Despite a marked drop in sunshine hours, a particularly high level of rainfall, and a late spring and early summer that were considerably cooler than usual, two powerful heatwaves in July and August drove up the mercury in Monaco last year, making 2024 one of the hottest years on record.
According to IMSEE’s 2024 Weather Focus report, which combines meteorological data from the Jardin Exotique weather station with sunshine and wind data compiled by the Department of the Environment at the Oceanographic Museum of Monaco, scorching summer temperatures and unusually mild winter months place 2024 as the third hottest year on record in the Principality.
Coming just after 2022 and 2023 in terms of its annual average of 17.9°C, 2024 sets itself apart as a particularly mild year, as well as one marked by lower-than-usual sunshine levels.
At the top end of the scale, the absolute maximum temperature noted over the course of last year was 35.3°C. Meanwhile, the coldest temperature noted during 2024 was a mere 6.8°C—a figure considerably higher than the 4.1°C average of the past four years and one dramatically different from the sub-zero temperatures recorded in the pre-2020 years.
After a particularly mild February, where temperatures didn’t drop below 8.4°C, the mercury stayed uncharacteristically—and unseasonably—low from May through to mid-July. Then, the first heatwave of the summer kicked in, followed by a second in August, with both events driving up the summer readings. Since records began, the summer of 2024 ranked as the sixth hottest ever.
Autumn brought a marked cooling and frequent rainy and stormy spells, before another relatively mild winter arrived once more. The lowest temperature recorded in December 2024 was 6.8°C.
There was a massive 22.6% drop in sunshine hours in 2024 compared to 2023, equating to a deficit of more than 2,050 hours. Each month reflected this downward trend, with October getting the least sunshine—just 119 hours across the whole month.
2024 also saw an end to a four-year rainfall deficit, as it was one of the wettest years on record since 1966. 1,016mm of rain was recorded across the year, with 20 extra days of rain falling on the Principality compared to 2023. The rainiest months were March and February, respectively. Comparatively, little to no precipitation was recorded during these months in 2023.
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Photo by Cassandra Tanti for Monaco Life