Under the Köppen climate classification, Podgorica is transitional between a humid subtropical climate (''Cfa'') and a hot-summer Mediterranean climate (''Csa''), since the driest summer month gets slightly less than  of precipitation, with summer highs around  and winter highs around . Although the city is only some  north of the Adriatic Sea, an arm of the Mediterranean, Mount Rumija acts as a natural barrier, separating Skadar Lake basin and Podgorica area from the sea, thus limiting temperate maritime influence on the local climate.