Climate of Crimea
Crimea is a peninsula in the south of Ukraine. Since 2014 it has been under temporary occupation by the Russian Federation. For now it is not a place for tourism. What follows is the climate of the peninsula itself: it differs in the steppe, in the mountains and on the south coast.
Three climate belts
The main ridge of the Crimean Mountains separates the dry steppe from the sea. That is why the south coast stays warm and sheltered from the north wind. The steppe and the yayla live differently.
| Belt | Winter | Summer | For hiking |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steppe: the north, the centre, the Kerch Peninsula | short frosts, snow does not last | hot and dry | best in spring, before the grass burns off |
| Mountains and yayla | snow from about December to March, on the higher plateaus into April | cooler than the coast, frequent fog and thunderstorms | the plateau is under snow in winter; little water in summer |
| South coast | in Yalta the January mean is about +4 °C, lasting snow is rare | the July mean is about +24 °C, daytime often higher | hiking is possible almost all year |
The south coast
From Cape Aya to Alushta the climate is dry subtropical, of a Mediterranean type: a summer with little rain, a wetter winter, and a sea that does not freeze. In character it is close to the coast of southern France.
The January and July figures above are the daily mean in Yalta, not the daytime high and not the norm for the whole of Crimea. Snow on the shore falls rarely and melts quickly. By the end of winter almonds and some ornamental trees are already in bloom in the parks, while Ai-Petri still holds snow.
In July and August the water off the south coast usually warms to +22...+25 °C. In May and October it is colder.
The mountains
The slopes are forested: Crimean pine, beech, hornbeam, oak. Higher up, on the yayla (Ai-Petri, Babugan, Chatyr-Dag), forest gives way to mountain meadows and mountain steppe. There is no tundra in Crimea.
From Yalta to the Uchan-Su waterfall on the southern slope of Ai-Petri is a few kilometres uphill. The drop is 98.5 m: the highest waterfall in Ukraine. It carries a full flow in spring, when snow melts on the yayla. In summer the stream nearly dries up, and in severe winters it sometimes freezes.
Crimea has more than two thousand species of wild vascular plants, among them more than a hundred endemics. In spring the mountain glades flower densely, but that is not "about a hundred species for the whole range".
The steppe
North of the mountains the climate is more continental. In Simferopol January is close to 0 °C, and summer is hot and dry. The shallow Sea of Azov and the northern bays can freeze in a hard winter. The south coast stays free of ice in those same winters.
When to go
On the south coast the most comfortable months are May, June, September and October. July and August are hot, but the sea is warm.
The yayla is better from June to September, and with a water reserve. In winter the plateau lies under snow, often in fog.
Steppe routes suit April, May and September.
The Nikitsky Botanical Garden near Yalta, founded in 1812, stands on this mild winter: plants of the Mediterranean, East Asia and North America grow here in the open. The collection is large because it counts species, cultivars and garden forms together. Nothing flowers in mass all year: a few plants bloom in winter, and the main flowering comes in spring and summer.