Climate and average weather in Rovaniemi

In Rovaniemi, the summers are mild, showery, and mostly cloudy and the winters are frigid, snowy, and mostly cloudy.

Best: mid June to late August

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Rovaniemi typically varies from -14°C to 20°C, and is rarely below -27°C or above 25°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 Rovaniemi for warm-weather activities is from mid June to late August.

Hottest
Jul
20°
Coldest
Jan
-14°
Wettest
Jul
80 mm
Driest
Feb
29 mm
Rain / yr
593 mm
121 wet days
Daylight
0.6–23.4 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
90 m
66.5°N
Clearest
Mar
70% cloud

Rovaniemi 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 late August.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

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

The hot season lasts 3.6 months, from May 25 to September 9, with daily high temperatures above 13°C. The hottest month of the year in Rovaniemi is July, with an average high of 20°C and low of 11°C.

The cool season lasts 3.3 months, from November 28 to March 7, with daily high temperatures below -3°C. The coldest month of the year in Rovaniemi is January, with an average low of -14°C and high of -8°C.

Days typically run about 7°C warmer than nights, with the widest day–night swing (around 9°C) in May.

-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan-8-14
Feb-7-14
Mar-2-10
Apr4-4
May112
Jun178
Jul2011
Aug179
Sep114
Oct3-2
Nov-2-7
Dec-5-11

How hot and cold Rovaniemi 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 -22°C (around January 29), with roughly 239 freezing days a year (feels-like at or below 0°C) 155 of them bitterly cold — worst in January.

-20°-10°10°20°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Feels-like high (°C)Air high (°C)Feels-like low (°C)Air low (°C)
Jan-8-8-21-14
Feb-7-7-20-14
Mar-2-2-15-10
Apr44-8-4
May1111-12
Jun161768
Jul20201111
Aug171789
Sep111124
Oct33-5-2
Nov-2-2-12-7
Dec-5-5-17-11

Average hourly temperature in Rovaniemi

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 20°C, and coldest before dawn in January, near -14°C.

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

Rovaniemi 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-8° / -14°369.310.23.50.0
Feb-7° / -14°29810.17.40.0
Mar-2° / -10°3289.411.10.0
Apr / -4°337.85.914.90.2
May11° / 49102.118.82.5
Jun17° / 7012.10.122.54.8
Jul20° / 11°8012.5020.75.7
Aug17° / 6911.5016.65.0
Sep11° / 5510.20.412.82.7
Oct / -2°519.74.190.2
Nov-2° / -7°47119.450.0
Dec-5° / -11°4210.411.71.40.0

Chance of rain

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

Rovaniemi gets about 593 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 4.5 months, from around May 20 to Oct 3, peaking in June at about 42% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Mar 25.

July is the wettest month by volume, with 80 mm over about 13 wet days; February is the driest, with 29 mm. Some of the cold-season precipitation falls as snow.

0%10%20%30%40%50%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdrierwetterdriermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetJun 20 · 42%Mar 25 · 24%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan319
Feb288
Mar268
Apr268
May3210
Jun4012
Jul4013
Aug3712
Sep3410
Oct3210
Nov3611
Dec3310

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Rovaniemi collects about 593 mm of rain across 121 wet days — roughly 49 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. July is the wettest month with 80 mm, while February is the driest at just 29 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 37% of the year’s total, and some of the cold-season precipitation falls as snow.

0255075100JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec362932334970806955514742
Rainfall (mm)Rain daysSnow days
Jan36910
Feb29810
Mar3289
Apr3386
May49102
Jun70120
Jul80130
Aug69120
Sep55100
Oct51104
Nov47119
Dec421012

Snow in Rovaniemi

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.

Rovaniemi averages about 63 snowy days a year. Snow season runs roughly Sep 20 to Jun 1 — about 8.4 months.

December is snowiest, with roughly 11 days of snow and an estimated 43 cm of snowfall. Over the year that adds up to an estimated 245 cm of snow.

051015JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecsnow seasonsnow seasonDec 5
Snow daysSnowfall (cm)
Jan1043
Feb1036
Mar935
Apr626
May26
Jun00
Jul00
Aug00
Sep01
Oct416
Nov939
Dec1243

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Rovaniemi, 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 February 24 and lasts for 5.6 months, ending around August 11. The clearest month is March, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 32% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around September 18 and lasts for 5.2 months, ending around February 23. The cloudiest month is November, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 86% 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%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecMar 19 · 35%Nov 18 · 13%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastcloudierclearercloudier
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan1783
Feb2179
Mar3268
Apr3070
May2872
Jun2872
Jul2971
Aug2575
Sep2476
Oct2080
Nov1486
Dec1783

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 21, brings about 23 h 24 min of light; the shortest, around December 20, only 0 h 36 min — a swing of roughly 22 h 48 min.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan3.510:412:12
Feb7.48:484:15
Mar11.16:546:00
Apr14.94:497:46
May18.82:499:38
Jun22.512:5011:45
Jul20.72:0210:44
Aug16.64:038:40
Sep12.85:506:33
Oct9.07:334:32
Nov5.09:332:32
Dec1.411:4312:44

Sunny days

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

Rovaniemi averages about 4 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 2 and 7 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 3.6 months, from around Feb 24 to Jun 13. The sunniest month is March, with roughly 6 sunny days (gloomy).

The greyest month is November, down near 3 sunny days — about 59% fewer than the March peak.

0510JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgreyersunniergreyergloomymixedMar 187 daysNov 252 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan3Gloomy
Feb3Gloomy
Mar6Gloomy
Apr5Gloomy
May4Gloomy
Jun4Gloomy
Jul4Gloomy
Aug4Gloomy
Sep4Gloomy
Oct4Gloomy
Nov2Gloomy
Dec3Gloomy

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 Rovaniemi, the air stays dry or comfortable essentially all year. Even in July, the muggiest month, it feels humid or worse only about 4% 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 (%)Humid (%)
Jan10000
Feb10000
Mar10000
Apr10000
May10000
Jun9730
Jul79174
Aug86122
Sep9910
Oct10000
Nov10000
Dec10000

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 Rovaniemi is steady company: average speeds sit near 11 km/hcalm — in every month of the year, with no meaningful windy or calm season.

051015JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDeccalmlight breezeMar 14 · 12 km/hJul 30 · 10 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan12calm
Feb12calm
Mar12calm
Apr11calm
May11calm
Jun11calm
Jul10calm
Aug10calm
Sep11calm
Oct11calm
Nov11calm
Dec12calm

Best time to visit Rovaniemi

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

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

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationJul 26 · 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
Apr0.2poor
May2.5poor
Jun4.7fair
Jul5.7good
Aug5.0fair
Sep2.7poor
Oct0.2poor
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 Rovaniemi for hot-weather activities is from mid July to early August, with a peak score in the last week of July.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationJul 23 · 3.0

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 Rovaniemi, 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 20°C), the essentials are rain gear and sun protection. In the cold season around January (highs near -8°C), pack a warm layer, a heavy coat and rain gear.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In July, Rovaniemi sees daytime highs around 20°C and nights near 11°C. Worth packing: rain gear and sun protection. About 13 days see rain.

UV index (midday) in Rovaniemi 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 Rovaniemi peaks around July 13 at about 4 (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 4Jan 1UV 0
UV index (midday)Level
Jan0Low
Feb0Low
Mar1Low
Apr2Moderate
May4Moderate
Jun4Moderate
Jul4Moderate
Aug3Moderate
Sep2Low
Oct1Low
Nov0Low
Dec0Low

Average hourly UV index in Rovaniemi

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 5.5 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
May40
Jun50
Jul5.50
Aug1.50
Sep00
Oct00
Nov00
Dec00
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

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

The growing season in Rovaniemi typically lasts about 156 days, from around May 7 to October 9 — the span where a frost-free day is more likely than not. It is reliably frost-free from May 27 to September 11.

0%25%50%75%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgrowing seasonApr 210%May 750%May 2790%Sep 1190%Oct 950%Dec 610%
Frost-free chance (%)Frost nights
Jan531
Feb528
Mar731
Apr1930
May7026
Jun990
Jul1000
Aug990
Sep8519
Oct4031
Nov1530
Dec831

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. Rovaniemi banks about 324 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around July.

0100200300400JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°C·days)
Jan0
Feb0
Mar0
Apr0
May0
Jun68
Jul163
Aug92
Sep1
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.

Rovaniemi receives about 2.2 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — moderate — with a clear seasonal swing between 0.0 and 5.1 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 5.5 months, from around Mar 23 to Sep 6. The brightest month is June, averaging about 5.0 kWh/m² (bright).

The dimmest month is December, down near 0.0 kWh/m² — roughly 100% less than the June peak.

0123456JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmerbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightJun 95.1 kWhDec 190.0 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan0.1Dim
Feb0.5Dim
Mar1.8Dim
Apr3.5Moderate
May4.7Bright
Jun5.1Bright
Jul4.5Bright
Aug3.2Moderate
Sep1.7Dim
Oct0.6Dim
Nov0.1Dim
Dec0.0Dim

Where is Rovaniemi?

Rovaniemi sits at 66.5°N, 25.7°E, 90 m above sea level, in Finland. The nearest listed city is Kemi, 99 km away.

KemiTornioHaukipudasLeviOuluLuleåBodenRaahe

What Rovaniemi looks like

Topography around Rovaniemi

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Rovaniemi has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 90 m around an average of 93 m above sea level; within 16 km, only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 206 m; within 80 km, significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 357 m.

The land around Rovaniemi is covered by trees (57%) within 3 km, trees (80%) within 16 km, and trees (82%) within 80 km.

3 km
90 m
16 km
206 m
80 km
357 m
treesgrasslandartificial surfacesbare terrainwaterwetland
Nearby: Kemi 99 km · Tornio 100 km · Haukipudas 148 km · Levi 150 km · Oulu 166 km · Luleå 189 km · Boden 195 km · Raahe 209 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 Rovaniemi (66.499°, 25.6887°, 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).