Climate and average weather in Kuopio

In Kuopio, the summers are mild, showery, and partly cloudy and the winters are very cold, snowy, and mostly cloudy.

Best: late May to late August

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Kuopio typically varies from -11°C to 21°C, and is rarely below -25°C or above 27°C. July is the hottest month of the year, while January is the coldest.

Based on the travel score, the best time of year to visit Kuopio for warm-weather activities is from late May to late August.

Hottest
Jul
21°
Coldest
Jan
-11°
Wettest
Jul
89 mm
Driest
Mar
33 mm
Rain / yr
672 mm
133 wet days
Daylight
4.3–19.7 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
90 m
62.9°N
Clearest
Jul
66% cloud
Air quality
Excellent
PM2.5 3.5 µg/m³ · 2018

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

Kuopio 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 late May to late August.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

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

The hot season lasts 3.7 months, from May 21 to September 9, with daily high temperatures above 14°C. The hottest month of the year in Kuopio is July, with an average high of 21°C and low of 13°C.

The cool season lasts 3.4 months, from November 29 to March 10, with daily high temperatures below -1°C. The coldest month of the year in Kuopio is January, with an average low of -11°C and high of -6°C.

Days typically run about 6°C warmer than nights, with the widest day–night swing (around 10°C) in May.

-20°-10°10°20°30°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan-6-11
Feb-5-11
Mar0-7
Apr6-2
May134
Jun1810
Jul2113
Aug1911
Sep137
Oct62
Nov1-3
Dec-3-7

How hot and cold Kuopio 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 -19°C (around February 1), with roughly 214 freezing days a year (feels-like at or below 0°C) 119 of them bitterly cold — worst in February.

-20°-10°10°20°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Feels-like high (°C)Air high (°C)Feels-like low (°C)Air low (°C)
Jan-6-6-17-11
Feb-5-5-17-11
Mar00-13-7
Apr66-6-2
May131314
Jun1818810
Jul21211313
Aug19191111
Sep131357
Oct66-22
Nov01-7-3
Dec-3-3-13-7

Average hourly temperature in Kuopio

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 21°C, and coldest before dawn in January, near -11°C.

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

Kuopio 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° / -11°4010.4125.50.0
Feb-5° / -11°348.59.88.20.0
Mar-0° / -7°339.19.411.20.0
Apr / -2°358.24.414.40.7
May13° / 53100.717.53.7
Jun18° / 10°7712.4019.55.4
Jul21° / 13°8913.6018.75.8
Aug19° / 11°8212.8015.85.5
Sep13° / 6511.60.112.73.3
Oct / 5911.92.79.50.6
Nov / -3°5511.886.40.0
Dec-3° / -7°5112.5124.50.0

Chance of rain

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

Kuopio gets about 672 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 7.6 months, from around May 25 to Jan 10, peaking in July at about 45% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Apr 28.

July is the wettest month by volume, with 89 mm over about 14 wet days; March is the driest, with 33 mm. Some of the cold-season precipitation falls as snow.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdrierwettermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetJul 15 · 45%Apr 28 · 27%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan3510
Feb309
Mar299
Apr288
May3210
Jun4112
Jul4414
Aug4113
Sep3912
Oct3812
Nov4012
Dec3913

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Kuopio collects about 672 mm of rain across 133 wet days — roughly 56 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. July is the wettest month with 89 mm, while March is the driest at just 33 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 37% of the year’s total, and some of the cold-season precipitation falls as snow.

0255075100125JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec403433355377898265595551
Rainfall (mm)Rain daysSnow days
Jan401012
Feb34910
Mar3399
Apr3584
May53101
Jun77120
Jul89140
Aug82130
Sep65120
Oct59123
Nov55128
Dec511312

Snow in Kuopio

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.

Kuopio averages about 59 snowy days a year. Snow season runs roughly Oct 1 to May 20 — about 7.6 months.

December is snowiest, with roughly 11 days of snow and an estimated 45 cm of snowfall. Over the year that adds up to an estimated 225 cm of snow.

051015JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecsnow seasonsnow seasonDec 31
Snow daysSnowfall (cm)
Jan1245
Feb1037
Mar931
Apr420
May13
Jun00
Jul00
Aug00
Sep00
Oct311
Nov833
Dec1245

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

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

The clearer part of the year begins around March 7 and lasts for 6.5 months, ending around September 20. The clearest month is July, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 36% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around September 21 and lasts for 5.5 months, ending around March 6. The cloudiest month is November, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 91% 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%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecJul 19 · 36%Nov 24 · 8%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastcloudierclearercloudier
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan1486
Feb1882
Mar2971
Apr3268
May3565
Jun3367
Jul3664
Aug3169
Sep2575
Oct1783
Nov991
Dec1090

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 17, brings about 19 h 42 min of light; the shortest, around December 17, only 4 h 18 min — a swing of roughly 15 h 24 min.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan5.59:373:00
Feb8.28:184:30
Mar11.26:425:56
Apr14.44:557:24
May17.53:208:51
Jun19.52:219:59
Jul18.72:539:37
Aug15.84:188:09
Sep12.75:456:22
Oct9.57:114:38
Nov6.48:453:05
Dec4.59:552:16

Sunny days

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

Kuopio averages about 4 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 1 and 7 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 5.8 months, from around Mar 2 to Aug 26. The sunniest month is March, with roughly 6 sunny days (gloomy).

The greyest month is November, down near 2 sunny days — about 72% fewer than the March peak.

0510JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgreyersunniergreyergloomymixedMar 267 daysNov 271 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan3Gloomy
Feb3Gloomy
Mar6Gloomy
Apr6Gloomy
May6Gloomy
Jun5Gloomy
Jul6Gloomy
Aug5Gloomy
Sep4Gloomy
Oct3Gloomy
Nov2Gloomy
Dec2Gloomy

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 Kuopio, the air stays dry or comfortable essentially all year. Even in July, the muggiest month, it feels humid or worse only about 11% of the time — humidity is not something you need to plan around here.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecMay 17 · 100%Jul 25 · 86%humidcomfortabledrycomfortablehumidcomfortable
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)Humid (%)Muggy (%)
Jan100000
Feb100000
Mar100000
Apr100000
May99100
Jun90820
Jul5831101
Aug692550
Sep96400
Oct100000
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 Kuopio is steady company: average speeds sit near 12 km/hcalm — in every month of the year, with no meaningful windy or calm season.

05101520JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDeccalmlight breezeDec 20 · 13 km/hJul 26 · 10 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan13light breeze
Feb12light breeze
Mar12light breeze
Apr11calm
May11calm
Jun11calm
Jul10calm
Aug11calm
Sep12calm
Oct13light breeze
Nov13light breeze
Dec13light breeze

Best time to visit Kuopio

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

Around mid June, Kuopio 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 Kuopio for general outdoor tourist activities is from late May to late August, with a peak score in the last week of July.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationJul 27 · 5.9

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
Mar0.0poor
Apr0.8poor
May3.7fair
Jun5.3fair
Jul5.8good
Aug5.4fair
Sep3.3poor
Oct0.6poor
Nov0.0poor
Dec0.0poor

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 Kuopio for hot-weather activities is from early July to early August, with a peak score in the last week of July.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationJul 24 · 3.7

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 Kuopio, 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 21°C), the essentials are rain gear and sun protection. In the cold season around January (highs near -6°C), pack a warm layer, a heavy coat and rain gear.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In July, Kuopio sees daytime highs around 21°C and nights near 13°C. Worth packing: rain gear and sun protection. About 14 days see rain.

UV index (midday) in Kuopio 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 Kuopio peaks around July 13 at about 5 (moderate) — a little sun protection helps at midday. It bottoms out near January 1 at about 0 (low).

The index reaches 3 or more — the level where the WHO recommends sun protection — in 4 months of the year.

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecLowModerateLowJul 13UV 5Jan 1UV 0
UV index (midday)Level
Jan0Low
Feb1Low
Mar1Low
Apr3Moderate
May4Moderate
Jun5Moderate
Jul5Moderate
Aug4Moderate
Sep2Moderate
Oct1Low
Nov0Low
Dec0Low

Average hourly UV index in Kuopio

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 6.5 hours a day reach index 3 (protection recommended). 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
Mar00
Apr00
May50
Jun60
Jul6.50
Aug4.50
Sep00
Oct00
Nov00
Dec00
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

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

The growing season in Kuopio typically lasts about 185 days, from around April 26 to October 27 — the span where a frost-free day is more likely than not. It is reliably frost-free from May 20 to October 1.

0%25%50%75%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgrowing seasonMar 410%Apr 2650%May 2090%Oct 190%Oct 2750%Jan 1510%
Frost-free chance (%)Frost nights
Jan1031
Feb1028
Mar1231
Apr3330
May8419
Jun1000
Jul1000
Aug1000
Sep970
Oct6930
Nov3030
Dec1631

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. Kuopio banks about 509 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around July.

0200400600JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°C·days)
Jan0
Feb0
Mar0
Apr0
May7
Jun116
Jul211
Aug155
Sep20
Oct0
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.

Kuopio receives about 2.4 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — moderate — with a clear seasonal swing between 0.1 and 5.3 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 5.6 months, from around Mar 22 to Sep 7. The brightest month is June, averaging about 5.2 kWh/m² (bright).

The dimmest month is December, down near 0.1 kWh/m² — roughly 99% less than the June peak.

0123456JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmerbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightJun 85.3 kWhDec 180.1 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan0.2Dim
Feb0.7Dim
Mar2.0Moderate
Apr3.7Moderate
May4.9Bright
Jun5.3Bright
Jul4.9Bright
Aug3.6Moderate
Sep2.0Dim
Oct0.8Dim
Nov0.2Dim
Dec0.1Dim

Where is Kuopio?

Kuopio sits at 62.9°N, 27.7°E, 90 m above sea level, in Finland. The nearest listed city is Siilinjärvi, 21 km away.

VarkausPieksämäkiIisalmiLaukaaÄänekoskiJoensuuKontiolahti

Topography around Kuopio

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Kuopio has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 157 m around an average of 103 m above sea level; within 16 km, only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 159 m; within 80 km, significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 379 m.

The land around Kuopio is covered by trees (41%), water (31%) and artificial surfaces (26%) within 3 km, trees (53%) and water (39%) within 16 km, and trees (75%) within 80 km.

3 km
157 m
16 km
159 m
80 km
379 m
treesgrasslandcroplandartificial surfacesbare terrainwater
Nearby: Siilinjärvi 21 km · Varkaus 65 km · Pieksämäki 72 km · Iisalmi 78 km · Laukaa 103 km · Äänekoski 104 km · Joensuu 111 km · Kontiolahti 111 km

Finland travel facts

Travel advisory
Level 1
Exercise Normal Precautions
Power plugs
Type C / F
230 V · 50 Hz
Prices
≈ 85% of US
price level, 2025
GDP per capita
$56,149
2025
Happiness
7.8 / 10
World Happiness, 2025
Safe drinking water
100%
of population, 2024
Homicide rate
1
per 100k, 2023
Road deaths
3.9
per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group
High
World Bank
English
Very high
EF EPI 603
Religion
Lutheran 67%none 31%other 2%Greek Orthodox 1%

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 Kuopio (62.8924°, 27.677°, elevation 90 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. Topography is sampled from the Copernicus DEM GLO-90 elevation model (© ESA/Airbus) and ESA WorldCover 2021 land cover (CC BY 4.0).