Frequently Asked Question #13:
Q: What is the climate like in Piedmont?
A: Piedmont is the second largest province of Italy, with a very diverse climate range. While the North of the province is dominated by the highest mountains of Europe and has a continental climate, the South - where our properties are located - is only 30 miles from the Ligurian coast, the so-called Riviera, with weather influenced by the warm Mediterranean sea. In between you have the lowlands of the Po valley, which tend to be foggy in November and December. For this reason weather charts that give you an average for the province of Piedmont can be very misleading.
The high mountains along the Swiss border to the north and the French border to the west tend to deflect weather fronts coming from those directions, and to 'capture' weather that comes from the south and east. Since the prevailing winds come from the north and west more frequently than from the south and east, the net effect of Piedmont's geographical location is a surprisingly good climate relative to the rest of inland Italy. For example, in the winter months there significantly less snow in Southern Piedmont than in inland Tuscany.
The average temperature chart for different places in Italy shows surprisingly small variations. The most surprising thing about this table, however, is that Genoa is warmer in January than Rome, 510 Km to the south-east. This is also a consequence of the sheltering effect of the mountains:
| AVERAGE TEMPERATURES | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| City | Jan | Apr | Jul | Nov |
| Milan, Lombardy | 36°F | 55°F | 77°F | 48°F |
| Acqui Terme, Piedmont | 40°F | 55°F | 77°F | 51°F |
| Genoa, Liguria | 46°F | 56°F | 77°F | 55°F |
| Florence, Tuscany | 42°F | 55°F | 77°F | 52°F |
| Rome, Latium | 45°F | 57°F | 78°F | 55°F |
However, the January figure for Genoa gives a misleading impression - particularly when compared to South Piedmont. The wind is invariably light, or zero, in South Piedmont in the winter, but the wind in Liguria, especially in places with an westerly exposure, can be strong - and therefore bitingly cold. When wind chill factors are taken into account, South Piedmont enjoys a significant advantage.
Bear in mind, too, that the top wine-producing areas in the world - and South Piedmont is undoubtedly one of them - have at least one thing in common: they have more than 2000 hours of sunshine a year. That's a minimum of 5.5 hours of sunshine per day averaged across the year.
South Piedmont has four seasons, with a long and hot summer with occasional storms, a warm and pleasant fall, a short winter with occasional frost and snow, and a spring that starts in February or early March. Endlessly overcast skies are luckily unknown.
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