Summer Olympic Games Begin Under Cloudy Skies and Rain

The 2024 Summer Olympics kicked off on Friday in Paris. What can athletes and spectators expect from Mother Nature? Here is a look at the average forecast for this time of the year as well as what meteorologists are expecting in the coming days for the City of Lights.

Typical Weather Patterns for Paris

Paris is ready to host the XXXIII Olympic Summer Games, starting on July 26 and continuing through August 11. The Games feature a variety of sports, ranging from classic events such as soccer and swimming to more unique events such as break dancing.

In a nutshell, the metro area of about 12 million people experiences a summer climate most similar to the city of Seattle in the U.S. The city's location in Western Europe offers a temperature climate that is driven by its proximity to the North Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea.

High temperature readings at the end of July and into early August tend to hover in the upper 70s with lows dipping to about the 60-degree level. Paris picks up a bit more rain when compared to Seattle during the summer with an average of 2 inches per month during the season.

While Seattle is typically pretty predictable for summer weather, Paris is more likely to see extreme fluctuations. This will make it difficult for Games organizers to plan ahead.

For instance, the areas of high pressure and presence of storms with the low pressure areas can create times of extreme weather. The top temperature ever recorded in Paris during the summer was a whopping 108.7 degrees, a record set at the end of July of 2019. Hundreds of fatalities were blamed on this heat wave. During this time, overnight lows bottomed out at about 70 degrees, also setting a record for the warmest minimum temperature.

The humidity that can ride along with these areas of low pressure are also more likely to generate rain showers and thunderstorms. The months of June and August see the greatest number of tornadoes in Paris. However, it should be noted that twisters are a far less likely occurrence in Europe in general when compared to the U.S.

Conversely, hail is more common in France when compared to tornadic activity. There were nearly 2,500 reports of hail in 2022, creating damages over $5 billion.

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