page_title: Peñalara Natural Park
section_title: Climate
hierarchical_section_title: Peñalara Natural Park / Climate
caption_attribution_description: Español: Pino silvestre en una niebla de hielo
context_page_description: The Peñalara Natural Park is a natural park of 7.68 km² in the northwest of the Community of Madrid, Spain. It was designated in June 1990.
  The park is situated in the central zone of the Sierra de Guadarrama. Since 2013 the Sierra de Guadarrama has also been protected by a national park designation.
  The reserve includes Peñalara, the highest peak of the mountain system, and an area to the south-east of the peak in Rascafría district.
  The zones of lowest altitude hold white pine forests and grasslands. Bushes grow higher up in the mountains, which are predominantly composed of alpine meadows and rocky areas. The park is home to the black vulture and the Spanish imperial eagle, and also many small mammals and amphibians.
  The park is accessible from Puerto de Cotos, the region's center of tourism. Especially popular on the holidays, the reserve provides a venue for hiking, mountain climbing, and skiing.
context_section_description: Peñalara Nature Reserve has a mountain climate characterized by very cold winters and mild summers. Precipitation is plentiful. Snow falls in winter and part of the spring. The area's cold temperatures generally cause rain to freeze into snow from the end of November to the middle of May. In the highest zones, snow may last until July. The Peñalara lakes freeze in December and thaw in March. A meteorological phenomenon of the winter is the freezing fog, or the fog of ice, which covers vegetation in ice when the temperature is less than 0 °C.
  The average temperature is about 6 or 7 °C. It reaches a maximum of 22 °C in summer and a minimum of −14 °C in winter. December through February, the temperature does not rise above 0 °C, and the snow cap grows larger. Storms are frequent in spring, summer, and to a lesser degree, autumn. The wind is intense in the mountains, especially when the pressure is low, and a thick fog is common throughout the year. The wind at average strength comes from the northeast. Average relative humidity is about 75%. Adverse weather phenomena such as tornadoes, hurricanes, and earthquakes are rare.
  Climate of Puerto de Cotos (1.830 km)
caption: White pine covered in ice from the freezing fog. Image taken in winter.
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