Split has a Mediterranean climate characterized by hot and moderately dry summers , and mild but humid winters that can occasionally feel cold due to the periodical outbursts of the strong northeastern wind bora coming down from the Dinaric mountains. In the winters, temperature rarely goes bellow 0 °C (32 °F) and the snowfall is usually rare, occurring only sporadically, once every couple of years, with the last larger snowfall recorded back in February 2012.
On average January is the coldest month of the year with the average daily mean temperature of 8 °C (46.4 °F), while July is the hottest with the average of 25.7 °C (78.3 °F). Though during the summer days, temperature are averaging around 30 °C (86 °F), with recorded maximums being just over 38 °C (100.4). July is also the month with most sunshine hours (347.2 or 81%) and least amount of precipitation.
The spring time in Split usually begins after the turbulent period of March when the sun starts to heat up the landmass more considerably than in the winter months, which usually results in rapid changes of the atmospheric pressure instigating strong winds. Because of the yearly recurrence of these meteorological phenomena, a peculiar folk wisdom developed in Dalmatia which recognizes these weather changes under the term three boras of March (tri marčane bure). It is believed that the harsh and cold northeastern bora, will always blow on three separate occasions in the month of March, either on 7th, 17th and 27th or on the 7th, 14th and 21st. The end of the third bora of March therefore signals the end of the winter and the beginning of the spring.
Another popular folk tale about spring is connected with the month of April. It presumably dates back to the period before 1797, when Split and rest of Dalmatia were part of the Venetian Republic. The proverb, in its original, Italian form, goes as follows: “Quattro aprilanti, quaranta duranti.” Translated, the proverb records that whatever the weather on April 4, it will remain the same in the next forty days. It reflects a local belief that the weather in April is usually consistent, though it can be, depending on the year, either very sunny and warm or rainy and cold.
Fans of sunbathing will certainly appreciate the fact that Split boasts of more than 2.600 sunshine hours annually, meaning that that there are plenty of sun rays to go around! Temperatures reach into the 20s °C (70s °F) already in May, when the swimming season begins for the early birds. In early June sea temperature averages out to around 21°C (70 °F) and the swimming season starts for everybody. July and August are the warmest months of the year, with the former having the most sunshine hours. The later part of August sometimes brings a slight cooldown from the heat of the summer, as occasional rain showers are known to occur after the holiday of the Assumption of Mary, celebrated on August 15. The warm period with some precipitation usually continues throughout September and October before the colder period returns in November and December.