Climate and average weather in Lons-le-Saunier

In Lons-le-Saunier, the summers are warm, showery, and mostly clear and the winters are cold, snowy, and partly cloudy.

Best: mid May to late September

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Lons-le-Saunier typically varies from 1°C to 26°C, and is rarely below -5°C or above 33°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 Lons-le-Saunier for warm-weather activities is from mid May to late September.

Hottest
Jul
26°
Coldest
Jan
Wettest
Nov
120 mm
Driest
Jul
68 mm
Rain / yr
1119 mm
144 wet days
Daylight
8.4–15.6 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
260 m
46.7°N
Clearest
Jul
50% cloud
Air quality
Good
PM2.5 6.4 µg/m³ · 2019

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

Lons-le-Saunier 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 May to late September.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

Daily average highs and lows in Lons-le-Saunier, 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 29 to September 13, with daily high temperatures above 22°C. The hottest month of the year in Lons-le-Saunier is July, with an average high of 26°C and low of 16°C.

The cool season lasts 3.6 months, from November 15 to March 2, with daily high temperatures below 10°C. The coldest month of the year in Lons-le-Saunier is January, with an average low of 1°C and high of 6°C.

Days typically run about 8°C warmer than nights, with the widest day–night swing (around 11°C) in July.

10°20°30°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan61
Feb81
Mar124
Apr167
May2011
Jun2414
Jul2616
Aug2615
Sep2112
Oct169
Nov105
Dec72

How hot and cold Lons-le-Saunier 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 -3°C (around January 29), with roughly 97 freezing days a year (feels-like at or below 0°C), worst in January.

10°20°30°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Feels-like high (°C)Air high (°C)Feels-like low (°C)Air low (°C)
Jan66-21
Feb88-21
Mar121214
Apr161657
May20201011
Jun24241414
Jul26261616
Aug26261515
Sep21211212
Oct161689
Nov101025
Dec77-12

Average hourly temperature in Lons-le-Saunier

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 26°C, and coldest before dawn in January, near C.

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

Lons-le-Saunier 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 / 10713.42.88.80.6
Feb / 9111.93101.2
Mar12° / 9012.41.511.63.2
Apr16° / 9112.20.313.34.8
May20° / 11°9713014.85.8
Jun24° / 14°7811.1015.66.7
Jul26° / 16°6810015.36.8
Aug26° / 15°699.30147.0
Sep21° / 12°8810.2012.46.5
Oct16° / 103120.110.64.9
Nov10° / 12013.81.49.22.2
Dec / 11914.62.68.40.8

Chance of rain

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

Lons-le-Saunier gets about 1119 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 4.3 months, from around Oct 28 to Mar 7, peaking in December at about 48% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Aug 24.

November is the wettest month by volume, with 120 mm over about 14 wet days; July is the driest, with 68 mm. Some of the cold-season precipitation falls as snow.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwetterdrierwettermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetDec 26 · 48%Aug 24 · 29%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan4413
Feb4312
Mar4012
Apr4012
May4313
Jun3711
Jul3210
Aug309
Sep3510
Oct3912
Nov4514
Dec4715

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Lons-le-Saunier collects about 1119 mm of rain across 144 wet days — roughly 93 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. November is the wettest month with 120 mm, while July is the driest at just 68 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 31% of the year’s total, and some of the cold-season precipitation falls as snow.

0255075100125150JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec1079190919778686988103120119
Rainfall (mm)Rain daysSnow days
Jan107133
Feb91123
Mar90122
Apr91120
May97130
Jun78110
Jul68100
Aug6990
Sep88100
Oct103120
Nov120141
Dec119153

Snow in Lons-le-Saunier

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.

Lons-le-Saunier averages about 12 snowy days a year. Snow season runs roughly Nov 9 to Apr 4 — about 4.8 months.

February is snowiest, with roughly 3 days of snow and an estimated 13 cm of snowfall. Over the year that adds up to an estimated 46 cm of snow.

0246JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecsnow seasonsnow seasonFeb 9
Snow daysSnowfall (cm)
Jan312
Feb313
Mar23
Apr01
May00
Jun00
Jul00
Aug00
Sep00
Oct00
Nov18
Dec39

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Lons-le-Saunier, 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 7 and lasts for 3.6 months, ending around September 23. The clearest month is July, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 61% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around September 24 and lasts for 5.7 months, ending around March 15. The cloudiest month is December, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 68% 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 21 · 62%Dec 28 · 32%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastcloudierclearercloudier
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan3664
Feb3862
Mar4258
Apr4357
May4060
Jun5149
Jul6139
Aug5842
Sep4951
Oct3961
Nov3466
Dec3268

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 11, brings about 15 h 36 min of light; the shortest, around January 1, only 8 h 24 min — a swing of roughly 7 h 12 min.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan8.88:255:09
Feb10.07:525:52
Mar11.67:006:35
Apr13.35:587:18
May14.85:107:58
Jun15.64:498:27
Jul15.35:048:22
Aug14.05:417:43
Sep12.46:226:42
Oct10.67:045:42
Nov9.27:494:57
Dec8.48:234:45

Sunny days

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

Lons-le-Saunier averages about 9 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 6 and 13 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 3.4 months, from around Jun 13 to Sep 22. The sunniest month is July, with roughly 12 sunny days (mixed).

The greyest month is November, down near 6 sunny days — about 49% fewer than the July peak.

051015JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgreyersunniergreyergloomymixedJul 2613 daysNov 156 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan8Gloomy
Feb7Gloomy
Mar9Mixed
Apr8Mixed
May8Gloomy
Jun9Mixed
Jul12Mixed
Aug12Mixed
Sep9Mixed
Oct8Gloomy
Nov6Gloomy
Dec6Gloomy

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 Lons-le-Saunier, how humid it feels changes noticeably over the year.

The more humid part of the year lasts 3.4 months, from around June 1 to September 13. The muggiest month is August, when the air feels humid, muggy or worse about 23% of the time.

The most comfortable stretch runs from around September 14 to May 31, 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 22 · 100%Aug 2 · 71%humidcomfortabledrycomfortablehumidcomfortable
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)Humid (%)Muggy (%)
Jan100000
Feb100000
Mar100000
Apr100000
May861210
Jun5630141
Jul4036231
Aug3839221
Sep682660
Oct901000
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.

Across the year, average wind speed in Lons-le-Saunier is typically calm, near 10 km/h, and varies little with the seasons.

The windier part of the year lasts 6.1 months, from around Oct 18 to Apr 22. The windiest month is December, averaging about 11 km/h (calm).

The calmer part of the year runs from around Apr 23 to Oct 17, with August the calmest month at about 8 km/h.

051015JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwindiercalmerwindiercalmlight breezeDec 25 · 11 km/hAug 5 · 8 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan11calm
Feb11calm
Mar11calm
Apr10calm
May10calm
Jun9calm
Jul9calm
Aug8calm
Sep9calm
Oct10calm
Nov11calm
Dec11calm

Best time to visit Lons-le-Saunier

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

Around late May, Lons-le-Saunier 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 Lons-le-Saunier for general outdoor tourist activities is from mid May to late September, with a peak score in the last week of August.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationAug 29 · 7.2

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
Jan0.6poor
Feb1.2poor
Mar3.2poor
Apr4.8fair
May5.8good
Jun6.7good
Jul6.8good
Aug7.0good
Sep6.5good
Oct4.8fair
Nov2.2poor
Dec0.8poor

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 Lons-le-Saunier for hot-weather activities is from mid June to early September, with a peak score in the last week of July.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationJul 27 · 6.9

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 Lons-le-Saunier, 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 26°C), the essentials are light clothes, 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, Lons-le-Saunier sees daytime highs around 26°C and nights near 16°C. Worth packing: light clothes, rain gear and sun protection. About 10 days see rain.

UV index (midday) in Lons-le-Saunier 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 Lons-le-Saunier peaks around July 15 at about 8 (very high) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near January 1 at about 1 (low).

The index reaches 3 or more — the level where the WHO recommends sun protection — in 7 months of the year.

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecLowModerateHighVery highHighModerateLowJul 15UV 8Jan 1UV 1
UV index (midday)Level
Jan1Low
Feb2Low
Mar4Moderate
Apr5High
May6High
Jun7Very high
Jul8Very high
Aug7High
Sep5Moderate
Oct3Moderate
Nov2Low
Dec1Low

Average hourly UV index in Lons-le-Saunier

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
Apr5.50
May71.5
Jun83.5
Jul8.55
Aug72.5
Sep50
Oct00
Nov00
Dec00
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free dayReliably frost-free (≥90%)

Lons-le-Saunier is mild enough that a frost-free day stays more likely than not even in midwinter. Nights are reliably above freezing from about March 26 to November 12 (232 days); outside that window a hard frost is an occasional risk.

0%25%50%75%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecreliably frost-freeMar 2690%Nov 1290%
Frost-free chance (%)Frost nights
Jan6131
Feb6428
Mar8527
Apr970
May1000
Jun1000
Jul1000
Aug1000
Sep1000
Oct990
Nov8619
Dec6831

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. Lons-le-Saunier banks about 1,423 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around July.

05001,0001,500JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°C·days)
Jan0
Feb0
Mar0
Apr41
May161
Jun266
Jul341
Aug329
Sep203
Oct81
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.

Lons-le-Saunier receives about 3.6 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — moderate — with a clear seasonal swing between 1.0 and 6.1 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 6.1 months, from around Mar 19 to Sep 19. The brightest month is June, averaging about 5.9 kWh/m² (bright).

The dimmest month is December, down near 1.0 kWh/m² — roughly 82% less than the June peak.

01234567JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmerbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightintenseJun 276.1 kWhDec 221.0 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan1.3Dim
Feb2.1Moderate
Mar3.4Moderate
Apr4.7Bright
May5.3Bright
Jun5.9Bright
Jul6.0Bright
Aug5.2Bright
Sep3.8Moderate
Oct2.4Moderate
Nov1.4Dim
Dec1.0Dim

Where is Lons-le-Saunier?

Lons-le-Saunier sits at 46.7°N, 5.6°E, 260 m above sea level, in France. The nearest listed city is Dole, 47 km away.

Topography around Lons-le-Saunier

How much the land rises and falls, and what covers it, within 3, 16 and 80 km of Lons-le-Saunier.

Within 3 km, the terrain around Lons-le-Saunier has significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 313 m around an average of 312 m above sea level; within 16 km, significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 570 m; within 80 km, very significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 1,533 m.

The land around Lons-le-Saunier is covered by trees (42%), grassland (34%) and artificial surfaces (20%) within 3 km, trees (47%) and grassland (37%) within 16 km, and trees (46%), grassland (28%) and cropland (21%) within 80 km.

3 km
313 m
16 km
570 m
80 km
1,533 m
treesgrasslandcroplandartificial surfaceswater
Nearby: Dole 47 km · Oyonnax 47 km · Chalon-sur-Saône 55 km · Bourg-en-Bresse 58 km · Nyon 62 km · Meyrin 63 km · Vernier 65 km · Pontarlier 66 km

France travel facts

Travel advisory
Level 2
Exercise Increased Caution
Power plugs
Type C / E
230 V · 50 Hz
Prices
≈ 77% of US
price level, 2025
GDP per capita
$48,986
2025
Happiness
6.6 / 10
World Happiness, 2025
Safe drinking water
100%
of population, 2024
Homicide rate
1.3
per 100k, 2023
Road deaths
5.1
per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group
High
World Bank
English
Moderate
EF EPI 539
Religion
Roman Catholic 47%none 33%Muslim 4%Protestant 2%

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 Lons-le-Saunier (46.6754°, 5.5557°, elevation 260 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).