Climate and average weather in Karlovo

In Karlovo, the summers are warm, showery, and mostly clear and the winters are cold, snowy, and partly cloudy.

Best: mid June to early October

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Karlovo typically varies from -4°C to 26°C, and is rarely below -12°C or above 30°C. August is the hottest month of the year, while January is the coldest.

Based on the travel score, the best time of year to visit Karlovo for warm-weather activities is from mid June to early October.

Hottest
Aug
26°
Coldest
Jan
-4°
Wettest
May
137 mm
Driest
Jan
49 mm
Rain / yr
977 mm
137 wet days
Daylight
8.9–15.1 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
406 m
42.6°N
Clearest
Aug
35% cloud

Karlovo is city in Karlovo municipality, Plovdiv oblast, Bulgaria.

Density
297/km²
people per km²
Founded
1483

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

Karlovo 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 mid June to early October.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

Daily average highs and lows in Karlovo, 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 27 to September 21, with daily high temperatures above 20°C. The hottest month of the year in Karlovo is August, with an average high of 26°C and low of 15°C.

The cool season lasts 3.3 months, from November 24 to March 3, with daily high temperatures below 8°C. The coldest month of the year in Karlovo is January, with an average low of -4°C and high of 3°C.

Days typically run about 9°C warmer than nights, with the widest day–night swing (around 11°C) in August.

-10°10°20°30°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan3-4
Feb5-3
Mar90
Apr155
May199
Jun2313
Jul2515
Aug2615
Sep2111
Oct166
Nov92
Dec4-3

How hot and cold Karlovo 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 -7°C (around January 28), with roughly 127 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)
Jan33-6-4
Feb55-5-3
Mar99-10
Apr151545
May191999
Jun23231313
Jul25251515
Aug25261415
Sep21211111
Oct161666
Nov9912
Dec44-5-3

Average hourly temperature in Karlovo

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 August afternoons, near 26°C, and coldest before dawn in January, near -4°C.

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

Karlovo 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 / -4°498.16.29.20.0
Feb / -3°5196.310.30.2
Mar / 7512.65.311.61.8
Apr15° / 9314.21.413.13.9
May19° / 13716.90.114.45.2
Jun23° / 13°13216.5015.15.9
Jul25° / 15°11913.5014.86.6
Aug26° / 15°7510013.77.2
Sep21° / 11°769.5012.36.8
Oct16° / 638.80.610.85.0
Nov / 507.82.69.62.1
Dec / -3°599.86.28.90.0

Chance of rain

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

Karlovo gets about 977 mm of precipitation a year. On a typical day the chance of rain is often wet, but that rises and falls sharply with the seasons.

The wetter season lasts 5.1 months, from around Mar 4 to Aug 4, peaking in June at about 59% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Nov 2.

May is the wettest month by volume, with 137 mm over about 17 wet days; January is the driest, with 49 mm. Some of the cold-season precipitation falls as snow.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdrierwetterdriermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetJun 2 · 59%Nov 2 · 23%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan268
Feb329
Mar4013
Apr4714
May5517
Jun5517
Jul4314
Aug3310
Sep3110
Oct289
Nov278
Dec3110

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Karlovo collects about 977 mm of rain across 137 wet days — roughly 81 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. May is the wettest month with 137 mm, while January is the driest at just 49 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 40% of the year’s total, and some of the cold-season precipitation falls as snow.

0255075100125150175JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec495175931371321197576635059
Rainfall (mm)Rain daysSnow days
Jan4986
Feb5196
Mar75135
Apr93141
May137170
Jun132170
Jul119140
Aug75100
Sep76100
Oct6391
Nov5083
Dec59106

Snow in Karlovo

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.

Karlovo averages about 29 snowy days a year. Snow season runs roughly Oct 16 to Apr 26 — about 6.3 months.

February is snowiest, with roughly 7 days of snow and an estimated 35 cm of snowfall. Over the year that adds up to an estimated 157 cm of snow.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecsnow seasonsnow seasonFeb 3
Snow daysSnowfall (cm)
Jan628
Feb635
Mar531
Apr110
May00
Jun00
Jul00
Aug00
Sep00
Oct13
Nov318
Dec633

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Karlovo, 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 June 9 and lasts for 3.8 months, ending around October 1. The clearest month is August, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 81% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around October 2 and lasts for 8.2 months, ending around June 8. The cloudiest month is February, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 57% 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 19 · 83%Apr 6 · 41%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastcloudierclearercloudier
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan4654
Feb4357
Mar4456
Apr4357
May4654
Jun6040
Jul7525
Aug8119
Sep6535
Oct5149
Nov4654
Dec4456

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 15 h 06 min of light; the shortest, around January 1, only 8 h 54 min — a swing of roughly 6 h 12 min.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan9.27:545:06
Feb10.37:275:44
Mar11.66:416:20
Apr13.15:466:56
May14.45:047:30
Jun15.14:487:54
Jul14.85:017:52
Aug13.75:327:17
Sep12.36:076:24
Oct10.86:415:30
Nov9.67:204:52
Dec8.97:504:43

Sunny days

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

Karlovo averages about 11 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 7 and 19 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 4.8 months, from around Jun 15 to Nov 8. The sunniest month is August, with roughly 18 sunny days (bright).

The greyest month is May, down near 7 sunny days — about 62% fewer than the August peak.

0510152025JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgreyersunniergreyergloomymixedbrightbrilliantAug 1819 daysMay 197 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan10Mixed
Feb8Mixed
Mar9Mixed
Apr8Gloomy
May7Gloomy
Jun11Mixed
Jul16Bright
Aug19Bright
Sep14Mixed
Oct12Mixed
Nov10Mixed
Dec9Mixed

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 Karlovo, how humid it feels changes dramatically over the year.

The more humid part of the year lasts 3.1 months, from around June 4 to September 5. The muggiest month is August, when the air feels humid, muggy or worse about 34% of the time.

The most comfortable stretch runs from around September 6 to June 3, and April is the most comfortable month — the air is dry or comfortable 100% of the time.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecApr 27 · 100%Aug 1 · 49%humiddrycomfortablecomfortablehumidcomfortable
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)Humid (%)Muggy (%)
Jan100000
Feb100000
Mar100000
Apr100000
May831610
Jun3541213
Jul1740394
Aug2243304
Sep672850
Oct95500
Nov100000
Dec100000

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 Karlovo is steady company: average speeds sit near 5 km/hcalm — in every month of the year, with no meaningful windy or calm season.

0510JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDeccalmMar 11 · 6 km/hAug 11 · 4 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan5calm
Feb5calm
Mar6calm
Apr5calm
May5calm
Jun5calm
Jul5calm
Aug4calm
Sep5calm
Oct5calm
Nov5calm
Dec5calm

Best time to visit Karlovo

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

Around late June, Karlovo 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 time of year to visit Karlovo for general outdoor tourist activities is from mid June to early October, with a peak score in the last week of August.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationAug 25 · 7.4

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
Feb0.3poor
Mar1.8poor
Apr3.9fair
May5.2fair
Jun5.9good
Jul6.6good
Aug7.2good
Sep6.8good
Oct5.0fair
Nov2.1poor
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 Karlovo for hot-weather activities is from late June to early September, with a peak score in the third week of August.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationAug 18 · 6.8

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 Karlovo, 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 August (highs near 26°C), the essentials are light clothes, rain gear and sun protection. In the cold season around January (highs near 3°C), pack a warm layer, a heavy coat and rain gear.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In August, Karlovo sees daytime highs around 26°C and nights near 15°C. Worth packing: light clothes, rain gear and sun protection. About 10 days see rain.

UV index (midday) in Karlovo 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 Karlovo peaks around July 15 at about 9 (very high) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near December 21 at about 1 (low).

The index reaches 3 or more — the level where the WHO recommends sun protection — in 8 months of the year.

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecLowModerateVery highVery highHighModerateLowJul 15UV 9Dec 21UV 1
UV index (midday)Level
Jan1Low
Feb2Moderate
Mar3Moderate
Apr8Very high
May7High
Jun9Very high
Jul9Very high
Aug9Very high
Sep6High
Oct4Moderate
Nov2Low
Dec1Low

Average hourly UV index in Karlovo

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 5 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
Feb00
Mar3.50
Apr74
May7.53
Jun8.55
Jul8.55
Aug7.54.5
Sep60
Oct30
Nov00
Dec00

Air quality in Karlovo 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 Karlovo is worst in March — around 16 µg/m³ PM2.5 (moderate), and holds fairly steady the rest of the year.

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

01020JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecModerateGoodMar 2016 µg/m³Dec 1411 µg/m³
PM2.5 (µg/m³)Level
Jan13Moderate
Feb13Moderate
Mar16Moderate
Apr15Moderate
May14Moderate
Jun14Moderate
Jul14Moderate
Aug13Moderate
Sep12Good
Oct11Good
Nov12Good
Dec10Good
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

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

The growing season in Karlovo typically lasts about 259 days, from around March 14 to November 27 — the span where a frost-free day is more likely than not. It is reliably frost-free from April 16 to October 23.

0%25%50%75%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgrowing seasonMar 1450%Apr 1690%Oct 2390%Nov 2750%
Frost-free chance (%)Frost nights
Jan2031
Feb2728
Mar5331
Apr8917
May1000
Jun1000
Jul1000
Aug1000
Sep1000
Oct949
Nov6630
Dec2931

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. Karlovo banks about 1,221 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around August.

05001,000JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°C·days)
Jan0
Feb0
Mar0
Apr13
May132
Jun239
Jul307
Aug309
Sep180
Oct40
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.

Karlovo receives about 4.0 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — bright — with a clear seasonal swing between 1.5 and 6.4 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 6.1 months, from around Mar 21 to Sep 21. The brightest month is June, averaging about 6.3 kWh/m² (intense).

The dimmest month is December, down near 1.5 kWh/m² — roughly 76% less than the June peak.

012345678JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmerbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightintenseJun 276.4 kWhDec 121.5 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan1.9Dim
Feb2.7Moderate
Mar3.8Moderate
Apr5.1Bright
May5.8Bright
Jun6.3Intense
Jul6.3Intense
Aug5.8Bright
Sep4.3Bright
Oct2.9Moderate
Nov1.9Dim
Dec1.5Dim

Where is Karlovo?

Karlovo sits at 42.6°N, 24.8°E, 406 m above sea level, in Bulgaria. The nearest listed city is Troyan, 30 km away.

TroyanRakovskiKazanlakSevlievoGabrovoPanagyurishtePlovdivLovech

Topography around Karlovo

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Karlovo has large variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 657 m around an average of 455 m above sea level; within 16 km, very significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 2,119 m; within 80 km, very significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 2,305 m.

The land around Karlovo is covered by cropland (40%), trees (23%) and grassland (21%) within 3 km, trees (47%) and grassland (34%) within 16 km, and trees (53%) and cropland (29%) within 80 km.

3 km
657 m
16 km
2,119 m
80 km
2,305 m
treesgrasslandcroplandartificial surfaces
Nearby: Troyan 30 km · Rakovski 41 km · Kazanlak 49 km · Sevlievo 50 km · Gabrovo 50 km · Panagyurishte 52 km · Plovdiv 53 km · Lovech 56 km

Bulgaria travel facts

Travel advisory
Level 1
Exercise Normal Precautions
Power plugs
Type C / F
230 V · 50 Hz
Prices
≈ 23% of US
price level, 2025
GDP per capita
$20,328
2025
Happiness
5.7 / 10
World Happiness, 2025
Safe drinking water
96%
of population, 2024
Homicide rate
1.1
per 100k, 2023
Road deaths
9.2
per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group
High
World Bank
English
High
EF EPI 594
Religion
Christian 65%Muslim 10%none 5%other 0%

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 Karlovo (42.6333°, 24.8°, elevation 406 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).