September 2026 started like August and ended like November. For the first 17 days the Nicosia plain baked: Athalassa recorded 35°C or more on 17 consecutive days (1–17 September; 18 counting 31 August), a September run that only 2020 has beaten there. The peak came on 7 September, when 38 of 52 reporting stations reached 35°C (35 of them 35.5°C or more) and Kalavasos hit 40.2°C. Fifteen of the 39 stations with at least ten Septembers of data broke their own previous best for that date; the ERA5 model has Larnaca, Polis, Paralimni and Paphos at their hottest 7 September since 1940. Across the stations the day averaged 3.4°C above normal, with 19 of 39 above their own 90th percentile.
Then the weather turned. The run ended on 18 September, with Athalassa dropping 7.3°C in a day to 29.8°C, and every station cooled (island average maximum down 4.6°C). By 28 September the stations averaged 4.1°C below their median maximum, with 30 of 39 below their own 10th percentile.
Mean daytime temperature vs the 1961–1990 normal, September 2026 (ERA5 model).
Two storms, not a wet month
It was not a month of steady rain. About 79% of the month's gauge rain, across the 50 stations with at least 28 full days, fell on two days: 18 and 30 September. No station recorded as much as 1 mm on any of the 11 days from 6 to 16 September (the wettest reading was 0.6 mm).
The two storms hit different parts of the island. On the 18th, 30 of 54 stations recorded 1 mm or more: Lefkara 64.1 mm, Larnaca Airport 31.3, Kornos 30.6, Frenaros 26.1 — while Nicosia and Limassol stayed at 0.0 mm. On the 30th it was the north-west: Pyrgos 51.3 mm, Kato Pyrgos 50.4, Polis 40.8.
The wettest single-day gauge readings of the two storms (DoM stations).
The monthly totals set records in the west. Polis measured 53.8 mm, the wettest September in its automatic-station record (since 2003; previous best 49.5 mm, 2009), and Kato Pyrgos 59.0 mm (previous 52.0 mm). Akamas, Lysos and Kampos — shorter series, about eleven years — also had their wettest September. Larnaca Airport collected 31.5 mm, almost all on the 18th, its second-wettest September since 1977 after 2002 (44.2 mm).
September rain by gauge, nearest DoM station.
Model vs gauges
The base ERA5 numbers for rain are not a good guide this month. Compared with the gauges, the model overstates Nicosia (26.1 mm against 8.1 at Lefkosia) and Limassol (10.9 against 0.0), and understates Polis (18.5 against 53.8); Larnaca (23.8 against 31.5) and Paphos (8.7 against 11.1) are closer, and Paralimni (27.1 against 27.2 at Frenaros) and Troodos (35.1 against 41.1) agree. The table below uses gauges for rain. The same caution applies to warmth on the west coast: the Paphos station's September mean maximum was 30.4°C, 0.6°C below its own 2005–2025 average, while ERA5 placed Paphos 1.4°C above its model average; at Polis the station was +0.4°C and the model +1.5°C.
By place
| Place | Mean daytime (model) | vs 1961–1990 (model) | Rain (nearest gauge) | Tropical nights (gauge) | Hottest day (model) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nicosia | 33.3°C | +2.0°C | 8.1 mm | 0 | 36.8°C (2 Sep) |
| Limassol | 31.4°C | +1.5°C | 0.0 mm | 0 | 35.0°C (7 Sep) |
| Larnaca | 30.9°C | +0.6°C | 31.5 mm | 0 | 36.2°C (7 Sep) |
| Paphos | 29.8°C | +2.9°C | 11.1 mm | 0 | 34.5°C (7 Sep) |
| Polis Chrysochous | 30.1°C | +2.9°C | 53.8 mm | 0 | 37.1°C (7 Sep) |
| Paralimni & Protaras | 31.2°C | +2.6°C | 27.2 mm | 1 | 35.2°C (7 Sep) |
| Troodos | 22.2°C | −0.5°C | 41.1 mm | – | 27.0°C (7 Sep) |
Nights and sea
The model reported a handful of tropical nights (never below 25°C) at Limassol, Larnaca, Paphos and Polis; the stations did not. At Limassol, Larnaca, Paphos, Polis and Nicosia no September night stayed above 23.8°C. Only a few spots touched 25°C: Frenaros exactly once, Kouris at 26.1°C.
The sea cooled all month. Modelled sea-surface temperature (Open-Meteo, a model with a short history) averaged 28.5°C on 1 September and 26.3°C on 30 September. Limassol was the coolest spot, at 27.4°C for the month against 28.25°C at Larnaca, and the only one to fall below 26°C, from 25 September.
Method: temperatures and anomalies are model reanalysis (ERA5 via Open-Meteo, CC BY 4.0) averaged per place, baselines 1961–1990 unless stated; rain, station temperatures and the records are DoM station measurements, compared with each station's own archive (about 10–23 years), so a "record" means since that archive began. Model values can differ from station measurements — see our criteria, records and the rain tracker.