Climate and average weather in Paghmān

In Paghmān, the summers are hot, dry, and clear and the winters are very cold, snowy, and mostly clear.

Best: early August to mid October

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Paghmān typically varies from -13°C to 29°C, and is rarely below -21°C or above 32°C. July is the hottest month of the year, while January is the coldest.

Based on the travel score, the best times of year to visit Paghmān for warm-weather activities are from early June to mid July and early August to mid October.

Hottest
Jul
29°
Coldest
Jan
-13°
Wettest
Apr
79 mm
Driest
Aug
6 mm
Rain / yr
458 mm
79 wet days
Daylight
9.7–14.3 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
2,328 m
34.6°N
Clearest
Sep
14% cloud

Paghmān is town in Kabul Province, Afghanistan.

Density
20/km²
people per km²

Air quality: WHO Ambient Air Quality Database. Density & description: Wikidata (CC0), GeoNames.

Paghmān weather by month, at a glance

The whole year in one picture — sky, rain, humidity, temperature and travel score. Click any band to jump to its full chart.

Each stripe is one measure across the whole year, stacked so a single day reads top to bottom. The sky band runs overcast grey on top down to clear blue at the base — more blue means sunnier — followed by the rainfall curve, the humidity band, a temperature strip that tints each stretch of the year by how warm its average high is, and the travel-score line at the foot. Scan straight down any date to read that day across every measure at once; the score climbs highest around early August to mid October.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

Daily average highs and lows in Paghmān, from 1991–2020 of climate data. The shaded bands show the range most days fall in — 10th to 90th percentile.

The hot season lasts 4.2 months, from May 22 to September 27, with daily high temperatures above 22°C. The hottest month of the year in Paghmān is July, with an average high of 29°C and low of 14°C.

The cool season lasts 3.0 months, from December 7 to March 8, with daily high temperatures below 5°C. The coldest month of the year in Paghmān is January, with an average low of -13°C and high of -1°C.

Days typically run about 13°C warmer than nights, with the widest day–night swing (around 15°C) in August.

-20°-10°10°20°30°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan0-13
Feb1-11
Mar7-5
Apr152
May217
Jun2611
Jul2914
Aug2813
Sep249
Oct174
Nov10-3
Dec3-9

How hot and cold Paghmān really feels

Feels-like highFeels-like lowactual air temp

The felt-temperature range through the year — heat index on the day's high (summer humidity), wind chill on the night's low (winter wind). The dashed lines are the plain thermometer; the gap is how much hotter or colder it really feels.

On the coldest nights, wind chill pulls the feels-like down to about -17°C (around January 16), with roughly 165 freezing days a year (feels-like at or below 0°C) 92 of them bitterly cold — worst in January.

-20°-10°10°20°30°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Feels-like high (°C)Air high (°C)Feels-like low (°C)Air low (°C)
Jan-10-17-13
Feb11-14-11
Mar77-7-5
Apr151512
May212167
Jun26261111
Jul29291414
Aug28281313
Sep242499
Oct171724
Nov1010-5-3
Dec33-12-9

Average hourly temperature in Paghmān

A compact picture of the whole year, hour by hour: each column is a day, each row an hour, and the color is the modeled average temperature. Darker overlays mark night, lighter ones the civil-twilight hours around sunrise and sunset.

Read left to right for the day of the year and top to bottom for the hour of the day; the color is the modeled temperature, cool blues through to hot reds on the same scale as the other charts. A vertical slice is a single day's swing — coolest just before dawn, warmest in the mid-afternoon — while a horizontal slice follows one hour across the seasons. The darker overlay marks night and the lighter one the twilight around sunrise and sunset. Colors run warmest on July afternoons, near 29°C, and coldest before dawn in January, near -13°C.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec12 AM2 AM4 AM6 AM8 AM10 AM12 PM2 PM4 PM6 PM8 PM10 PM12 AM

Paghmān weather by month

Every month at a glance. Click a month for its detailed page.

MonthHigh / Low (°C)Rainfall (mm)Wet daysSnow daysDaylight (hours)Travel score
Jan-1° / -13°516.97.49.90.0
Feb / -11°688.58.510.70.0
Mar / -5°789.66.811.71.1
Apr15° / 7913.12.112.84.3
May21° / 6514.5013.86.2
Jun26° / 11°195.9014.38.0
Jul29° / 14°82014.17.3
Aug28° / 13°61.5013.37.8
Sep24° / 92.5012.28.9
Oct17° / 164.60.111.16.8
Nov10° / -3°305.53.110.22.7
Dec / -9°304.84.89.70.1

Chance of rain

How likely it is to rain on a typical day, and how that shifts across the wetter and drier seasons.

Paghmān gets about 458 mm of precipitation a year. On a typical day the chance of rain is some rain, but that rises and falls sharply with the seasons.

The wetter season lasts 4.8 months, from around Jan 17 to Jun 12, peaking in May at about 51% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Aug 15.

April is the wettest month by volume, with 79 mm over about 13 wet days; August is the driest, with 6 mm. Some of the cold-season precipitation falls as snow.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwetterdriermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetMay 6 · 51%Aug 15 · 5%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan227
Feb309
Mar3110
Apr4413
May4615
Jun206
Jul72
Aug52
Sep83
Oct155
Nov186
Dec165

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Paghmān collects about 458 mm of rain across 79 wet days — roughly 38 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. April is the wettest month with 79 mm, while August is the driest at just 6 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 49% of the year’s total, and some of the cold-season precipitation falls as snow.

0255075100JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec516878796519869163030
Rainfall (mm)Rain daysSnow days
Jan5177
Feb6899
Mar78107
Apr79132
May65150
Jun1960
Jul820
Aug620
Sep930
Oct1650
Nov3063
Dec3055

Snow in Paghmān

Average snowy days through the year, the snow-season span, and estimated snowfall — for ski trips and the perennial 'will there be snow at Christmas?' question.

Paghmān averages about 33 snowy days a year. Snow season runs roughly Oct 27 to Apr 26 — about 6 months.

February is snowiest, with roughly 9 days of snow and an estimated 69 cm of snowfall. Over the year that adds up to an estimated 222 cm of snow.

0510JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecsnow seasonsnow seasonFeb 6
Snow daysSnowfall (cm)
Jan748
Feb969
Mar749
Apr29
May00
Jun00
Jul00
Aug00
Sep00
Oct00
Nov319
Dec527

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

How often the daytime sky is clear, partly cloudy or overcast.

In Paghmān, the average share of the sky covered by clouds shows significant seasonal variation over the course of the year.

The clearer part of the year begins around May 24 and lasts for 5.5 months, ending around November 6. The clearest month is September, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 98% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around November 7 and lasts for 6.5 months, ending around May 23. The cloudiest month is March, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 40% of the time.

0%100%10%90%20%80%30%70%40%60%50%50%60%40%70%30%80%20%90%10%100%0%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecAug 23 · 99%Mar 18 · 59%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastcloudierclearercloudier
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan6535
Feb6139
Mar6040
Apr6139
May7426
Jun946
Jul973
Aug973
Sep982
Oct9010
Nov7723
Dec7426

Daylight, sunrise and sunset

DaylightNight

Hours of daylight through the year, with sunrise and sunset times.

The gold band is daylight — sunrise runs along its lower edge, sunset along the upper — so it widens toward summer and pinches toward winter, with night the dark area above and below. The longest day, around June 10, brings about 14 h 18 min of light; the shortest, around January 1, only 9 h 42 min — a swing of roughly 4 h 36 min.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan9.97:065:01
Feb10.76:475:30
Mar11.76:125:56
Apr12.85:286:20
May13.84:566:45
Jun14.34:457:04
Jul14.14:577:03
Aug13.35:196:37
Sep12.25:425:55
Oct11.16:065:13
Nov10.26:354:44
Dec9.77:004:41

Sunny days

How many genuinely sunny days each month brings — days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — banded into plain-language zones.

Paghmān averages about 20 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 12 and 28 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 5.2 months, from around Jun 4 to Nov 7. The sunniest month is September, with roughly 28 sunny days (brilliant).

The greyest month is May, down near 14 sunny days — about 48% fewer than the September peak.

051015202530JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgreyersunniergreyergloomymixedbrightbrilliantSep 1728 daysMay 312 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan17Bright
Feb14Bright
Mar15Mixed
Apr13Mixed
May15Mixed
Jun23Brilliant
Jul27Brilliant
Aug28Brilliant
Sep27Brilliant
Oct25Brilliant
Nov19Bright
Dec19Bright

Humidity comfort

DryComfortableHumidMuggyOppressiveMiserable

Share of days at each humidity comfort level, based on the dew point — the measure that tracks how muggy it actually feels.

Humidity comfort is graded by the dew point — the temperature at which the air would be fully saturated — because it tracks how muggy it actually feels far better than relative humidity does. A low dew point feels dry and crisp; a high one feels sticky and oppressive no matter the reading on a humidity gauge.

In Paghmān, the air stays dry or comfortable essentially all year. Even in June, the muggiest month, it feels humid or worse only about 0% of the time — humidity is not something you need to plan around here.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdry
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)
Jan1000
Feb1000
Mar1000
Apr1000
May1000
Jun1000
Jul964
Aug973
Sep1000
Oct1000
Nov1000
Dec1000

Wind

Average wind speed through the year, banded into plain-language speed zones so a number reads as 'breezy' or 'calm' without knowing the scale.

This is the average sustained wind speed at the standard 10 metres above open ground — the steady flow a weather station reports, not the sharper gusts that come and go, which can run half again as fast. It's the number that says whether a place is generally breezy or calm.

Wind in Paghmān is steady company: average speeds sit near 6 km/hcalm — in every month of the year, with no meaningful windy or calm season.

051015JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDeccalmlight breezeJul 18 · 7 km/hNov 20 · 5 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan6calm
Feb6calm
Mar5calm
Apr5calm
May6calm
Jun6calm
Jul7calm
Aug7calm
Sep6calm
Oct6calm
Nov5calm
Dec5calm

Best time to visit Paghmān

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

To characterize how pleasant the weather is in Paghmān throughout the year, we compute two travel scores — one for general sightseeing, one for beach and pool weather.

Around mid August, Paghmān is still near the start of its best-weather window — great conditions with the peak-season crowds not yet at full swing.

Inferred from the travel-score curve; month-by-month visitor numbers are a planned addition.

The travel score favors clear, rainless days with daytime highs between 18°C and 28°C. Based on this score, the best times of year to visit Paghmān for general outdoor tourist activities run from early June to mid July and again from early August to mid October, with a peak score in the third week of September.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationSep 15 · 9.1

The travel score (filled area), and its constituents: the temperature score (red line), the cloud cover score (blue line), and the precipitation score (green line).

Travel score (0–10)Rating
Jan0.0poor
Feb0.0poor
Mar1.1poor
Apr4.3fair
May6.2good
Jun8.0ideal
Jul7.4good
Aug7.8ideal
Sep8.8ideal
Oct6.7good
Nov2.7poor
Dec0.1poor

The beach/pool score favors clear, rainless days with daytime highs between 24°C and 34°C. Based on this score, the best time of year to visit Paghmān for hot-weather activities is from mid June to mid September, with a peak score in the second week of August.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationAug 10 · 9.1

The beach/pool score (filled area), and its constituents: the temperature score (red line), the cloud cover score (blue line), and the precipitation score (green line).

What to pack for Paghmān, by month

EssentialRecommendedOptional

Month by month, what's worth putting in the bag — from the temperature range, rain chance, sun and wind. Tap a month for a quick packing note.

For a warm-season trip around July (highs near 29°C), the essentials are light clothes and sun protection. In the cold season around January (highs near -1°C), pack a warm layer and a heavy coat.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In July, Paghmān sees daytime highs around 29°C and nights near 14°C. Pack light clothes and sun protection.

UV index (midday) in Paghmān by month

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Clear-sky midday UV index through the year, shaded by the WHO exposure levels — how much sun protection each month calls for.

Under clear skies, the midday UV index in Paghmān peaks around June 17 at about 12 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near January 9 at about 3 (moderate).

The index reaches 3 or more — the level where the WHO recommends sun protection — every month of the year.

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecModerateVery highExtremeVery highModerateJun 17UV 12Jan 9UV 3
UV index (midday)Level
Jan3Moderate
Feb7High
Mar9Very high
Apr10Very high
May12Extreme
Jun13Extreme
Jul12Extreme
Aug12Extreme
Sep10Very high
Oct7Very high
Nov4Moderate
Dec3Moderate

Average hourly UV index in Paghmān

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Modeled clear-sky UV for every hour of every day — when in the day sun protection actually matters.

The whole year hour by hour: each column is a day, each row an hour, and the color is the modeled clear-sky UV index — the midday peak scaled down as the sun sits lower in the sky. Darker overlays mark night, lighter ones the civil-twilight hours around sunrise and sunset.

UV falls off far faster than brightness as the sun drops, so even in June the burn window is concentrated in the middle of the day: about 9 hours a day reach index 3 (protection recommended), and 7 hours reach 6 or more. Mornings and late afternoons stay comparatively gentle year round.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec12 AM2 AM4 AM6 AM8 AM10 AM12 PM2 PM4 PM6 PM8 PM10 PM12 AM
UV ≥ 3 (h/day)UV ≥ 6 (h/day)
Jan2.50
Feb5.52
Mar74.5
Apr85.5
May8.56.5
Jun97
Jul97
Aug8.56.5
Sep7.55
Oct62.5
Nov3.50
Dec2.50

Air quality in Paghmān by month

GoodModeratePoorUnhealthyVery unhealthy

Average fine-particle pollution (PM2.5) through the year — so you can see which months the air is worst, not just the yearly average.

Air quality in Paghmān is worst in February — around 30 µg/m³ PM2.5 (moderate), about 1.9× the cleanest month (October, 16 µg/m³).

Modeled monthly averages (CAMS reanalysis, 2015–2024).

010203040JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecModerateFeb 830 µg/m³Oct 1016 µg/m³
PM2.5 (µg/m³)Level
Jan30Moderate
Feb30Moderate
Mar25Moderate
Apr23Moderate
May24Moderate
Jun22Moderate
Jul20Moderate
Aug18Moderate
Sep16Moderate
Oct16Moderate
Nov20Moderate
Dec26Moderate
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free dayTypical season (≥50%)

The growing season in Paghmān typically lasts about 214 days, from around April 6 to November 5 — the span where a frost-free day is more likely than not. It is reliably frost-free from April 23 to October 19.

0%25%50%75%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgrowing seasonMar 1010%Apr 650%Apr 2390%Oct 1990%Nov 550%Dec 210%
Frost-free chance (%)Frost nights
Jan231
Feb328
Mar1831
Apr7322
May1000
Jun1000
Jul1000
Aug1000
Sep1000
Oct9013
Nov3130
Dec531

Growing degree days

Degree days (base 10°C)Frost-free shaded

Growing degree days tally heat above 10°C: each day adds however many degrees its average temperature runs over that threshold, and cold days add nothing. Paghmān banks about 1,299 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around July.

05001,000JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°C·days)
Jan0
Feb0
Mar0
Apr10
May127
Jun247
Jul351
Aug332
Sep200
Oct32
Nov0
Dec0

Solar energy

Average daily shortwave solar energy reaching the ground, banded into brightness zones so the number means something at a glance.

Solar energy is how much sunlight actually reaches the ground each day, measured in kilowatt-hours per square metre (kWh/m²) — the combined effect of how long the sun is up, how high it climbs, and how much cloud gets in the way. It's the raw fuel a solar panel has to work with: for scale, 1 kWh/m² a day is dim and wintry, while 7+ is desert-bright.

Paghmān receives about 5.8 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — bright — with a clear seasonal swing between 3.2 and 8.1 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 6.3 months, from around Mar 18 to Sep 26. The brightest month is June, averaging about 8.0 kWh/m² (intense).

The dimmest month is December, down near 3.3 kWh/m² — roughly 59% less than the June peak.

0123456789JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmerbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightintenseJun 298.1 kWhDec 193.2 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan3.6Moderate
Feb4.5Bright
Mar5.7Bright
Apr6.7Intense
May7.5Intense
Jun8.1Intense
Jul8.0Intense
Aug7.3Intense
Sep6.3Intense
Oct5.0Bright
Nov3.7Moderate
Dec3.2Moderate

Where is Paghmān?

Paghmān sits at 34.6°N, 69.0°E, 2,328 m above sea level, in Afghanistan. The nearest listed city is Kabul, 21 km away.

BāzārakBāmyānGardez

Topography around Paghmān

How much the land rises and falls, and what covers it, within 3, 16 and 80 km of Paghmān.

Within 3 km, the terrain around Paghmān has large variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 803 m around an average of 2,402 m above sea level; within 16 km, extreme variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 2,884 m; within 80 km, extreme variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 4,061 m.

The land around Paghmān is covered by grassland (28%) and bare terrain (23%) within 3 km, bare terrain (45%) and grassland (28%) within 16 km, and bare terrain (53%) and grassland (34%) within 80 km.

3 km
803 m
16 km
2,884 m
80 km
4,061 m
treesshrubsgrasslandcroplandartificial surfacesbare terrain
Nearby: Kabul 21 km · Istālif 30 km · Charikar 51 km · Jabal os Saraj 65 km · Baraki Barak 69 km · Bāzārak 96 km · Bāmyān 106 km · Gardez 113 km

Afghanistan travel facts

Travel advisory
Level 4
Do Not Travel
Power plugs
Type C / F
220 V · 50 Hz
Prices
≈ 17% of US
price level, 2024
GDP per capita
$417
2024
Happiness
1.4 / 10
World Happiness, 2025
Safe drinking water
31%
of population, 2024
Homicide rate
4
per 100k, 2021
Road deaths
15.9
per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group
Low
World Bank
English
Very low
EF EPI 446
Religion
Muslim 100%

Sources: World Bank, US State Department, World Happiness Report, WHO/UNICEF, EF EPI, CIA World Factbook.

Data sources

Temperature, precipitation, cloud, humidity, wind and solar figures are a 1991–2020 climatology for Paghmān (34.5879°, 68.9509°, elevation 2,328 m), computed from hourly ERA5 reanalysis — contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information. Sun figures are astronomical calculations, not observations. City data © GeoNames, CC BY 4.0. Map outlines from Natural Earth (public domain); interactive map © Google. UV index is derived from CAMS (Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service) clear-sky UV data — contains modified Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service information. Monthly air-quality (PM2.5) seasonality is from the CAMS EAC4 reanalysis (Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service), scaled to the WHO annual mean where available. Topography is sampled from the Copernicus DEM GLO-90 elevation model (© ESA/Airbus) and ESA WorldCover 2021 land cover (CC BY 4.0).