Wŏnsan climate

Name: Wŏnsan
Address: KP

Wŏnsan is warmest in August, with average highs of 27 °C, and coldest in January, when nights average -7.9 °C. July is the wettest month (276 mm) and January the driest (33 mm). Figures are 1991–2020 climate normals.

Across a full year Wŏnsan averages 1,274 mm of rain, 65 days above 25 °C and 106 days below freezing.

North Korea · population 329,207 · 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 27 °C
Coldest month January -7.9 °C
Driest month January 33 mm
Wettest month July 276 mm
Least cloud December 39 % cloud
Hottest on record July 38 °C
Coldest on record January -24 °C
Warmest sea August 24 °C

What to expectWŏnsan through the year

Wŏnsan has a clear annual cycle: average daily highs run from 0.5 °C in January to 27 °C in August, a swing of 27 °C in mean temperature across the year.

Counted across a normal year, 65 days a year reach 25 °C, 13 of them reach 30 °C, 106 nights drop below freezing. The warmest reading in the 1991–2020 record is 38 °C, in July.

Rain is strongly seasonal. July averages 276 mm against 33 mm in January — 8.4 times as much. Planning around the dry months matters more here than planning around temperature.

The sea off Wŏnsan is warmest in August at 24 °C and coldest in February at 4.0 °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	0.5 °C	33 mm	40 %
February	3.1 °C	36 mm	42 %
March	8.4 °C	45 mm	48 %
April	15.1 °C	67 mm	51 %
May	20.4 °C	103 mm	57 %
June	24.0 °C	128 mm	68 %
July	26.4 °C	276 mm	76 %
August	26.7 °C	263 mm	73 %
September	22.8 °C	148 mm	61 %
October	17.4 °C	68 mm	46 %
November	9.6 °C	70 mm	45 %
December	2.7 °C	38 mm	39 %

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	0.5 °C	-7.9 °C	-3.8 °C	10.1 °C	-23.6 °C	0	0	30
February	3.1 °C	-5.4 °C	-1.4 °C	13.7 °C	-17.8 °C	0	0	26
March	8.4 °C	-0.2 °C	3.8 °C	22.5 °C	-14.2 °C	0	0	16
April	15.1 °C	5.7 °C	10.0 °C	27.8 °C	-7.4 °C	0	0	1
May	20.4 °C	11.6 °C	15.7 °C	33.5 °C	4.0 °C	5	0	0
June	24.0 °C	16.6 °C	20.0 °C	33.9 °C	10.4 °C	12	2	0
July	26.4 °C	20.8 °C	23.3 °C	37.9 °C	12.5 °C	19	6	0
August	26.7 °C	21.3 °C	23.7 °C	36.6 °C	13.4 °C	21	5	0
September	22.8 °C	16.2 °C	19.3 °C	31.6 °C	7.6 °C	7	0	0
October	17.4 °C	9.7 °C	13.2 °C	26.3 °C	-0.8 °C	0	0	0
November	9.6 °C	2.7 °C	5.8 °C	20.4 °C	-9.9 °C	0	0	8
December	2.7 °C	-4.7 °C	-1.1 °C	13.1 °C	-16.8 °C	0	0	26

Rain, sun and wind month by month

Month	Rainfall	Wet days	Daylight	Cloud cover	Humidity	Wind	Sea temp
January	33 mm	5	9.7 h/day	40 %	62 %	16 km/h	5.1 °C
February	36 mm	5	11 h/day	42 %	63 %	16 km/h	4.0 °C
March	45 mm	7	12 h/day	48 %	65 %	16 km/h	4.9 °C
April	67 mm	8	13 h/day	51 %	66 %	16 km/h	8.3 °C
May	103 mm	9	14 h/day	57 %	72 %	14 km/h	12.8 °C
June	128 mm	12	15 h/day	68 %	80 %	12 km/h	18.0 °C
July	276 mm	17	15 h/day	76 %	85 %	12 km/h	22.2 °C
August	263 mm	17	14 h/day	73 %	85 %	12 km/h	24.3 °C
September	148 mm	11	12 h/day	61 %	80 %	12 km/h	21.9 °C
October	68 mm	7	11 h/day	46 %	72 %	14 km/h	18.0 °C
November	70 mm	8	10 h/day	45 %	68 %	16 km/h	13.2 °C
December	38 mm	5	9.4 h/day	39 %	61 %	17 km/h	8.6 °C

How Wŏnsan 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
Wŏnsan	27 °C	-7.9 °C	1,274 mm	65
Hŭngnam · North Korea	26 °C	-7.9 °C	1,075 mm	42
Hamhŭng · North Korea	26 °C	-11 °C	1,131 mm	52
Sinp’o · North Korea	25 °C	-7.4 °C	872 mm	29
Tŏkch’ŏn · North Korea	27 °C	-15 °C	1,409 mm	75
Sunch’ŏn · North Korea	28 °C	-12 °C	1,230 mm	88
Chuncheon · South Korea	28 °C	-8.0 °C	1,226 mm	92

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

QuestionsCommon questions about Wŏnsan’s climate

When is the best time to visit Wŏnsan?

That depends on what you want, so the honest answer is a comparison rather than a single month. June, July, 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 Wŏnsan get?

In August, the warmest month, daily highs average 27 °C. About 13 days a year pass 30 °C. The highest value in the 1991–2020 record is 38 °C.

How cold does it get in winter?

Nights average -7.9 °C in January, the coldest month. A normal year has 106 nights below freezing.

Which month is wettest in Wŏnsan?

July, averaging 276 mm over 17 days with rain. The driest month is January with 33 mm. The year as a whole averages 1,274 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 Wŏnsan 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
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.