Climate and natural hazards

Potenza, at 819 metres, has long winters with frequent snow and frost and cool summers; the upper Val d'Agri, the Pollino, the Sirino and the Lagonegro mountains are snowy (ski slopes at Sellata-Arioso, Viggiano, Monte Sirino). The Ionian coast of the Metapontino has very hot, dry summers with peaks over 40 °C and mild winters; Maratea on the Tyrrhenian is more humid and breezy. Matera, at 400 metres, has a hill climate with hot summers. The climate data in this entry refer to the regional capital.

Seismic risk

Civil Protection classifies most of the province of Potenza (Val d'Agri, Melandro, Vulture, Marmo Platano) in seismic zone 1 and the rest in zone 2, with the Matera area in zones 2 and 3. The earthquake of 16 December 1857 in the Val d'Agri (Montemurro, Viggiano) was one of the most destructive in Italian history; that of 23 November 1980 hit Balvano, Pescopagano, Muro Lucano and Potenza itself hard; on 5 May 1990 a shock damaged the Potenza area. In the Val d'Agri, INGV and the Region also monitor seismicity induced by oil operations and by the Pertusillo reservoir.

Landslides, water, fires

The badland clays make Basilicata one of Italy's most landslide-prone regions: Craco was abandoned in 1963 after a landslide, and many towns (Aliano, Pisticci, Montalbano) live with unstable slopes. In autumn 2024 the collapse of the Camastra reservoir level forced Potenza and some thirty municipalities onto rota water supply for weeks, even though the region exports water to Apulia. Summer fires affect the Pollino, the Vulture and the Metapontino pine woods; heavy rain causes the Basento and Bradano to flood the plain. Air quality is good, with specific ARPAB monitoring around the Viggiano oil centre.