Croatia is not one climate. Across the eight DHMZ stations, January means run from 3.0°C at Pazin in inland Istria to 9.2°C at Dubrovnik, and July days above 30°C from 16.5 at Split to 7.0 at Zadar. The sea peaks in August.
The country splits three ways, and only one of them is north to south
The eight stations DHMZ publishes 1971–2000 normals for run from inland Istria to the far south. Read together they break the country into a coast and an interior, a mainland and an island chain, and a wet north-east corner of the Adriatic against a dry central one. A single figure quoted for “Croatia” in a given month is averaging across all three of those divides.
| Station | Jan mean °C | Jan mean daily min °C | Jul mean daily max °C | Jul days ≥30°C | Sep days ≥25°C | Jul sun h/day |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Split (Marjan) | 8.0 | 5.6 | 30.0 | 16.5 | 15.4 | 11.2 |
| Hvar town | 9.1 | 5.9 | 29.5 | 14.0 | 20.7 | 11.8 |
| Dubrovnik | 9.2 | 6.6 | 28.2 | 7.7 | 16.7 | 11.2 |
| Zadar | 7.3 | 4.3 | 28.2 | 7.0 | 12.0 | 11.3 |
| Mali Lošinj | 7.9 | 5.9 | 28.4 | 9.1 | 12.5 | 11.5 |
| Rovinj | 5.3 | 1.8 | 28.5 | 9.7 | 15.0 | 10.6 |
| Rijeka | 5.8 | 2.9 | 27.9 | 8.4 | 10.4 | 9.6 |
| Pazin (inland Istria) | 3.0 | -1.9 | 28.4 | 10.7 | 12.1 | 8.9 |
Pazin and Rovinj are the pair worth staring at. They are both in Istria, and in July their mean daily maxima are 28.4°C and 28.5°C — indistinguishable. In January Pazin averages 3.0°C against Rovinj’s 5.3°C, and its mean daily minimum is −1.9°C against 1.8°C. The peninsula does not have one climate either: the days are the same and the nights are not.
Mean number of days above 30°C in July, eight stations. Source: DHMZ (meteo.hr), climate normals 1971–2000.
The second surprise is the vertical order of that chart. Split takes 16.5 days above 30°C in July; Dubrovnik, much further south, takes 7.7 and Zadar 7.0. Split sits on the mainland with a mountain wall behind it; Dubrovnik and the islands sit in open water. If heat is what you are choosing for, going south is the wrong move and going offshore is the right one — Hvar takes 14.0.
The sea peaks in August, weeks after the air
DHMZ publishes a monthly sea temperature for three stations only: Split, Hvar and Dubrovnik. All three peak in August rather than July, because water takes a whole summer to absorb what the air gives it in a fortnight. That single ordering decides more Croatian holidays than any air temperature on this page.
| Station | Warmest sea month | Aug °C | Sep °C | Oct °C | Nov °C |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Split (Marjan) | August | 23.6 | 21.7 | 19.3 | 16.4 |
| Hvar town | August | 23.5 | 22.4 | 20.6 | 18.0 |
| Dubrovnik | August | 23.3 | 21.8 | 19.5 | 16.6 |
All three are still above 21°C in September and above 19°C in October, which is why the coast keeps swimming long after it stops looking like summer. It also means the four stations without a published sea row genuinely have none: if you have read a monthly sea temperature for Zadar or Rovinj, it was not measured there.
What the normals will not tell you
A thirty-year normal is an average, and no August you actually spend here is an average August. On 6 August 2026 the coast-wide sea reading across sixteen stations averaged 27.5°C, running from 26.0°C at Split and Šibenik to 29.7°C in Mljet’s Malo jezero. That is two to three degrees above the August normal at Split and Dubrovnik, on one dated day.
27.5°C
Coast-wide mean sea temperature on 6 August 2026, against an August normal of 23.6°C at Split.
Use the normals to choose a month and a region. Do not use them to predict a week. This site publishes no forecast, and a page that gives you one for a date six months out is giving you a climate normal with a different label on it.
Rain is the axis nobody compares
Temperature gets quoted and rainfall does not, which is how people end up in Kvarner in October. Every station has a wet season and a dry one, but the size of the wet season varies by a factor of three across the eight.
| Station | Wettest month | mm | Rain days | Driest month | mm |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Split (Marjan) | November | 101.7 | 9.1 | July | 25.5 |
| Hvar town | November | 94.0 | 8.5 | July | 26.4 |
| Dubrovnik | November | 142.3 | 10.1 | July | 28.3 |
| Zadar | October | 106.7 | 7.4 | July | 30.4 |
| Mali Lošinj | November | 125.1 | 9.5 | July | 30.9 |
| Rovinj | November | 98.3 | 8.1 | July | 40.7 |
| Rijeka | October | 203.9 | 9.7 | July | 70.1 |
| Pazin (inland Istria) | November | 123.7 | 8.7 | July | 65.0 |
Rijeka’s wettest month carries 203.9 mm and its driest 70.1 mm — its driest month is wetter than any month Split records except November. Zadar’s autumn is a plateau, with September, October and November within 3 mm of each other. Central and southern Dalmatia are the dry part of the country, and only in summer.
August · Split (Marjan)
Every measured sea peaks now: Split 23.6°C, Hvar 23.5°C, Dubrovnik 23.3°C. The air has already turned down.
Drag it from August to October and watch which rows move. The sea gives up four degrees; the warm-day count gives up almost everything. That asymmetry is the whole of Croatian shoulder-season planning, and it is set out month by month on the month-by-month page.
Choosing the far south because it sounds hotter
Dubrovnik averages 7.7 days above 30°C in July and Split 16.5. Dubrovnik also takes 142.3 mm of rain in November against Split's 101.7 mm, and 120.1 mm in October against 82.1 mm. The south is milder in winter and wetter in autumn, not hotter in summer.
What the south does buy is the shoulder. Dubrovnik keeps 16.7 days above 25°C in September and 10.3 hours of sun a day, and its sea is still 19.5°C in October. If the trip is in July the far south is a comfort choice; if it is in late September it is the right choice on the numbers. Dubrovnik month by month has the detail.
What to decide before you book
- You are choosing a region for summer. Zadar and Dubrovnik run nine fewer days above 30°C in July than Split.
- You are choosing a region for autumn. Rijeka takes 203.9 mm in October; Split takes 82.1 mm. Weight the trip south.
- You want a sea temperature for Zadar or Rovinj. There is not one. DHMZ publishes a sea row for three stations only.
- You are travelling inland. Pazin's January mean daily minimum is −1.9°C against Rovinj's 1.8°C, on the same peninsula.
What do you need to work out next?
You have the shape of the country. These turn it into a trip.
Where to stay
Which region matches the month you have?
Pazin and Dubrovnik differ by 6.2°C in January and 3.8°C in July.
Getting around
Does the weather change what is sailing?
The 2026 register carries 68 routes, 17 of them under no service obligation.
When to go
Which month is actually best?
Split Marjan records 17 days above 25°C in September and one in October.
Planning
What else has to be sorted before booking?
Split Marjan records 353.3 hours of sunshine in July across the 1948-2024 series.
Climate data: DHMZ (meteo.hr), climate normals 1971–2000.