Weather in the Azores in August
Averages, what the month actually feels like, and what is on while you are here.
August averages
| Measurement | Ponta Delgada, south coast | Ribeira Grande, north coast | Mount Pico summitModel grid cell at 1,758 m |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average high | 24 °C | 23 °C | 17 °C |
| Average low | 22 °C | 17 °C | 9 °C |
| Daylight | 13.7 h | 13.3 h | 13.3 h |
| Sea temperature | 24 °C | – | – |
Temperature and daylight, averaged over the ten years from 2016 to 2025 and recomputed from the Open-Meteo archive rather than typed in by hand. The model works in cells roughly ten kilometres across, so each column describes an area rather than one thermometer. Checked against IPMA's Ponta Delgada normal, the temperatures land within about a degree and a half. Sea temperature averages the years 2022 to 2025. The marine record is shorter than the air record, so it rests on fewer years.
Rain in August
Ponta Delgada averages 2 mm of rain in August, on 1 day with a millimetre or more.
The high interior and the north-facing slopes are wetter than the coast in every month of the year, often several times over. IPMA publishes no station normal for the uplands or for the summit of Mount Pico, so this page puts no millimetre figure on them rather than one it cannot check.
Rainfall: the IPMA climate normal for the Ponta Delgada observatory (station 522, 58 m), averaged over the 30 years from 1981 to 2010. The ten-year reanalysis behind the table above is not used for rain. Its grid cell is about ten kilometres across and these islands are only a few cells wide, so it averages the coast with the slopes that climb behind it, where most of the rain falls. Measured against the station normal it runs well high in the summer months.
What August feels like
August is the warmest month by day and by night, and the sea is at its warmest too. Coastal evenings stay balmy enough to eat outside without a layer.
What to pack
Summer clothes, swimwear, sun protection and something light for the evening. Nothing heavy unless the summits are planned.
What to do in August
The Assumption holiday on 15 August fills the north coast towns. Sea pools, boat trips and early-morning high routes are all in their element.
Worth knowing before you book
It is the busiest month for hotels, flights and hire cars, and the popular trails need an early start to be worth it. Heat and dry vegetation raise the wildfire risk, which occasionally closes paths at no notice.
Quick answers
- How warm is it in the Azores in August?
- In Ponta Delgada an average August day reaches 24 °C and falls to 22 °C overnight. The summit of Mount Pico averages 17 °C in the same month, so the mountain needs its own layer.
- Does it rain in the Azores in August?
- Ponta Delgada records about 2 mm across August, on 1 day with a millimetre or more of rain. The north coast and the mountains take several times as much in the same weeks, which is why the two halves of the island can look like different holidays.
- Can you swim in the sea in August?
- The sea averages 24 °C in August. The Azores sit in open ocean with no shallow shelf to warm the water, so it stays close to that figure all month.
- How long are the days in August?
- About 13.7 hours between sunrise and sunset, which sets how much of a long trilho you can fit in before dark.