Kyoto climate
Kyoto is warmest in August, with average highs of 31 °C, and coldest in January, when nights average 0.2 °C. July is the wettest month (236 mm) and January the driest (64 mm). Figures are 1991–2020 climate normals.
Across a full year Kyoto averages 1,639 mm of rain, 111 days above 25 °C and 40 days below freezing.
Japan · population 1,463,723 · 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 August 31 °C
- Coldest month January 0.2 °C
- Driest month January 64 mm
- Wettest month July 236 mm
- Least cloud December 51 % cloud
- Hottest on record August 39 °C
- Coldest on record December -8.4 °C
What to expectKyoto through the year
Kyoto has a clear annual cycle: average daily highs run from 7.5 °C in January to 31 °C in August, a swing of 23 °C in mean temperature across the year.
Counted across a normal year, 111 days a year reach 25 °C, 43 of them reach 30 °C, 40 nights drop below freezing. The warmest reading in the 1991–2020 record is 39 °C, in August.
Rain is strongly seasonal. July averages 236 mm against 64 mm in January — 3.7 times as much. Planning around the dry months matters more here than planning around temperature.
Month by month
| Month | Avg high | Rainfall | Cloud |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 7.5 °C | 64 mm | 56 % |
| February | 8.5 °C | 74 mm | 59 % |
| March | 12.3 °C | 120 mm | 61 % |
| April | 17.8 °C | 134 mm | 62 % |
| May | 22.6 °C | 154 mm | 67 % |
| June | 26.0 °C | 214 mm | 80 % |
| July | 29.5 °C | 236 mm | 74 % |
| August | 31.0 °C | 138 mm | 62 % |
| September | 26.8 °C | 192 mm | 64 % |
| October | 21.1 °C | 164 mm | 55 % |
| November | 15.6 °C | 82 mm | 52 % |
| December | 10.0 °C | 66 mm | 51 % |
Temperature month by month
| Month | Avg high | Avg low | Mean | Record high | Record low | Days above 25 °C | Days above 30 °C | Days below 0 °C |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 7.5 °C | 0.2 °C | 3.4 °C | 16.2 °C | -6.9 °C | 0 | 0 | 15 |
| February | 8.5 °C | 0.6 °C | 4.0 °C | 20.1 °C | -8.2 °C | 0 | 0 | 13 |
| March | 12.3 °C | 3.4 °C | 7.4 °C | 21.8 °C | -4.3 °C | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| April | 17.8 °C | 8.4 °C | 12.7 °C | 27.8 °C | -1.0 °C | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| May | 22.6 °C | 13.4 °C | 17.6 °C | 30.6 °C | 2.6 °C | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| June | 26.0 °C | 18.0 °C | 21.6 °C | 33.8 °C | 10.3 °C | 20 | 2 | 0 |
| July | 29.5 °C | 22.3 °C | 25.5 °C | 37.2 °C | 15.2 °C | 29 | 15 | 0 |
| August | 31.0 °C | 23.2 °C | 26.6 °C | 38.8 °C | 15.7 °C | 31 | 21 | 0 |
| September | 26.8 °C | 19.4 °C | 22.7 °C | 35.6 °C | 10.4 °C | 21 | 5 | 0 |
| October | 21.1 °C | 13.4 °C | 16.8 °C | 29.8 °C | 4.3 °C | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| November | 15.6 °C | 7.6 °C | 11.1 °C | 25.0 °C | -0.1 °C | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| December | 10.0 °C | 2.4 °C | 5.7 °C | 21.1 °C | -8.4 °C | 0 | 0 | 6 |
Rain, sun and wind month by month
| Month | Rainfall | Wet days | Daylight | Cloud cover | Humidity | Wind |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 64 mm | 8 | 10 h/day | 56 % | 77 % | 16 km/h |
| February | 74 mm | 9 | 11 h/day | 59 % | 75 % | 16 km/h |
| March | 120 mm | 12 | 12 h/day | 61 % | 74 % | 17 km/h |
| April | 134 mm | 12 | 13 h/day | 62 % | 74 % | 16 km/h |
| May | 154 mm | 11 | 14 h/day | 67 % | 76 % | 15 km/h |
| June | 214 mm | 15 | 15 h/day | 80 % | 80 % | 13 km/h |
| July | 236 mm | 17 | 14 h/day | 74 % | 83 % | 13 km/h |
| August | 138 mm | 13 | 13 h/day | 62 % | 80 % | 13 km/h |
| September | 192 mm | 13 | 12 h/day | 64 % | 81 % | 14 km/h |
| October | 164 mm | 10 | 11 h/day | 55 % | 80 % | 14 km/h |
| November | 82 mm | 8 | 10 h/day | 52 % | 79 % | 14 km/h |
| December | 66 mm | 8 | 9.8 h/day | 51 % | 78 % | 15 km/h |
Planning a trip? See the best time to visit Kyoto.
QuestionsCommon questions about Kyoto’s climate
When is the best time to visit Kyoto?
That depends on what you want, so the honest answer is a comparison rather than a single month. May, June, September sit closest to 20 °C on average, August is the warmest month and January the driest. The month-by-month table above has the full picture.
How hot does Kyoto get?
In August, the warmest month, daily highs average 31 °C. About 43 days a year pass 30 °C. The highest value in the 1991–2020 record is 39 °C.
How cold does it get in winter?
Nights average 0.2 °C in January, the coldest month. A normal year has 40 nights below freezing.
Which month is wettest in Kyoto?
July, averaging 236 mm over 17 days with rain. The driest month is January with 64 mm. The year as a whole averages 1,639 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 Kyoto 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
- 35.021°, 135.754° (the coordinates the reanalysis values are taken for)
- Dataset version
- era5-1991-2020-scores1.1
- Last processed
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.