Climate and average weather in Nakhchivan

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

Best: early September to late October

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Nakhchivan typically varies from -6°C to 32°C, and is rarely below -12°C or above 36°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 Nakhchivan for warm-weather activities are from mid May to late June and early September to late October.

Hottest
Jul
32°
Coldest
Jan
-6°
Wettest
Apr
53 mm
Driest
Aug
5 mm
Rain / yr
324 mm
71 wet days
Daylight
9.2–14.8 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
887 m
39.2°N
Clearest
Aug
15% cloud

Nakhchivan is capital of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic of Azerbaijan.

Density
6,480/km²
people per km²
Founded
~1499 BCE

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

Nakhchivan 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 September to late October.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

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

The hot season lasts 3.9 months, from May 28 to September 23, with daily high temperatures above 25°C. The hottest month of the year in Nakhchivan is July, with an average high of 32°C and low of 19°C.

The cool season lasts 3.2 months, from November 26 to March 1, with daily high temperatures below 8°C. The coldest month of the year in Nakhchivan is January, with an average low of -6°C and high of 2°C.

Days typically run about 11°C warmer than nights, with the widest day–night swing (around 13°C) in August.

-10°10°20°30°40°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan2-5
Feb5-4
Mar111
Apr176
May2211
Jun2816
Jul3219
Aug3218
Sep2714
Oct208
Nov112
Dec5-3

How hot and cold Nakhchivan 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 hottest afternoons, once humidity is folded in, Nakhchivan feels like about 33°C (around July 30). About 29 days a year carry some heat stress, peaking in July.

On the coldest nights, wind chill pulls the feels-like down to about -6°C (around January 16), with roughly 118 freezing days a year (feels-like at or below 0°C), worst in January.

-10°10°20°30°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Feels-like high (°C)Air high (°C)Feels-like low (°C)Air low (°C)
Jan22-5-5
Feb55-4-4
Mar1111-11
Apr171756
May22221111
Jun28281616
Jul32321919
Aug32321818
Sep27271414
Oct202088
Nov111122
Dec45-3-3

Average hourly temperature in Nakhchivan

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 32°C, and coldest before dawn in January, near -6°C.

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

Nakhchivan 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 / -6°265.75.19.60.0
Feb / -4°316.95.710.50.3
Mar11° / 5110.55.611.72.6
Apr17° / 5311.41.7135.2
May22° / 11°41100.214.16.9
Jun28° / 16°194.6014.77.1
Jul32° / 19°112.4014.55.4
Aug32° / 18°51.1013.55.5
Sep27° / 14°112.2012.38.2
Oct20° / 214.60.2117.4
Nov11° / 295.52.19.93.0
Dec / -3°276.24.69.30.2

Chance of rain

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

Nakhchivan gets about 324 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 4.4 months, from around Jan 23 to Jun 5, peaking in April at about 39% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Aug 13.

April is the wettest month by volume, with 53 mm over about 11 wet days; August is the driest, with 5 mm. Some of the cold-season precipitation falls as snow.

0%10%20%30%40%50%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwetterdriermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetApr 15 · 39%Aug 13 · 3%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan186
Feb257
Mar3411
Apr3811
May3210
Jun155
Jul82
Aug41
Sep72
Oct145
Nov196
Dec206

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Nakhchivan collects about 324 mm of rain across 71 wet days — roughly 27 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. April is the wettest month with 53 mm, while August is the driest at just 5 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 45% of the year’s total, and some of the cold-season precipitation falls as snow.

0255075JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec26315153411911511212927
Rainfall (mm)Rain daysSnow days
Jan2665
Feb3176
Mar51116
Apr53112
May41100
Jun1950
Jul1120
Aug510
Sep1120
Oct2150
Nov2962
Dec2765

Snow in Nakhchivan

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.

Nakhchivan averages about 25 snowy days a year. Snow season runs roughly Oct 24 to May 4 — about 6.3 months.

February is snowiest, with roughly 6 days of snow and an estimated 23 cm of snowfall. Over the year that adds up to an estimated 93 cm of snow.

02468JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecsnow seasonsnow seasonFeb 4
Snow daysSnowfall (cm)
Jan517
Feb623
Mar622
Apr25
May00
Jun00
Jul00
Aug00
Sep00
Oct00
Nov29
Dec517

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Nakhchivan, 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 25 and lasts for 4.9 months, ending around October 21. The clearest month is August, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 99% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around October 22 and lasts for 7.1 months, ending around May 24. The cloudiest month is March, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 44% 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 8 · 100%Mar 13 · 56%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastcloudierclearercloudier
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan6337
Feb6040
Mar5644
Apr5743
May6733
Jun928
Jul982
Aug991
Sep946
Oct7921
Nov6832
Dec6238

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 18, brings about 14 h 48 min of light; the shortest, around December 17, only 9 h 12 min — a swing of roughly 5 h 36 min.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan9.68:225:53
Feb10.57:596:27
Mar11.77:186:58
Apr13.06:287:29
May14.15:507:59
Jun14.75:368:21
Jul14.55:498:19
Aug13.56:167:49
Sep12.36:457:00
Oct11.07:156:12
Nov9.97:495:38
Dec9.38:175:32

Sunny days

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

Nakhchivan averages about 18 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 11 and 29 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 4.6 months, from around Jun 3 to Oct 19. The sunniest month is August, with roughly 29 sunny days (brilliant).

The greyest month is April, down near 11 sunny days — about 62% fewer than the August peak.

05101520253035JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgreyersunniergreyergloomymixedbrightbrilliantAug 1029 daysApr 2611 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan15Mixed
Feb12Mixed
Mar12Mixed
Apr11Mixed
May13Mixed
Jun23Bright
Jul29Brilliant
Aug29Brilliant
Sep26Brilliant
Oct20Bright
Nov16Bright
Dec15Mixed

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 Nakhchivan, the air stays dry or comfortable essentially all year. Even in August, 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%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDeccomfortabledry
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)
Jan1000
Feb1000
Mar1000
Apr1000
May1000
Jun991
Jul8713
Aug9010
Sep991
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.

Across the year, average wind speed in Nakhchivan is typically calm, near 6 km/h, and varies little with the seasons.

The windier part of the year lasts 6.3 months, from around Mar 22 to Sep 28. The windiest month is July, averaging about 8 km/h (calm).

The calmer part of the year runs from around Sep 29 to Mar 21, with January the calmest month at about 4 km/h.

051015JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDeccalmerwindiercalmercalmlight breezeJul 28 · 8 km/hJan 1 · 4 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan4calm
Feb5calm
Mar6calm
Apr6calm
May6calm
Jun7calm
Jul8calm
Aug8calm
Sep7calm
Oct5calm
Nov4calm
Dec4calm

Best time to visit Nakhchivan

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

Around mid October, Nakhchivan is still near the tail of its best-weather window — great conditions with the peak-season crowds already thinning.

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 Nakhchivan for general outdoor tourist activities run from mid May to late June and again from early September to late October, with a peak score in the last week of September.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationSep 24 · 8.7

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
Feb0.4poor
Mar2.6poor
Apr5.1fair
May6.8good
Jun7.1good
Jul5.4fair
Aug5.6good
Sep8.1ideal
Oct7.3good
Nov3.1poor
Dec0.2poor

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 Nakhchivan for hot-weather activities is from early June to late September, with a peak score in the first week of September.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationSep 5 · 9.0

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 Nakhchivan, 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 32°C), the essentials are light clothes and sun protection. In the cold season around January (highs near 2°C), pack a warm layer and a heavy coat.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In July, Nakhchivan sees daytime highs around 32°C and nights near 19°C. Pack light clothes and sun protection.

UV index (midday) in Nakhchivan 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 Nakhchivan peaks around July 13 at about 10 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near December 22 at about 2 (moderate).

The index reaches 3 or more — the level where the WHO recommends sun protection — in 9 months of the year.

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecModerateHighVery highExtremeVery highHighModerateJul 13UV 10Dec 22UV 2
UV index (midday)Level
Jan2Moderate
Feb3Moderate
Mar4Moderate
Apr6High
May9Very high
Jun10Extreme
Jul11Extreme
Aug10Very high
Sep7Very high
Oct5Moderate
Nov3Moderate
Dec2Moderate

Average hourly UV index in Nakhchivan

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 July the burn window is concentrated in the middle of the day: about 8.5 hours a day reach index 3 (protection recommended), and 6 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)
Jan00
Feb2.50
Mar40
Apr6.50
May85
Jun96
Jul8.56
Aug85.5
Sep6.53.5
Oct50
Nov00
Dec00

Air quality in Nakhchivan 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 Nakhchivan is worst in May — around 27 µg/m³ PM2.5 (moderate), about 1.6× the cleanest month (November, 17 µg/m³).

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

0102030JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecModerateMay 1126 µg/m³Nov 1417 µg/m³
PM2.5 (µg/m³)Level
Jan19Moderate
Feb20Moderate
Mar23Moderate
Apr26Moderate
May27Moderate
Jun22Moderate
Jul20Moderate
Aug18Moderate
Sep18Moderate
Oct18Moderate
Nov17Moderate
Dec18Moderate
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

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

The growing season in Nakhchivan typically lasts about 260 days, from around March 9 to November 23 — the span where a frost-free day is more likely than not. It is reliably frost-free from April 4 to November 2.

0%25%50%75%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgrowing seasonJan 2710%Mar 950%Apr 490%Nov 290%Nov 2350%Jan 1210%
Frost-free chance (%)Frost nights
Jan1131
Feb2128
Mar6031
Apr963
May1000
Jun1000
Jul1000
Aug1000
Sep1000
Oct990
Nov6729
Dec2331

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. Nakhchivan banks about 1,991 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around July.

05001,0001,5002,000JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°C·days)
Jan0
Feb0
Mar0
Apr49
May210
Jun360
Jul473
Aug466
Sep312
Oct122
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.

Nakhchivan receives about 5.0 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — bright — with a clear seasonal swing between 2.2 and 7.5 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 6.2 months, from around Mar 22 to Sep 25. The brightest month is June, averaging about 7.4 kWh/m² (intense).

The dimmest month is December, down near 2.3 kWh/m² — roughly 69% less than the June peak.

0123456789JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmerbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightintenseJun 307.5 kWhDec 152.2 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan2.6Moderate
Feb3.6Moderate
Mar4.8Bright
Apr5.9Bright
May6.7Intense
Jun7.4Intense
Jul7.4Intense
Aug6.8Intense
Sep5.5Bright
Oct4.0Bright
Nov2.8Moderate
Dec2.2Moderate

Where is Nakhchivan?

Nakhchivan sits at 39.2°N, 45.4°E, 887 m above sea level, in Azerbaijan. The nearest listed city is Nehram, 11 km away.

PoldashtHādīshahrQarah Ẕīā’ od DīnShowţJermukMakuKhūy

Topography around Nakhchivan

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Nakhchivan has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 129 m around an average of 857 m above sea level; within 16 km, large variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 888 m; within 80 km, extreme variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 3,307 m.

The land around Nakhchivan is covered by artificial surfaces (49%) and grassland (22%) within 3 km, grassland (32%), cropland (29%) and bare terrain (24%) within 16 km, and grassland (70%) within 80 km.

3 km
129 m
16 km
888 m
80 km
3,307 m
treesgrasslandcroplandartificial surfacesbare terrainwater
Nearby: Nehram 11 km · Poldasht 33 km · Hādīshahr 46 km · Qarah Ẕīā’ od Dīn 49 km · Showţ 55 km · Jermuk 74 km · Maku 82 km · Khūy 83 km

Azerbaijan travel facts

Travel advisory
Level 3
Reconsider Travel
Power plugs
Type C / F
220 V · 50 Hz
Prices
≈ 28% of US
price level, 2025
GDP per capita
$7,411
2025
Happiness
5.0 / 10
World Happiness, 2025
Safe drinking water
58%
of population, 2024
Homicide rate
2.2
per 100k, 2023
Road deaths
6.7
per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group
Upper middle
World Bank
English
Low
EF EPI 454
Religion
Muslim 97%Christian 3%

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 Nakhchivan (39.2089°, 45.4122°, elevation 887 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).