Gangneung climate

Name: Gangneung
Address: KR

Gangneung is warmest in August, with average highs of 26 °C, and coldest in January, when nights average -4.2 °C. August is the wettest month (247 mm) and December the driest (36 mm). Figures are 1991–2020 climate normals.

Across a full year Gangneung averages 1,284 mm of rain, 51 days above 25 °C and 74 days below freezing.

South Korea · population 208,161 · 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 26 °C
Coldest month January -4.2 °C
Driest month December 36 mm
Wettest month August 247 mm
Least cloud December 39 % cloud
Hottest on record July 35 °C
Coldest on record January -16 °C
Warmest sea August 24 °C

What to expectGangneung through the year

Gangneung has a clear annual cycle: average daily highs run from 2.5 °C in January to 26 °C in August, a swing of 25 °C in mean temperature across the year.

Counted across a normal year, 51 days a year reach 25 °C, 7 of them reach 30 °C, 74 nights drop below freezing. The warmest reading in the 1991–2020 record is 35 °C, in July.

Rain is strongly seasonal. August averages 247 mm against 36 mm in December — 6.9 times as much. Planning around the dry months matters more here than planning around temperature.

The sea off Gangneung is warmest in August at 24 °C and coldest in February at 9.0 °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	2.5 °C	44 mm	43 %
February	4.5 °C	45 mm	46 %
March	9.1 °C	67 mm	51 %
April	14.9 °C	79 mm	53 %
May	19.6 °C	87 mm	57 %
June	22.6 °C	121 mm	66 %
July	25.6 °C	222 mm	74 %
August	26.2 °C	247 mm	70 %
September	22.3 °C	190 mm	63 %
October	17.9 °C	85 mm	48 %
November	11.5 °C	62 mm	44 %
December	5.1 °C	36 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	2.5 °C	-4.2 °C	-0.9 °C	13.3 °C	-16.0 °C	0	0	26
February	4.5 °C	-2.5 °C	0.9 °C	16.5 °C	-15.1 °C	0	0	20
March	9.1 °C	2.1 °C	5.4 °C	22.6 °C	-8.8 °C	0	0	8
April	14.9 °C	7.8 °C	11.1 °C	29.4 °C	-0.6 °C	0	0	0
May	19.6 °C	13.0 °C	16.2 °C	32.1 °C	5.4 °C	2	0	0
June	22.6 °C	17.3 °C	20.0 °C	33.2 °C	9.4 °C	7	0	0
July	25.6 °C	21.3 °C	23.3 °C	34.6 °C	13.3 °C	17	3	0
August	26.2 °C	21.9 °C	24.0 °C	33.8 °C	13.5 °C	20	3	0
September	22.3 °C	17.3 °C	19.7 °C	29.9 °C	10.8 °C	5	0	0
October	17.9 °C	11.7 °C	14.6 °C	25.2 °C	1.6 °C	0	0	0
November	11.5 °C	5.2 °C	8.1 °C	21.6 °C	-8.0 °C	0	0	3
December	5.1 °C	-1.2 °C	1.8 °C	15.7 °C	-12.3 °C	0	0	17

Rain, sun and wind month by month

Month	Rainfall	Wet days	Daylight	Cloud cover	Humidity	Wind	Sea temp
January	44 mm	5	9.8 h/day	43 %	63 %	18 km/h	10.4 °C
February	45 mm	6	11 h/day	46 %	65 %	17 km/h	9.0 °C
March	67 mm	9	12 h/day	51 %	66 %	17 km/h	9.4 °C
April	79 mm	9	13 h/day	53 %	66 %	17 km/h	11.7 °C
May	87 mm	9	14 h/day	57 %	71 %	15 km/h	14.3 °C
June	121 mm	11	15 h/day	66 %	79 %	12 km/h	18.2 °C
July	222 mm	16	15 h/day	74 %	84 %	13 km/h	21.9 °C
August	247 mm	17	14 h/day	70 %	84 %	13 km/h	24.2 °C
September	190 mm	13	12 h/day	63 %	80 %	13 km/h	22.1 °C
October	85 mm	8	11 h/day	48 %	72 %	14 km/h	19.2 °C
November	62 mm	7	10 h/day	44 %	66 %	16 km/h	15.8 °C
December	36 mm	5	9.6 h/day	39 %	61 %	18 km/h	12.8 °C

How Gangneung 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
Gangneung	26 °C	-4.2 °C	1,284 mm	51
Wŏnju · South Korea	28 °C	-7.3 °C	1,222 mm	96
Chuncheon · South Korea	28 °C	-8.0 °C	1,226 mm	92
Chungju · South Korea	29 °C	-6.2 °C	1,173 mm	101
Andong · South Korea	29 °C	-4.9 °C	1,012 mm	102
Icheon-si · South Korea	29 °C	-6.5 °C	1,232 mm	103
Seongnam-si · South Korea	28 °C	-6.6 °C	1,294 mm	95

Where Gangneung ranks

Ranking	Position	Value
The coolest places in Asia in June	39th of 50	23 °C

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

QuestionsCommon questions about Gangneung’s climate

When is the best time to visit Gangneung?

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 December the driest. The month-by-month table above has the full picture.

How hot does Gangneung get?

In August, the warmest month, daily highs average 26 °C. About 7 days a year pass 30 °C. The highest value in the 1991–2020 record is 35 °C.

How cold does it get in winter?

Nights average -4.2 °C in January, the coldest month. A normal year has 74 nights below freezing.

Which month is wettest in Gangneung?

August, averaging 247 mm over 17 days with rain. The driest month is December with 36 mm. The year as a whole averages 1,284 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 Gangneung 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: 37.753°, 128.872° (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.