The numbers for August
Two stations, two periods, both named. Mixing them is how a levada walk goes wrong.
| Measure | Funchal | Areeiro |
|---|---|---|
| Mean daily maximum | 26.8 °C | 18.7 °C |
| Mean daily minimum | 20.7 °C | 10.8 °C |
| Precipitation | 1.3 mm | 33.5 mm |
| Days with 1 mm or more | 0.4 days | 5.0 days |
What the mountain is doing at the same time
In August Funchal reaches 26.8 °C by day. At Areeiro, on the central ridge, the same month averages 18.7 °C — a difference of 8.1 °C, and that is the daytime figure, not the night.
Rainfall separates them further: 1.3 mm in Funchal against 33.5 mm at Areeiro, 25.8 times as much.
People plan levada walks off the Funchal forecast. That is the mistake this section exists to prevent — the two stations are 25 km and 1500 m apart, and they are not describing the same day.
The sea
Off Funchal the monthly mean runs between 17.8 °C in March and 23.3 °C in September, averaging 20.2 °C over the year. IPMA has never printed a sea-temperature normal, so this is the closest honest figure there is.
IPMA measured 23.4 °C off Funchal in August 2011. That is one observed year, not a normal — it corroborates the shape of the curve and nothing more.
Note the lag: the air peaks in August, the water in September. The warmest swimming of the year is a month after the warmest afternoon.
What’s on in August
Madeira Wine Festival
Three weeks split between Funchal and Estreito de Câmara de Lobos, where the live harvest re-enactment is the day that matters.
What August is actually like
August is the year’s hottest air and its driest: 26.8 °C by day, 20.7 °C at night, 230.7 hours of sun and 1.3 mm of rain. The sea has not caught up — it goes on warming into September, so August water is still short of its annual maximum, and the mountain has already begun to take rain again at 33.5 mm.
Three things worth checking before you book
The north really is wetter, by more than the guides say. Annual precipitation in the 1971–2000 normals: Funchal 596 mm, Santana on the north coast 1383 mm, Areeiro on the ridge 2620 mm.
The leste is real. It is an easterly off the Sahara, documented by IPMA, and it can push temperatures to about 35 °C and relative humidity down towards 5 % in the mountains. It usually lasts 3 days or fewer, and IPMA names February–April and August–October as its windows.