Climate in Amsterdam

Amsterdam climate is cool and oceanic, with strong influences by the city’s North Sea to the west. The climate in Amsterdam is also moderated by the prevailing north-western winds and gales. Like the rest of the North-Holland province Amsterdam lies in USDA Hardiness zone 9, the northernmost such occurrence in continental Europe and enjoys mild winter temperatures that only on the rare occasion drop below 0°C., although frost is frequently and mainly occurs during spells of easterly or north-easterly winds from the inner European continent, from Scandinavia, Russia, or even Siberia.

Yet, thanks to its geographical position - Amsterdam is surrounded on three sides by large bodies of water – as well as the fact it’s weather patterns enjoy a significant heat island effect, night temperatures rarely fall below -5°C. Yet in Hilversum just 25 kilometres southeast of Amsterdam, night time temperatures during the same period might be as low as -12°C.

During August average daily temperatures hover around 22°C, rising to 30°C or higher only on an average of 3 days, placing Amsterdam in AHS Heat zone 2. Another common feature of Amsterdam weather is the significant precipitation it receives, with rain occurring on an average of 175 days a year. However, Amsterdam's average annual precipitation is less than 760 mm, most of it coming in the form of protracted drizzle or light rain. Therefore, cloudy and damp days are a common future in Amsterdam especially during the cooler months, October through March. Rain amounts become considerably bigger on the occasion when the odd European windstorm places the city under its spell for a short period of time.

Taken from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amsterdam