24 days with gale-force winds, while Vardø, also lacking shelter, sees 136 days of strong breeze or more and 18 days with gale. Inland valleys and sheltered fjord areas—particularly if sheltered by mountains—are much less windy. Tromsø, partly sheltered by large islands, experiences on average 27 days/year with strong breeze, and 1 day with gale, and Bardufoss sees on average only 11 days with strong breeze or more and scarcely ever experiences gale. In winter, there might sometimes blow cold winds from the freezing highlands out through the large fjords, and strong breeze will feel very cold on the skin. Mild westerlies are still much more common in most winters. Weather patterns are inherently unpredictable in this northern region—both low pressure and high pressure weather can occur at any time of year, although the strongest winds occur in winter. Winter Along the coast of Nordland north to southern Vesterålen, average winter temperatures hover just above freezing, getting gradually colder winters into the fjords, and the coldest are inland. Inland Finnmark, as in Karasjok, average temperatures remain below freezing for 7 months (October–April). In Tromsø, average temperatures stays below freezing for 4–5 months. Summer Even if winter temperatures depends largely on the distance to the sea, the length of the season varies mostly with latitude (and altitude). While the southern coast of Nordland have four months of summer, the northeasternmost areas just averages two months, such as Kirkenes and Vadsø. The warmest summer daily highs are in the inland valleys and sheltered fjords, in towns like Mosjøen, Rognan, Narvik, Bardufoss, Alta and Karasjok. A small strip of land along the extreme northeastern coast from Nordkapp to Vardø was earlier partly tundra (Arctic climate) due to lack of summer warmth, however with the updated climate normals 1991–2020, summers have warmed and the tundra climate has changed to a boreal climate along this northernmost coast, but still with very modest summer warmth. Precipitation Precipitation occur in all seasons, usually as snow in winter, although often as rain on the Nordland coast. Snow accumulation in the mountains can exceed , and this abundance of snow is the reason for the numerous glaciers – more than 500, mostly in Nordland and Troms. Autumn, and some places along the coast winter, tend to be the wettest season, often receiving more than twice as much precipitation as does spring and early summer. Only the interior areas of