Gwangju climate

Name: Gwangju
Address: KR

Gwangju is warmest in August, with average highs of 29 °C, and coldest in January, when nights average -3.0 °C. July is the wettest month (255 mm) and January the driest (30 mm). Figures are 1991–2020 climate normals.

Across a full year Gwangju averages 1,246 mm of rain, 107 days above 25 °C and 89 days below freezing.

South Korea · population 1,401,235 · 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 29 °C
Coldest month January -3.0 °C
Driest month January 30 mm
Wettest month July 255 mm
Least cloud October 49 % cloud
Hottest on record July 38 °C
Coldest on record January -19 °C

What to expectGwangju through the year

Gwangju has a clear annual cycle: average daily highs run from 4.5 °C in January to 29 °C in August, a swing of 25 °C in mean temperature across the year.

Counted across a normal year, 107 days a year reach 25 °C, 26 of them reach 30 °C, 89 nights drop below freezing. The warmest reading in the 1991–2020 record is 38 °C, in July.

Rain is strongly seasonal. July averages 255 mm against 30 mm in January — 8.6 times as much. Planning around the dry months matters more here than planning around temperature.

Month by month

Month	Avg high	Rainfall	Cloud
January	4.5 °C	30 mm	64 %
February	6.8 °C	37 mm	60 %
March	11.9 °C	63 mm	57 %
April	17.9 °C	90 mm	57 %
May	23.0 °C	102 mm	62 %
June	26.7 °C	171 mm	74 %
July	28.6 °C	255 mm	78 %
August	29.3 °C	231 mm	70 %
September	25.6 °C	135 mm	62 %
October	20.1 °C	57 mm	49 %
November	13.4 °C	46 mm	52 %
December	6.7 °C	30 mm	57 %

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	4.5 °C	-3.0 °C	0.4 °C	16.2 °C	-19.0 °C	0	0	27
February	6.8 °C	-1.8 °C	2.1 °C	19.3 °C	-14.8 °C	0	0	22
March	11.9 °C	1.6 °C	6.2 °C	22.8 °C	-5.3 °C	0	0	12
April	17.9 °C	6.8 °C	12.0 °C	27.1 °C	-2.2 °C	1	0	1
May	23.0 °C	12.3 °C	17.3 °C	33.6 °C	3.7 °C	8	0	0
June	26.7 °C	17.6 °C	21.8 °C	33.8 °C	10.2 °C	22	3	0
July	28.6 °C	22.0 °C	24.9 °C	38.2 °C	13.8 °C	28	9	0
August	29.3 °C	22.3 °C	25.5 °C	36.2 °C	15.3 °C	29	13	0
September	25.6 °C	17.2 °C	21.1 °C	33.6 °C	8.7 °C	18	1	0
October	20.1 °C	10.3 °C	14.8 °C	28.6 °C	-0.3 °C	2	0	0
November	13.4 °C	4.1 °C	8.4 °C	24.2 °C	-4.8 °C	0	0	5
December	6.7 °C	-1.3 °C	2.3 °C	18.2 °C	-14.2 °C	0	0	22

Rain, sun and wind month by month

Month	Rainfall	Wet days	Daylight	Cloud cover	Humidity	Wind
January	30 mm	5	10 h/day	64 %	69 %	16 km/h
February	37 mm	5	11 h/day	60 %	67 %	16 km/h
March	63 mm	7	12 h/day	57 %	69 %	16 km/h
April	90 mm	8	13 h/day	57 %	69 %	16 km/h
May	102 mm	8	14 h/day	62 %	72 %	15 km/h
June	171 mm	11	15 h/day	74 %	78 %	13 km/h
July	255 mm	17	14 h/day	78 %	86 %	14 km/h
August	231 mm	16	13 h/day	70 %	84 %	13 km/h
September	135 mm	9	12 h/day	62 %	80 %	12 km/h
October	57 mm	5	11 h/day	49 %	75 %	13 km/h
November	46 mm	6	10 h/day	52 %	73 %	14 km/h
December	30 mm	5	9.8 h/day	57 %	71 %	15 km/h

How Gwangju 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
Gwangju	29 °C	-3.0 °C	1,246 mm	107
Suncheon · South Korea	29 °C	-2.2 °C	1,520 mm	106
Mokpo · South Korea	28 °C	-0.3 °C	1,244 mm	65
Gwangyang · South Korea	29 °C	-2.5 °C	1,527 mm	95
Jeonju · South Korea	29 °C	-3.8 °C	1,214 mm	105
Yeosu · South Korea	28 °C	-0.2 °C	1,406 mm	67
Iksan · South Korea	29 °C	-3.7 °C	1,195 mm	104

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

QuestionsCommon questions about Gwangju’s climate

When is the best time to visit Gwangju?

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 Gwangju get?

In August, the warmest month, daily highs average 29 °C. About 26 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 -3.0 °C in January, the coldest month. A normal year has 89 nights below freezing.

Which month is wettest in Gwangju?

July, averaging 255 mm over 17 days with rain. The driest month is January with 30 mm. The year as a whole averages 1,246 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 Gwangju 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: 35.155°, 126.916° (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.