Climate and average weather in Sonneberg

In Sonneberg, the summers are warm, showery, and partly cloudy and the winters are very cold, snowy, and mostly cloudy.

Best: late May to late September

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Sonneberg typically varies from -3°C to 23°C, and is rarely below -10°C or above 30°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 Sonneberg for warm-weather activities is from late May to late September.

Hottest
Jul
23°
Coldest
Jan
-3°
Wettest
Dec
91 mm
Driest
Apr
52 mm
Rain / yr
855 mm
148 wet days
Daylight
7.8–16.2 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
398 m
50.4°N
Clearest
Aug
61% cloud

Sonneberg is main settlement of Sonneberg in Germany.

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

Sonneberg 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 September.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

Daily average highs and lows in Sonneberg, 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 23 to September 12, with daily high temperatures above 18°C. The hottest month of the year in Sonneberg is July, with an average high of 23°C and low of 13°C.

The cool season lasts 3.6 months, from November 15 to March 5, with daily high temperatures below 6°C. The coldest month of the year in Sonneberg is January, with an average low of -3°C and high of 2°C.

Days typically run about 7°C warmer than nights, with the widest day–night swing (around 10°C) in July.

-10°10°20°30°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan2-3
Feb3-2
Mar70
Apr134
May178
Jun2011
Jul2313
Aug2213
Sep189
Oct125
Nov62
Dec2-1

How hot and cold Sonneberg 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 -8°C (around January 28), with roughly 157 freezing days a year (feels-like at or below 0°C), worst in January.

-10°10°20°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Feels-like high (°C)Air high (°C)Feels-like low (°C)Air low (°C)
Jan22-7-3
Feb33-7-2
Mar77-30
Apr131314
May171768
Jun20201111
Jul22231313
Aug22221313
Sep171889
Oct121235
Nov66-22
Dec22-6-1

Average hourly temperature in Sonneberg

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 23°C, and coldest before dawn in January, near -3°C.

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

Sonneberg 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 / -3°83147.58.30.0
Feb / -3°6311.16.79.70.0
Mar / 6912.64.411.51.0
Apr13° / 5211.2113.53.4
May17° / 6912.40.115.25.1
Jun20° / 11°7112.7016.15.8
Jul23° / 13°8213.7015.76.2
Aug22° / 13°7111.6014.36.4
Sep18° / 6510.3012.45.4
Oct12° / 6711.50.410.52.9
Nov / 7212.13.58.80.5
Dec / -2°91157.97.90.0

Chance of rain

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

Sonneberg gets about 855 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 2.2 months, from around Dec 2 to Feb 7, peaking in December at about 51% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Sep 19.

December is the wettest month by volume, with 91 mm over about 15 wet days; April is the driest, with 52 mm. Some of the cold-season precipitation falls as snow.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwetterdrierwettermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetDec 25 · 51%Sep 19 · 33%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan4414
Feb4011
Mar4013
Apr3711
May4112
Jun4313
Jul4314
Aug3812
Sep3510
Oct3712
Nov4112
Dec4815

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Sonneberg collects about 855 mm of rain across 148 wet days — roughly 71 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. December is the wettest month with 91 mm, while April is the driest at just 52 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 30% of the year’s total, and some of the cold-season precipitation falls as snow.

0255075100125JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec836369526971827165677291
Rainfall (mm)Rain daysSnow days
Jan83148
Feb63117
Mar69134
Apr52111
May69120
Jun71130
Jul82140
Aug71120
Sep65100
Oct67120
Nov72124
Dec91158

Snow in Sonneberg

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.

Sonneberg averages about 32 snowy days a year. Snow season runs roughly Oct 21 to Apr 27 — about 6.2 months.

December is snowiest, with roughly 7 days of snow and an estimated 32 cm of snowfall. Over the year that adds up to an estimated 126 cm of snow.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecsnow seasonsnow seasonDec 22
Snow daysSnowfall (cm)
Jan830
Feb730
Mar415
Apr14
May00
Jun00
Jul00
Aug00
Sep00
Oct01
Nov415
Dec832

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Sonneberg, 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 25 and lasts for 6.1 months, ending around September 26. The clearest month is August, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 43% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around October 21 and lasts for 5.1 months, ending around March 24. The cloudiest month is December, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 83% 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 10 · 45%Dec 15 · 17%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastcloudierclearercloudier
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan2278
Feb2575
Mar2872
Apr3862
May3565
Jun3664
Jul4060
Aug4357
Sep3466
Oct2971
Nov1981
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 14, brings about 16 h 12 min of light; the shortest, around December 14, only 7 h 48 min — a swing of roughly 8 h 24 min.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan8.38:174:32
Feb9.77:385:21
Mar11.56:396:11
Apr13.55:307:01
May15.24:357:48
Jun16.14:108:21
Jul15.74:278:15
Aug14.35:107:29
Sep12.45:586:21
Oct10.56:475:14
Nov8.87:394:22
Dec7.98:174:06

Sunny days

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

Sonneberg averages about 5 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 3 and 7 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 4.0 months, from around Jun 21 to Oct 21. The sunniest month is August, with roughly 7 sunny days (gloomy).

The greyest month is November, down near 3 sunny days — about 54% fewer than the August peak.

0510JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgreyersunniergreyergloomymixedAug 47 daysNov 293 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan4Gloomy
Feb4Gloomy
Mar6Gloomy
Apr7Gloomy
May6Gloomy
Jun5Gloomy
Jul7Gloomy
Aug7Gloomy
Sep6Gloomy
Oct6Gloomy
Nov3Gloomy
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 Sonneberg, the air stays dry or comfortable essentially all year. Even in July, the muggiest month, it feels humid or worse only about 7% 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 4 · 100%Jul 28 · 91%humidcomfortabledrycomfortablehumidcomfortable
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)Humid (%)
Jan10000
Feb10000
Mar10000
Apr10000
May9640
Jun79183
Jul64287
Aug64296
Sep88111
Oct9910
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.

Across the year, average wind speed in Sonneberg is typically calm, near 11 km/h, and varies little with the seasons.

The windier part of the year lasts 5.7 months, from around Oct 19 to Apr 8. The windiest month is January, averaging about 13 km/h (light breeze).

The calmer part of the year runs from around Apr 9 to Oct 18, with August the calmest month at about 9 km/h.

05101520JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwindiercalmerwindiercalmlight breezeJan 1 · 13 km/hAug 2 · 9 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan13light breeze
Feb12light breeze
Mar12light breeze
Apr11calm
May11calm
Jun10calm
Jul10calm
Aug9calm
Sep10calm
Oct11calm
Nov11calm
Dec12light breeze

Best time to visit Sonneberg

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

Around late May, Sonneberg 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 Sonneberg for general outdoor tourist activities is from late May to late September, with a peak score in the first week of August.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationAug 5 · 6.6

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
Mar1.0poor
Apr3.4poor
May5.1fair
Jun5.8good
Jul6.2good
Aug6.4good
Sep5.4fair
Oct2.9poor
Nov0.5poor
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 Sonneberg for hot-weather activities is from mid July to late August, with a peak score in the first week of August.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationAug 2 · 5.3

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 Sonneberg, 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 23°C), the essentials are light clothes, rain gear and sun protection. In the cold season around January (highs near 2°C), pack a warm layer, a heavy coat and rain gear.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In July, Sonneberg sees daytime highs around 23°C and nights near 13°C. Worth packing: light clothes, rain gear and sun protection. About 14 days see rain.

UV index (midday) in Sonneberg 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 Sonneberg peaks around July 14 at about 7 (very high) — sunscreen and a hat are worth it in the middle of the day. 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.

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecLowModerateHighHighModerateLowJul 14UV 7Jan 1UV 1
UV index (midday)Level
Jan1Low
Feb1Low
Mar4Moderate
Apr4Moderate
May6High
Jun7High
Jul7Very high
Aug6High
Sep4Moderate
Oct3Moderate
Nov1Low
Dec1Low

Average hourly UV index in Sonneberg

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 hours a day reach index 3 (protection recommended), and 3.5 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
Mar30
Apr4.50
May70
Jun83
Jul83.5
Aug6.50.5
Sep40
Oct00
Nov00
Dec00
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

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

The growing season in Sonneberg typically lasts about 260 days, from around March 12 to November 26 — the span where a frost-free day is more likely than not. It is reliably frost-free from April 23 to October 17.

0%25%50%75%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgrowing seasonMar 1250%Apr 2390%Oct 1790%Nov 2650%
Frost-free chance (%)Frost nights
Jan2831
Feb2928
Mar5431
Apr8423
May990
Jun1000
Jul1000
Aug1000
Sep1000
Oct9216
Nov6730
Dec3731

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. Sonneberg banks about 827 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around July.

02004006008001,000JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°C·days)
Jan0
Feb0
Mar0
Apr3
May79
Jun172
Jul240
Aug231
Sep99
Oct5
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.

Sonneberg receives about 3.1 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — moderate — with a clear seasonal swing between 0.6 and 5.4 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 5.9 months, from around Mar 21 to Sep 17. The brightest month is June, averaging about 5.4 kWh/m² (bright).

The dimmest month is December, down near 0.7 kWh/m² — roughly 88% less than the June peak.

01234567JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmerbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightintenseJun 265.4 kWhDec 210.6 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan0.9Dim
Feb1.7Dim
Mar2.8Moderate
Apr4.5Bright
May5.2Bright
Jun5.4Bright
Jul5.2Bright
Aug4.6Bright
Sep3.1Moderate
Oct1.9Dim
Nov0.9Dim
Dec0.6Dim

Where is Sonneberg?

Sonneberg sits at 50.4°N, 11.2°E, 398 m above sea level, in Germany. The nearest listed city is Kronach, 17 km away.

Topography around Sonneberg

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Sonneberg has significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 328 m around an average of 437 m above sea level; within 16 km, significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 585 m; within 80 km, large variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 914 m.

The land around Sonneberg is covered by trees (53%) within 3 km, trees (62%) within 16 km, and trees (50%) and cropland (30%) within 80 km.

3 km
328 m
16 km
585 m
80 km
914 m
treesgrasslandcroplandartificial surfaces
Nearby: Kronach 17 km · Coburg 19 km · Lichtenfels 25 km · Kulmbach 35 km · Saalfeld 35 km · Ilmenau 40 km · Rudolstadt 42 km · Suhl 44 km

Germany travel facts

Travel advisory
Level 2
Exercise Increased Caution
Power plugs
Type C / F
230 V · 50 Hz
Prices
≈ 80% of US
price level, 2025
GDP per capita
$60,496
2025
Happiness
6.9 / 10
World Happiness, 2025
Safe drinking water
100%
of population, 2024
Homicide rate
0.9
per 100k, 2023
Road deaths
3.8
per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group
High
World Bank
English
Very high
EF EPI 615
Religion
none 44%Roman Catholic 25%Protestant 23%other 5%

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 Sonneberg (50.3592°, 11.1746°, elevation 398 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).