Cres

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Modeled clear-sky UV for every hour of every day — when in the day sun protection actually matters.

The whole year hour by hour: each column is a day, each row an hour, and the color is the modeled clear-sky UV index — the midday peak scaled down as the sun sits lower in the sky. Darker overlays mark night, lighter ones the civil-twilight hours around sunrise and sunset.

UV falls off far faster than brightness as the sun drops, so even in July the burn window is concentrated in the middle of the day: about 8.5 hours a day reach index 3 (protection recommended), and 5 hours reach 6 or more. Mornings and late afternoons stay comparatively gentle year round.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec12 AM2 AM4 AM6 AM8 AM10 AM12 PM2 PM4 PM6 PM8 PM10 PM12 AM
UV ≥ 3 (h/day)UV ≥ 6 (h/day)
Jan00
Feb00
Mar4.50
Apr6.52.5
May7.53.5
Jun84.5
Jul8.55
Aug7.54
Sep5.50
Oct1.50
Nov00
Dec00
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free dayReliably frost-free (≥90%)

Cres is mild enough that a frost-free day stays more likely than not even in midwinter. Nights are reliably above freezing from about February 11 to January 25 (349 days); outside that window a hard frost is an occasional risk.

0%25%50%75%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecreliably frost-freereliably frost-freeFeb 1190%Jan 2590%
Frost-free chance (%)Frost nights
Jan917
Feb9215
Mar990
Apr1000
May1000
Jun1000
Jul1000
Aug1000
Sep1000
Oct1000
Nov1000
Dec950

Growing degree days

Degree days (base 10°C)Frost-free shaded

Growing degree days tally heat above 10°C: each day adds however many degrees its average temperature runs over that threshold, and cold days add nothing. Cres banks about 1,979 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around July.

05001,0001,5002,000JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°C·days)
Jan0
Feb0
Mar4
Apr84
May217
Jun335
Jul421
Aug416
Sep286
Oct171
Nov46
Dec0

Solar energy

Average daily shortwave solar energy reaching the ground, banded into brightness zones so the number means something at a glance.

Solar energy is how much sunlight actually reaches the ground each day, measured in kilowatt-hours per square metre (kWh/m²) — the combined effect of how long the sun is up, how high it climbs, and how much cloud gets in the way. It's the raw fuel a solar panel has to work with: for scale, 1 kWh/m² a day is dim and wintry, while 7+ is desert-bright.

Cres receives about 3.9 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — moderate — with a clear seasonal swing between 1.2 and 6.6 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 6.0 months, from around Mar 20 to Sep 18. The brightest month is July, averaging about 6.5 kWh/m² (intense).

The dimmest month is December, down near 1.2 kWh/m² — roughly 81% less than the July peak.

012345678JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmerbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightintenseJul 26.6 kWhDec 201.2 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan1.4Dim
Feb2.4Moderate
Mar3.7Moderate
Apr4.9Bright
May5.8Bright
Jun6.5Intense
Jul6.5Intense
Aug5.7Bright
Sep4.0Bright
Oct2.7Moderate
Nov1.6Dim
Dec1.2Dim

Where is Cres?

Cres sits at 45.0°N, 14.4°E, 0 m above sea level, in Croatia. The nearest listed city is Rijeka, 41 km away.

RijekaPulaRovinjKoperDivačaPiranTriestePostojna

Topography around Cres

How much the land rises and falls, and what covers it, within 3, 16 and 80 km of Cres.

Within 3 km, the terrain around Cres has significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 351 m around an average of 128 m above sea level; within 16 km, large variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 639 m; within 80 km, very significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 1,766 m.

The land around Cres is covered by trees (64%) and water (23%) within 3 km, water (66%) and trees (26%) within 16 km, and trees (47%) and water (43%) within 80 km.

3 km
351 m
16 km
639 m
80 km
1,766 m
treesshrubsgrasslandartificial surfaceswater
Nearby: Rijeka 41 km · Pula 46 km · Rovinj 63 km · Koper 84 km · Divača 88 km · Piran 91 km · Trieste 91 km · Postojna 92 km

Croatia travel facts

Travel advisory
Level 1
Exercise Normal Precautions
Power plugs
Type C / F
230 V · 50 Hz
Prices
≈ 53% of US
price level, 2025
GDP per capita
$27,104
2025
Happiness
6.0 / 10
World Happiness, 2025
Safe drinking water
87%
of population, 2024
Homicide rate
0.7
per 100k, 2023
Road deaths
7.9
per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group
High
World Bank
English
Very high
EF EPI 617
Religion
Roman Catholic 79%other Christian 5%none or atheist 5%Orthodox 3%

Sources: World Bank, US State Department, World Happiness Report, WHO/UNICEF, EF EPI, CIA World Factbook.

Data sources

Temperature, precipitation, cloud, humidity, wind and solar figures are a 1991–2020 climatology for Cres (44.9609°, 14.4125°, elevation 0 m), computed from hourly ERA5 reanalysis — contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information. Sun figures are astronomical calculations, not observations. City data © GeoNames, CC BY 4.0. Map outlines from Natural Earth (public domain); interactive map © Google. Sea temperatures are the NOAA OISST v2.1 1991–2020 monthly climatology (public domain), sampled at the nearest ocean point. UV index is derived from CAMS (Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service) clear-sky UV data — contains modified Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service information. Topography is sampled from the Copernicus DEM GLO-90 elevation model (© ESA/Airbus) and ESA WorldCover 2021 land cover (CC BY 4.0).