Oulu climate

Name: Oulu
Address: FI

Oulu is warmest in July, with average highs of 20 °C, and coldest in February, when nights average -11 °C. July is the wettest month (79 mm) and February the driest (29 mm). Figures are 1991–2020 climate normals.

Across a full year Oulu averages 586 mm of rain, 4 days above 25 °C and 175 days below freezing.

Finland · population 216,066 · 1991–2020 normals

Temperature below 0 °C to above 30 °C Rain band height is that month’s share of the wettest month

Warmest month July 20 °C
Coldest month February -11 °C
Driest month February 29 mm
Wettest month July 79 mm
Least cloud May 60 % cloud
Hottest on record July 31 °C
Coldest on record January -40 °C
Warmest sea August 16 °C

What to expectOulu through the year

Oulu has a clear annual cycle: average daily highs run from -5.9 °C in February to 20 °C in July, a swing of 25 °C in mean temperature across the year.

Counted across a normal year, 4 days a year reach 25 °C, 0 of them reach 30 °C, 175 nights drop below freezing. The warmest reading in the 1991–2020 record is 31 °C, in July.

Rain is strongly seasonal. July averages 79 mm against 29 mm in February — 2.7 times as much. Planning around the dry months matters more here than planning around temperature.

The sea off Oulu is warmest in August at 16 °C and coldest in February at -0.2 °C. Sea temperature lags the air by a month or two, which is why late summer swims warmer than early summer at the same air temperature.

Month by month

Month	Avg high	Rainfall	Cloud
January	-5.4 °C	35 mm	82 %
February	-5.9 °C	29 mm	77 %
March	-1.9 °C	31 mm	68 %
April	4.2 °C	30 mm	64 %
May	11.0 °C	49 mm	60 %
June	16.1 °C	58 mm	62 %
July	19.5 °C	79 mm	62 %
August	17.6 °C	72 mm	66 %
September	12.3 °C	58 mm	70 %
October	5.0 °C	52 mm	77 %
November	0.3 °C	49 mm	84 %
December	-2.8 °C	44 mm	83 %

Temperature month by month

Month	Avg high	Avg low	Mean	Record high	Record low	Days above 25 °C	Days below 0 °C
January	-5.4 °C	-10.3 °C	-7.7 °C	6.0 °C	-40.2 °C	0	30
February	-5.9 °C	-10.8 °C	-8.2 °C	6.2 °C	-32.9 °C	0	27
March	-1.9 °C	-7.3 °C	-4.4 °C	7.2 °C	-21.9 °C	0	30
April	4.2 °C	-2.9 °C	0.8 °C	17.3 °C	-15.5 °C	0	24
May	11.0 °C	3.5 °C	7.6 °C	25.7 °C	-6.9 °C	0	6
June	16.1 °C	9.3 °C	13.1 °C	28.8 °C	1.4 °C	1	0
July	19.5 °C	13.1 °C	16.6 °C	30.9 °C	6.1 °C	2	0
August	17.6 °C	11.8 °C	14.8 °C	27.8 °C	3.8 °C	1	0
September	12.3 °C	7.2 °C	9.8 °C	23.4 °C	-1.9 °C	0	0
October	5.0 °C	1.4 °C	3.3 °C	17.3 °C	-19.6 °C	0	10
November	0.3 °C	-3.1 °C	-1.3 °C	10.1 °C	-22.9 °C	0	21
December	-2.8 °C	-7.2 °C	-4.9 °C	6.1 °C	-30.2 °C	0	27

Rain, sun and wind month by month

Month	Rainfall	Wet days	Daylight	Cloud cover	Humidity	Wind	Sea temp
January	35 mm	9	5.0 h/day	82 %	86 %	18 km/h	0.0 °C
February	29 mm	8	8.4 h/day	77 %	85 %	18 km/h	-0.2 °C
March	31 mm	8	12 h/day	68 %	83 %	17 km/h	-0.1 °C
April	30 mm	7	15 h/day	64 %	79 %	16 km/h	0.3 °C
May	49 mm	10	19 h/day	60 %	71 %	16 km/h	2.9 °C
June	58 mm	10	22 h/day	62 %	70 %	16 km/h	9.5 °C
July	79 mm	12	20 h/day	62 %	75 %	15 km/h	14.6 °C
August	72 mm	12	17 h/day	66 %	77 %	15 km/h	15.5 °C
September	58 mm	10	13 h/day	70 %	81 %	17 km/h	12.3 °C
October	52 mm	10	9.8 h/day	77 %	87 %	17 km/h	7.6 °C
November	49 mm	11	6.2 h/day	84 %	88 %	18 km/h	3.5 °C
December	44 mm	10	3.7 h/day	83 %	88 %	18 km/h	1.0 °C

Where Oulu ranks

Ranking	Position	Value
The coolest places in Europe in April	10th of 50	4.2 °C
The coolest places in Europe in May	10th of 50	11 °C
The coolest places in Europe in October	12th of 50	5.0 °C
The coolest places in Europe in September	13th of 50	12 °C
The coolest places in the world in April	13th of 50	4.2 °C
The coolest places in the world in October	15th of 50	5.0 °C

Planning a trip? See the best time to visit Oulu.

QuestionsCommon questions about Oulu’s climate

When is the best time to visit Oulu?

That depends on what you want, so the honest answer is a comparison rather than a single month. June, July, August sit closest to 20 °C on average, July is the warmest month and February the driest. The month-by-month table above has the full picture.

How hot does Oulu get?

In July, the warmest month, daily highs average 20 °C. About 0 days a year pass 30 °C. The highest value in the 1991–2020 record is 31 °C.

How cold does it get in winter?

Nights average -11 °C in February, the coldest month. A normal year has 175 nights below freezing.

Which month is wettest in Oulu?

July, averaging 79 mm over 12 days with rain. The driest month is February with 29 mm. The year as a whole averages 586 mm.

Are these figures a forecast?

No. They are 1991–2020 climate normals: the average of thirty years, which describes what a month is usually like in Oulu rather than what any particular week will bring. Individual years can differ substantially from the normal.

Data sources and method

ERA5 / ERA5-Land reanalysis — Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), ECMWF. Copernicus Licence
Open-Meteo — Open-Meteo.com. CC BY 4.0
NOAA OISST v2.1 — NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory. Public domain
GeoNames — GeoNames.org. CC BY 4.0

Normal period: 1991–2020
Data point: 65.012°, 25.468° (the coordinates the reanalysis values are taken for)
Dataset version: era5-1991-2020-scores1.1
Last processed: 1 August 2026

Measured values come from ERA5 reanalysis and are reproduced unchanged. Calculated by us: monthly rankings, daylight hours, beach and comfort scores. Full formulas are on the methodology page.

Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026. Neither the European Commission nor ECMWF is responsible for any use that may be made of the Copernicus information or data it contains.