Hvar town records 11.8 hours of sun a day in July and 2.3 rain days, both the best of the eight DHMZ stations. Its sea peaks at 23.5°C in August and is still 20.6°C in October and 18.0°C in November — the warmest autumn water measured.
Twelve months at Hvar town
Hvar’s station sits in the town, with open sea in front of it rather than a mainland hinterland behind it. That geography shows up in every column: the summer maxima are lower than Split’s, the winter minima are higher, the rain days are fewer and the sea is warmer for longer.
| Month | Mean air °C | Mean daily max °C | Mean daily min °C | Sea °C | Days ≥25°C | Days ≥30°C | Rain mm | Rain days | Sun h/day |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 9.1 | 12.6 | 5.9 | 13.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 68.4 | 7.4 | 4.3 |
| February | 9.2 | 13.0 | 5.9 | 12.6 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 55.7 | 6.8 | 5.5 |
| March | 11.1 | 14.9 | 7.7 | 12.8 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 62.7 | 7.4 | 6.3 |
| April | 14.0 | 17.7 | 10.5 | 14.2 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 54.1 | 7.0 | 7.4 |
| May | 18.5 | 22.3 | 14.7 | 17.2 | 6.5 | 0.0 | 46.7 | 5.2 | 9.3 |
| June | 22.3 | 26.4 | 18.3 | 20.8 | 21.5 | 2.6 | 34.4 | 4.4 | 10.8 |
| July | 25.0 | 29.5 | 20.9 | 22.9 | 30.2 | 14.0 | 26.4 | 2.3 | 11.8 |
| August | 24.8 | 29.5 | 20.8 | 23.5 | 29.9 | 14.5 | 45.2 | 3.4 | 10.8 |
| September | 21.5 | 26.0 | 17.7 | 22.4 | 20.7 | 1.4 | 63.7 | 5.2 | 8.6 |
| October | 17.7 | 21.8 | 14.3 | 20.6 | 3.6 | 0.0 | 79.3 | 7.2 | 6.4 |
| November | 13.3 | 16.8 | 10.1 | 18.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 94.0 | 8.5 | 4.5 |
| December | 10.3 | 13.7 | 7.2 | 15.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 83.2 | 8.0 | 4.0 |
The sunshine row is the headline. July gives 11.8 hours a day, the highest single figure in the whole eight-station set, and June 10.8 and August 10.8 are not far behind. The rain-day row is the same argument from the other side: 2.3 days in July, 3.4 in August, 4.4 in June.
The warm-day count is the clearest statement of what a maritime station does. Hvar records 30.2 days above 25°C in July and 29.9 in August — the whole of both months, and the highest counts of the eight stations — while recording only 14.0 and 14.5 days above 30°C. Nearly every summer day is warm here and fewer than half are hot. Split, on the mainland, records fewer warm days and more hot ones.
Sun and rain days, against the mainland
Hvar is a ferry ride from Split and the two stations behave differently enough to change where you should sleep in summer. The island is cooler by day, drier by rain days and brighter by about half an hour a day in midsummer.
| Month | Hvar days ≥30°C | Split days ≥30°C | Hvar rain days | Split rain days | Hvar sun h/day | Split sun h/day |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| June | 2.6 | 5.0 | 4.4 | 5.7 | 10.8 | 10.2 |
| July | 14.0 | 16.5 | 2.3 | 3.3 | 11.8 | 11.2 |
| August | 14.5 | 15.7 | 3.4 | 3.8 | 10.8 | 10.3 |
| September | 1.4 | 1.1 | 5.2 | 5.8 | 8.6 | 8.2 |
| October | 0.0 | 0.0 | 7.2 | 7.6 | 6.4 | 6.2 |
Fourteen days above 30°C in July against Split’s 16.5, and 14.5 in August against 15.7. That is not a large gap in isolation, but it comes with a full rain day less per month and more sunshine, which is an unusual combination — normally drier means hotter. The island gets both because the sea moderates the days and the nights.
Sunshine hours per day at Hvar town by month. July’s 11.8 is the highest figure in the eight-station set. Source: DHMZ (meteo.hr), climate normals 1971–2000.
Note where the curve falls away. December’s 4.0 hours a day is the lowest of the twelve and lower than Split’s 4.2, so the island’s advantage is a summer one only. Winter on Hvar is dark, quiet, and reached in large part by commercial lines under no public service obligation to sail at all.
Winter reverses the relationship. Hvar’s January mean of 9.1°C is the second mildest of the eight, behind Dubrovnik’s 9.2°C, and its mean daily minimum of 5.9°C is higher than Split’s 5.6°C. The island is warmer at night all year and cooler by day in summer, which is what surrounding a weather station with water does to it.
The water holds longest here
Of the three stations with a published sea temperature, Hvar’s is the warmest in every month from September onward: 22.4°C in September against Split’s 21.7°C and Dubrovnik’s 21.8°C, 20.6°C in October against 19.3°C and 19.5°C, and 18.0°C in November against 16.4°C and 16.6°C. By November the gap on Split is 1.6°C.
Sea temperature at Hvar town by month, °C. The peak is August, not July, and October is warmer than May. Source: DHMZ (meteo.hr), climate normals 1971–2000.
That is a swimming season running from June to October on the water alone, and the land does not agree with it: October averages 3.6 days above 25°C and 7.2 rain days. Hvar in October is a warm sea under an unreliable sky, which is a real holiday but not the one the August photographs sell.
One caveat about all of it: this is a single station in Hvar town. The 1971–2000 normals carry no separate record for Stari Grad, Jelsa or the island’s interior, and Sv. Nikola rises to 626 m in the middle of it. Treat the table as the coast at the town, which is where almost everyone stays, rather than as the whole island.
Reading Hvar’s October sea as an October holiday
A 20.6°C sea in October is the warmest water on the Croatian coast at that date and it is genuinely swimmable. The month around it is not summer: 3.6 days above 25°C, 79.3 mm of rain across 7.2 days, and 6.4 hours of sun a day against July’s 11.8.
If the trip is built around the water, October works and is the cheapest month that does. If it is built around beach days, the honest comparison is September — 20.7 days above 25°C, 5.2 rain days, and a sea only 1.8°C warmer than October’s. See September before committing.
For the island itself rather than its numbers, Hvar island covers the three ports and what separates them, and the beaches are where that October sea reading matters.
What do you need to work out next?
Hvar’s year is settled. These decide the trip around it.
Where to stay
Where do I stay when September stays warm?
Hvar’s sea holds 22.4 °C in September and 20.6 °C in October.
Getting around
How do you get there and back?
Sixteen services run Split to the island; thirteen reach Hvar town.
When to go
Does Hvar appear in either register?
Neither the protected-designation registers nor the 2026 guide list anything under Hvar’s name.
Planning
Where does the swimming season run longest?
Hvar’s sea peaks at 23.5 °C in August and stays 22.4 °C in September.
Climate data: DHMZ (meteo.hr), climate normals 1971–2000.