Reykjavík versus Gothenburg Weather Comparison
Data visualization comparing weather patterns between Reykjavík, Iceland and Gothenburg, Sweden
The data presented here is based on historical weather records from both cities, between 2010 and 2014, with the data collected from Veðurstofa Íslands (the National Weather Service, www.vedur.is) and the SMHI (Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute, www.smhi.se).
Note that this page is still under development and may update whenever! / Þessi síða er enn í vinnslu!
Average monthly temperature
Which one is warmer? On average, both cities are similar in January and February but in March and beynd Gothenburg is warmer, specially during the summer months June, July and August.
Average yearly temperature
As was to be expected after the previous image with the monthly temperatures, the yearly average is higher for Gothenburg as well. The difference is really noticable for the years 2015, 2018 and 2024, where Gothenburg had a very warm year and Reykjavik a very cold one.
Looking at the wind
Both cities are known for being windy, which one is windier? Reykjavík looks to be quite more windier in the winter months but both cities are as windy during summer. Its worth noting that the wind in Gothenburg seems to be similar for all months of the year.
Average wind only says so much, lets take a look at the number of days where it was really windy!
Reykjavík has way more days with wind speeds of 10 meters per second or more than Gothenburg, so Reykjavík is definitively windier.
Rain-kjavík or Raining-burg?
Where does it rain more? Here Gothenburg takes the win, as the city with more total precipitation each year. Note that this is just total precipitation and not the type. I.e. it might snow more in Reykjavík than in Gothenburg.
What about days with rain? Reykjavík is famous for rapidly changing weather, where it can be sunny one moment and raining the next, so it would be interesting to see if it rains more often in Reykjavík than in Gothenburg.
Reykjavík has more days with precipitation than Gothenburg, but it still rains more in Gothenburg.
Hello sunshine: does midnight sun count?
Sun matters! And on average is seems to be more of it in Gothenburg.
Phew, the next plot is difficult but it is the total sun hours of each month. The x-axis still needs some work. We see that the sun hours are low in the winter but peak during summer, and for some years there was even more sun in Reykjavík than Gothenburg! Most years there are more total sun hours in Gothenburg than Reykjavík though.
Days Without Sun: The Polar Night Phenomenon or just two gray cities?
Gothenburg is gray, what about Reykjavík? The winter is dark in both cities, there is no denying it. January and December is specially dark in Reykjavík but February, March, October and November, seem to be equally gray in both cities.
20 Degree Days or "Tuttugu gráður á pallinum"
I saved the best (or the worst) until the last! People typically prefer warm days!
What about cold days, is Reykjavík so much more colder? 2010 looks like an exceptionally cold year in Gothenburg, but apart from that Reykjavík typically has more days where the temperature goes below 0 degrees Celsius.