Climate and average weather in Chichibu

In Chichibu, the summers are humid, warm, wet, and mostly cloudy and the winters are cold, snowy, and mostly clear.

Best: mid August to mid November

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Chichibu typically varies from -2°C to 27°C, and is rarely below -8°C or above 31°C. August is the hottest month of the year, while January is the coldest.

Based on the travel score, the best times of year to visit Chichibu for warm-weather activities are from mid April to late June and mid August to mid November.

Hottest
Aug
27°
Coldest
Jan
-2°
Wettest
Jul
318 mm
Driest
Dec
64 mm
Rain / yr
2171 mm
195 wet days
Daylight
9.6–14.4 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
236 m
36.0°N
Clearest
Jan
40% cloud

Chichibu is city in Saitama prefecture, Japan.

Density
106/km²
people per km²
Founded
2005

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

Chichibu 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 August to mid November.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

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

The hot season lasts 3.3 months, from June 15 to September 21, with daily high temperatures above 22°C. The hottest month of the year in Chichibu is August, with an average high of 27°C and low of 21°C.

The cool season lasts 3.3 months, from December 6 to March 14, with daily high temperatures below 10°C. The coldest month of the year in Chichibu is January, with an average low of -2°C and high of 6°C.

Days typically run about 8°C warmer than nights, with the widest day–night swing (around 10°C) in April.

-10°10°20°30°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan6-2
Feb7-2
Mar111
Apr166
May2011
Jun2316
Jul2620
Aug2721
Sep2317
Oct1811
Nov145
Dec91

How hot and cold Chichibu 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 -6°C (around January 27), with roughly 108 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)
Jan66-5-2
Feb77-5-2
Mar1011-11
Apr161656
May20201111
Jun23231616
Jul27262020
Aug28272121
Sep23231717
Oct18181111
Nov131445
Dec99-21

Average hourly temperature in Chichibu

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 27°C, and coldest before dawn in January, near -2°C.

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

Chichibu 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 / -2°718.35.49.80.6
Feb / -2°739.75.710.60.9
Mar11° / 13815.25.911.72.2
Apr16° / 15715.21.212.94.3
May20° / 11°19517.2013.95.2
Jun23° / 16°26622.2014.44.5
Jul26° / 20°31825.1014.24.2
Aug27° / 21°26724.7013.44.3
Sep23° / 17°28121.2012.24.8
Oct18° / 11°24817.6011.14.8
Nov14° / 9310.70.310.13.9
Dec / 648.32.39.61.9

Chance of rain

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

Chichibu gets about 2171 mm of precipitation a year. On a typical day the chance of rain is very wet, but that rises and falls sharply with the seasons.

The wetter season lasts 5.3 months, from around May 13 to Oct 20, peaking in July at about 83% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Dec 26.

July is the wettest month by volume, with 318 mm over about 25 wet days; December is the driest, with 64 mm. Some of the cold-season precipitation falls as snow.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdrierwetterdriermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetJul 6 · 83%Dec 26 · 22%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan278
Feb3610
Mar4815
Apr5115
May5517
Jun7422
Jul8125
Aug7925
Sep7121
Oct5518
Nov3711
Dec278

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Chichibu collects about 2171 mm of rain across 195 wet days — roughly 181 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. July is the wettest month with 318 mm, while December is the driest at just 64 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 40% of the year’s total, and some of the cold-season precipitation falls as snow.

050100150200250300350JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec71731381571952663182672812489364
Rainfall (mm)Rain daysSnow days
Jan7185
Feb73106
Mar138156
Apr157151
May195170
Jun266220
Jul318250
Aug267250
Sep281210
Oct248180
Nov93110
Dec6482

Snow in Chichibu

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.

Chichibu averages about 21 snowy days a year. Snow season runs roughly Nov 22 to Apr 23 — about 5 months.

February is snowiest, with roughly 6 days of snow and an estimated 49 cm of snowfall. Over the year that adds up to an estimated 152 cm of snow.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecsnow seasonFeb 28
Snow daysSnowfall (cm)
Jan549
Feb649
Mar635
Apr17
May00
Jun00
Jul00
Aug00
Sep00
Oct00
Nov01
Dec211

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Chichibu, 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 October 23 and lasts for 5.5 months, ending around April 7. The clearest month is January, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 71% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around April 8 and lasts for 6.5 months, ending around October 22. The cloudiest month is June, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 82% 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%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecJan 1 · 77%Jun 23 · 15%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastclearercloudierclearer
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan7129
Feb6337
Mar5149
Apr4357
May3565
Jun1882
Jul2377
Aug3268
Sep3070
Oct4159
Nov5842
Dec7030

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 8, brings about 14 h 24 min of light; the shortest, around January 1, only 9 h 36 min — a swing of roughly 4 h 48 min.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan9.86:594:47
Feb10.66:395:18
Mar11.76:025:45
Apr12.95:176:11
May13.94:436:37
Jun14.44:316:57
Jul14.24:436:56
Aug13.45:066:29
Sep12.25:315:45
Oct11.15:575:01
Nov10.16:274:31
Dec9.66:534:27

Sunny days

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

Chichibu averages about 9 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 2 and 19 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 5.2 months, from around Oct 20 to Mar 25. The sunniest month is January, with roughly 17 sunny days (bright).

The greyest month is June, down near 2 sunny days — about 86% fewer than the January peak.

0510152025JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecsunniergreyersunniergloomymixedbrightbrilliantJan 119 daysJun 252 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan17Bright
Feb12Mixed
Mar10Mixed
Apr9Mixed
May6Gloomy
Jun2Gloomy
Jul3Gloomy
Aug5Gloomy
Sep5Gloomy
Oct9Mixed
Nov14Mixed
Dec18Bright

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

The more humid part of the year lasts 3.8 months, from around June 9 to October 1. The muggiest month is August, when the air feels humid, muggy or worse about 97% of the time.

The most comfortable stretch runs from around October 2 to June 8, 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 5 · 100%Aug 6 · 1%oppressivemuggycomfortablehumiddrycomfortablehumidcomfortable
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)Humid (%)Muggy (%)Oppressive (%)
Jan1000000
Feb1000000
Mar1000000
Apr982000
May7719400
Jun183432161
Jul05224824
Aug02134441
Sep132128317
Oct7120810
Nov991000
Dec1000000

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 Chichibu is steady company: average speeds sit near 6 km/hcalm — in every month of the year, with no meaningful windy or calm season.

051015JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDeccalmlight breezeFeb 3 · 7 km/hJul 11 · 4 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan7calm
Feb7calm
Mar7calm
Apr6calm
May5calm
Jun5calm
Jul4calm
Aug4calm
Sep5calm
Oct5calm
Nov6calm
Dec6calm

Hazard calendar for Chichibu

In seasonPeak

When the seasonal hazards worth planning around — the rainy season, tropical-cyclone risk and dust haze — are active through the year.

Chichibu's rainy season runs April–October, when most of the year's rain falls.

Rainy season
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec

Best time to visit Chichibu

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

Around early November, Chichibu is still near the tail of its best-weather window — great conditions with the peak-season crowds already thinning.

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 times of year to visit Chichibu for general outdoor tourist activities run from mid April to early July and again from late July to mid November, with a peak score in the first week of May.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationMay 5 · 5.3

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
Feb0.9poor
Mar2.3poor
Apr4.3fair
May5.2fair
Jun4.5fair
Jul4.2fair
Aug4.3fair
Sep4.8fair
Oct4.8fair
Nov3.8fair
Dec1.9poor

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 Chichibu for hot-weather activities is from late June to late September, with a peak score in the first week of August.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationAug 3 · 4.5

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 Chichibu, 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 27°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 August, Chichibu sees daytime highs around 27°C and nights near 21°C. Pack light clothes and rain gear. Worth having: sun protection. About 25 days see rain.

UV index (midday) in Chichibu 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 Chichibu peaks around July 15 at about 10 (very high) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near December 23 at about 2 (moderate).

The index reaches 3 or more — the level where the WHO recommends sun protection — in 10 months of the year.

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecModerateHighVery highModerateJul 15UV 10Dec 23UV 2
UV index (midday)Level
Jan2Moderate
Feb4Moderate
Mar4Moderate
Apr7High
May8Very high
Jun9Very high
Jul10Very high
Aug9Very high
Sep8Very high
Oct6High
Nov3Moderate
Dec2Moderate

Average hourly UV index in Chichibu

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 5.5 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
Feb30
Mar4.50
Apr6.52.5
May7.54.5
Jun8.55.5
Jul8.55.5
Aug7.55
Sep74
Oct5.50
Nov2.50
Dec00

Air quality in Chichibu 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 Chichibu is worst in April — around 21 µg/m³ PM2.5 (moderate), about 2.2× the cleanest month (December, 10 µg/m³).

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

0102030JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecGoodModerateGoodApr 1821 µg/m³Dec 1810 µg/m³
PM2.5 (µg/m³)Level
Jan11Good
Feb14Moderate
Mar19Moderate
Apr21Moderate
May20Moderate
Jun18Moderate
Jul15Moderate
Aug14Moderate
Sep13Moderate
Oct12Moderate
Nov11Good
Dec10Good
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

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

The growing season in Chichibu typically lasts about 284 days, from around March 11 to December 19 — the span where a frost-free day is more likely than not. It is reliably frost-free from April 7 to November 23.

0%25%50%75%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgrowing seasonMar 1150%Apr 790%Nov 2390%Dec 1950%
Frost-free chance (%)Frost nights
Jan2031
Feb2428
Mar5931
Apr957
May1000
Jun1000
Jul1000
Aug1000
Sep1000
Oct1000
Nov945
Dec5631

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. Chichibu banks about 1,783 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around August.

05001,0001,5002,000JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°C·days)
Jan0
Feb0
Mar0
Apr38
May176
Jun275
Jul404
Aug429
Sep306
Oct144
Nov11
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.

Chichibu receives about 3.9 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — moderate — with a clear seasonal swing between 2.4 and 5.2 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 6.4 months, from around Feb 23 to Sep 6. The brightest month is May, averaging about 5.2 kWh/m² (bright).

The dimmest month is December, down near 2.5 kWh/m² — roughly 51% less than the May peak.

0123456JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmerbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightMay 205.2 kWhDec 52.4 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan3.0Moderate
Feb3.7Moderate
Mar4.4Bright
Apr5.0Bright
May5.2Bright
Jun4.5Bright
Jul4.5Bright
Aug4.6Bright
Sep3.6Moderate
Oct3.0Moderate
Nov2.6Moderate
Dec2.5Moderate

Where is Chichibu?

Chichibu sits at 36.0°N, 139.1°E, 236 m above sea level, in Japan. The nearest listed city is Yorii, 18 km away.

Topography around Chichibu

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Chichibu has significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 424 m around an average of 280 m above sea level; within 16 km, very significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 1,713 m; within 80 km, extreme variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 3,737 m.

The land around Chichibu is covered by trees (56%) and artificial surfaces (33%) within 3 km, trees (92%) within 16 km, and trees (61%) and artificial surfaces (24%) within 80 km.

3 km
424 m
16 km
1,713 m
80 km
3,737 m
treesgrasslandcroplandartificial surfacesbare terrainwater
Nearby: Yorii 18 km · Ogawamachi 18 km · Morohongō 21 km · Kodamachō-kodamaminami 22 km · Ranzan 23 km · Hannō 27 km · Hidaka 27 km · Ōme 27 km

Japan travel facts

Travel advisory
Level 1
Exercise Normal Precautions
Power plugs
Type A / B
100 V · 50 / 60 Hz
Prices
≈ 65% of US
price level, 2025
GDP per capita
$35,951
2025
Happiness
6.1 / 10
World Happiness, 2025
Safe drinking water
99%
of population, 2024
Homicide rate
0.2
per 100k, 2023
Road deaths
3.6
per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group
High
World Bank
English
Very low
EF EPI 446
Religion
Shintoism 49%Buddhism 46%other 4%Christianity 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 Chichibu (35.9903°, 139.0764°, elevation 236 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).