New York or Valencia: which climate?
New York (United States) has a hot-summer humid continental climate, whereas Valencia (Spain) has a cold semi-arid climate, according to the Köppen-Geiger classification.
The values compared here are normals computed over 86 complete calendar years, from 1940 to 2025, using ERA5 reanalysis data from the Copernicus programme. The same method and the same period apply to New York and to Valencia.
Valencia is warmer than New York by 4.8 °C in annual average: 16.9 °C against 12.1 °C.
New York gets more rain than Valencia: 1,098 mm per year against 447 mm.
Valencia gets 10.6 hours of sunshine per day on average, against 8.8 hours in New York.
Valencia has warmed by +2.4 °C between 1940 and 2025, against +1.7 °C in New York. Valencia is therefore warming faster than New York. Both trends are statistically significant.
New York averages 20 hot days (≥ 30 °C) and 75 frost days per year; Valencia averages 34 and 1.
Data from ERA5 reanalysis (Copernicus Climate Change Service), redistributed under a CC-BY 4.0 licence. Normals are recomputed whenever the archive is updated.
| Indicator | New York | Valencia | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mean daily temperature | 12.1 °C | 16.9 °C | +4.8 °C |
| Average daily high | 15.7 °C | 21.2 °C | +5.5 °C |
| Average daily low | 8.6 °C | 13.1 °C | +4.5 °C |
| Annual rainfall | 1,098 mm | 447 mm | -651 mm |
| Sunshine / day | 8.8 h | 10.6 h | +1.8 h |
| Hot days (≥ 30 °C) | 20 d/yr | 34 d/yr | +14 d/yr |
| Frost days (< 0 °C) | 75 d/yr | 1 d/yr | -74 d/yr |
| Rainy days (≥ 1 mm) | 118 d/yr | 66 d/yr | -52 d/yr |
| Mean relative humidity | 71 % | 69 % | negligible |
| Average peak wind | 17.4 km/h | 16.4 km/h | negligible |
A difference is only reported when it exceeds the resolution of the data. ERA5 is a reanalysis on a grid of about 31 km: two nearby cities often fall in the same cell, and below half a degree you are reading the grid, not the climate.