The numbers for November
Two stations, two periods, both named. Mixing them is how a levada walk goes wrong.
| Measure | Funchal | Areeiro |
|---|---|---|
| Mean daily maximum | 22.8 °C | 10.4 °C |
| Mean daily minimum | 17.0 °C | 5.2 °C |
| Precipitation | 80.3 mm | 449.9 mm |
| Days with 1 mm or more | 7.3 days | 18.4 days |
What the mountain is doing at the same time
In November Funchal reaches 22.8 °C by day. At Areeiro, on the central ridge, the same month averages 10.4 °C — a difference of 12.4 °C, and that is the daytime figure, not the night.
Rainfall separates them further: 80.3 mm in Funchal against 449.9 mm at Areeiro, 5.6 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 21.2 °C off Funchal in November 2011. That is one observed year, not a normal — it corroborates the shape of the curve and nothing more.
What’s on in November
Nothing on the regional calendar falls in November. That is a real answer, not a gap — it is the quietest kind of month to visit.
What November is actually like
November is the mountain’s wettest month of the year: 449.9 mm at Areeiro across 18.4 rain days, against 80.3 mm and 7.3 days in Funchal — five and a half times as much. The coast is still on 22.8 °C by day and reads like late summer. Sunshine falls to 151.7 hours.
Three things worth checking before you book
“Madeira has no winter” is true at sea level and only there. Funchal records 0.0 days below 0 °C in every month of its normals. Areeiro’s February normal carries 3 nights below freezing, and that is the ground the levada walks cross.
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.