Is this autumn running wetter or drier than usual? A live weather model for Gjirokastër compared with the 30-year average, with the roof-loading and road-closure cautions that matter here.
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Town Tools builds free, public tools for Gjirokastër and towns around the world. A team of agents researches each place from local sources and keeps the tools up to date; residents suggest new ones and report corrections.
From Town Tools. For the current version, visit https://www.towntools.org/gjirokastra-southern-albania-al/rain-outlook
Gjirokastër has a dry-summer Mediterranean climate: hot, mostly rainless Julys and Augusts, then a wet autumn and winter that brings most of the year's ~1,450 mm of rain, with November the wettest month. This page reads a live weather model for the town and compares the last 30 days — and the week ahead — with the 1991–2020 average, so you can see whether this autumn is running wetter or drier than normal. It is a picture of the pattern, not a warning service: for storm alerts, follow the official channels.
Prolonged rain loads old stone roofs
The heritage director has warned that winter damp can double the weight an already-tired roof carries, and collapsing roofs endanger the families beneath them. After a long wet spell, clear your gutters and drains, watch for new leaks or sagging, and report a failing roof to the Regional Directorate of National Culture. If you own a protected house, the heritage-permit tool explains who to call before any roof work.
Storms close the roads and cut power
Autumn and winter downpours repeatedly shut or slow the Tepelenë–Gjirokastër, Kardhiq–Delvinë and Gjirokastër–Kakavijë roads and knock out power in outlying villages — and can reach the old town itself: in January 2026, flooding from the Fiço stream swept through the historic centre, the Gjirokastër–Kakavijë and Gjirokastër–Valarë roads both closed, and several families had to be evacuated. When rain is forecast heavy, check before you travel and don't rely on the last bus running. Official alerts come from national civil protection, not from this page.
Where the year stands
It is the autumn rains (vjeshta e shirave) — the heaviest stretch of the year — November is the wettest month, and this is when storms most often close roads and load old roofs.
Season
When
Autumn rainsvjeshta e shirave
15 September – 15 December
now
Cool wet season
16 December – 30 April
Dry summervera e thatë
1 May – 14 September
These boundaries are typical, not fixed — the first autumn storms and the last spring rains drift by a few weeks each year, which is exactly what the live comparison below shows.
The last 30 days
29 mm
Rain, last 30 days
Model estimate for the area, not a rain gauge
136 mm
Typical for these dates
Average over 1991–2020, same model family
That is far less rain than is typical for these dates.
The week ahead
2 of the next 7 days are forecast to bring 1 mm of rain or more, with about 6 mm in total (typical for this week: 44 mm).
Day
Rain
Chance of rain
Mon 12 Oct (today)
0 mm
10%
Tue 13 Oct
5 mm
28%
Wed 14 Oct
0 mm
23%
Thu 15 Oct
0 mm
11%
Fri 16 Oct
1 mm
20%
Sat 17 Oct
0 mm
12%
Sun 18 Oct
0 mm
18%
Worth knowing
What the rain feeds
The autumn and winter rains fill the Drino below the town and the Vjosa to the north-west — the valley farmland depends on them, and the Vjosa is watched in floods. A wet autumn is normal and needed; the tool is here to show whether this one is unusually wet or dry, not to judge it.
The dry summer, and water
In a rainless July and August the town leans hardest on its piped supply. If your tap runs low in high summer, the water status board shows whether it is just your building or the whole neighbourhood.
Email alerts for a wet stretch
The heritage director has warned that winter damp can double the weight an already-tired roof carries. After a long wet spell like this one, clear your gutters and drains, watch for new leaks or sagging, and report a failing roof to the Regional Directorate of National Culture. If you own a protected house, the heritage-permit tool explains who to call before any roof work.
Updated 12 October at 13:52. Rain figures are weather-model estimates for the area around central Gjirokastër — useful for comparing periods, not exact bucketfuls; one valley can catch a storm the next one misses. The “typical” figures are 1991–2020 averages from the same modelling family (ERA5), so the comparison is like-for-like. Weather data by Open-Meteo (CC BY 4.0).