Pyongyang climate

Name: Pyongyang
Address: KP

Pyongyang is warmest in August, with average highs of 28 °C, and coldest in January, when nights average -9.9 °C. July is the wettest month (276 mm) and January the driest (13 mm). Figures are 1991–2020 climate normals.

Across a full year Pyongyang averages 1,027 mm of rain, 96 days above 25 °C and 130 days below freezing.

North Korea · population 3,222,000 · 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 28 °C
Coldest month January -9.9 °C
Driest month January 13 mm
Wettest month July 276 mm
Least cloud January 40 % cloud
Hottest on record July 36 °C
Coldest on record January -28 °C

What to expectPyongyang through the year

Pyongyang has a clear annual cycle: average daily highs run from -0.8 °C in January to 28 °C in August, a swing of 30 °C in mean temperature across the year.

Counted across a normal year, 96 days a year reach 25 °C, 15 of them reach 30 °C, 130 nights drop below freezing. The warmest reading in the 1991–2020 record is 36 °C, in July.

Rain is strongly seasonal. July averages 276 mm against 13 mm in January — 22 times as much. Planning around the dry months matters more here than planning around temperature.

Month by month

Month	Avg high	Rainfall	Cloud
January	-0.8 °C	13 mm	40 %
February	3.0 °C	21 mm	41 %
March	9.2 °C	26 mm	45 %
April	16.4 °C	54 mm	48 %
May	22.2 °C	94 mm	53 %
June	26.4 °C	112 mm	62 %
July	28.0 °C	276 mm	73 %
August	28.2 °C	226 mm	65 %
September	24.2 °C	93 mm	53 %
October	17.7 °C	44 mm	42 %
November	9.0 °C	46 mm	46 %
December	1.2 °C	24 mm	42 %

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	-0.8 °C	-9.9 °C	-5.4 °C	11.4 °C	-27.9 °C	0	0	31
February	3.0 °C	-6.4 °C	-2.1 °C	14.9 °C	-23.7 °C	0	0	27
March	9.2 °C	-1.7 °C	3.3 °C	20.2 °C	-9.8 °C	0	0	23
April	16.4 °C	4.7 °C	10.2 °C	26.4 °C	-3.9 °C	0	0	3
May	22.2 °C	11.0 °C	16.3 °C	32.6 °C	3.2 °C	7	0	0
June	26.4 °C	16.7 °C	21.2 °C	33.5 °C	9.9 °C	21	3	0
July	28.0 °C	20.8 °C	24.0 °C	35.6 °C	13.5 °C	27	6	0
August	28.2 °C	20.9 °C	24.2 °C	35.4 °C	10.8 °C	28	6	0
September	24.2 °C	15.1 °C	19.5 °C	30.7 °C	5.0 °C	12	0	0
October	17.7 °C	7.6 °C	12.4 °C	27.8 °C	-3.6 °C	0	0	1
November	9.0 °C	0.1 °C	4.3 °C	20.4 °C	-12.8 °C	0	0	16
December	1.2 °C	-7.1 °C	-3.0 °C	13.5 °C	-21.6 °C	0	0	30

Rain, sun and wind month by month

Month	Rainfall	Wet days	Daylight	Cloud cover	Humidity	Wind
January	13 mm	3	9.7 h/day	40 %	60 %	16 km/h
February	21 mm	4	11 h/day	41 %	59 %	17 km/h
March	26 mm	5	12 h/day	45 %	62 %	19 km/h
April	54 mm	7	13 h/day	48 %	64 %	19 km/h
May	94 mm	8	14 h/day	53 %	68 %	17 km/h
June	112 mm	10	15 h/day	62 %	74 %	15 km/h
July	276 mm	16	15 h/day	73 %	83 %	15 km/h
August	226 mm	14	14 h/day	65 %	82 %	14 km/h
September	93 mm	7	12 h/day	53 %	76 %	13 km/h
October	44 mm	6	11 h/day	42 %	69 %	15 km/h
November	46 mm	7	10 h/day	46 %	68 %	16 km/h
December	24 mm	5	9.4 h/day	42 %	62 %	16 km/h

How Pyongyang compares

The same four figures for nearby destinations, so the numbers above have something to be read against. Summer high is the warmest month's average high; winter low is the coldest month's average low.

Destination	Summer high	Winter low	Rain per year	Days above 25 °C
Pyongyang	28 °C	-9.9 °C	1,027 mm	96
Namp’o · North Korea	28 °C	-7.8 °C	954 mm	94
Sunch’ŏn · North Korea	28 °C	-12 °C	1,230 mm	88
Sariwŏn-si · North Korea	28 °C	-8.3 °C	961 mm	99
Kaech’ŏn · North Korea	28 °C	-13 °C	1,290 mm	90
Tŏkch’ŏn · North Korea	27 °C	-15 °C	1,409 mm	75
Haeju · North Korea	27 °C	-6.5 °C	1,064 mm	68

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

QuestionsCommon questions about Pyongyang’s climate

When is the best time to visit Pyongyang?

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 Pyongyang get?

In August, the warmest month, daily highs average 28 °C. About 15 days a year pass 30 °C. The highest value in the 1991–2020 record is 36 °C.

How cold does it get in winter?

Nights average -9.9 °C in January, the coldest month. A normal year has 130 nights below freezing.

Which month is wettest in Pyongyang?

July, averaging 276 mm over 16 days with rain. The driest month is January with 13 mm. The year as a whole averages 1,027 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 Pyongyang 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: 39.034°, 125.754° (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.