Visiting Venice Dec 1-10 2024 - tell me about the weather - rain is ok

Umbrellas are a massive liability and a danger to others so forget those.

We were in Sorrento in late Decrmber, several years ago. Other than a brief, light rain on New Year’s Eve as I recall, the weather was clear and dry. With highs in the upper 50’s/lower 60’s and sun during the day, a light jacket was all that was ever needed, daytime or nighttime.

Venice has always been a late spring or summer destination for us, but even if you got acqua alta in early December, seeing Venice from raised platforms might be a unique experience that most visitors don’t have.

The Acqua Alta (high water) phenomenon, which causes flooding in parts of the city, happens, with varying degrees of intensity, when several factors concur to its occurrence:
1. High tide
2. Scirocco (southeasterly) wind which pushes the water of the Adriatic Sea toward Venice.
3. Rain and therefore swelling rivers in the area which pour a lot of water into the Venetian Lagoon.

We cannot predict what will happen in terms of rain and wind 2 months from now. High tide is the only thing we know happens for sure twice a day, but that alone is not sufficient to cause Acqua Alta, otherwise there would be flooding twice a day every day of the year.
You have to play it by ear, but since high tide is a major factor, the flooding, when it occurs, usually lasts only a few hours a day, unless there are major downpours of rain. It also affects only the lower lying areas of the city, particularly near Piazza San Marco, not everywhere in Venice. Now there is also the MOSE system, which is activated when major Acqua Alta events are forecast. It doesn't work perfectly, but it's better than before.
If you want warmer south of Sorrento, you can try Sicily, which has more or less Southern California weather. Tripoli in Libya is even warmer.

I was in Venice one November. The place was flooded. St Marks square was under a good of water. They had erected things like park benches for people to walk on above the water. Shops had to put sandbags around their doors to keep water out. Many people wore big rubber boots. The water was not uniformly deep - maybe 1-2.5 feet. Its was not a ton of fun or great for photos.

Sorrento on the other hand can't get flooded being on the top of a cliff. The main day activities would window shopping, eating, maybe a trip to Pompeii or Capri.

I think you could do more with your time than just spin your wheels in either place.

This website will give you a clue what to expect. Just keep in mind that with climate change and weather in general, each year will be different. You can change the location to Sorrento and months to review. https://www.timeanddate.com/weather/italy/venice/historic?month=12&year=2023

We were in Venice for 10 nights last year starting December 14th and the weather was great --- our granddaughter was even running around in a sleeveless dress. No high water, but we would love to experience that. We travel to Italy in November and December by choice, and really have never had bad weather. A rainy two days in Rome once. But you never know exactly what weather you will get --- we just figure that anything including a blizzard is better than heat and crowds.