Climate and average weather in Hokuto

In Hokuto, the summers are warm, wet, and partly cloudy and the winters are cold, snowy, and mostly clear.

Best: early May to late October

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Hokuto typically varies from -7°C to 26°C, and is rarely below -15°C or above 30°C. August is the hottest month of the year, while January is the coldest.

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

Hottest
Aug
26°
Coldest
Jan
-7°
Wettest
Jul
199 mm
Driest
Dec
60 mm
Rain / yr
1542 mm
148 wet days
Daylight
9.6–14.4 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
715 m
35.8°N
Clearest
Dec
43% cloud

Hokuto 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 early May to late October.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

Daily average highs and lows in Hokuto, 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 June 7 to September 25, with daily high temperatures above 20°C. The hottest month of the year in Hokuto is August, with an average high of 26°C and low of 18°C.

The cool season lasts 3.2 months, from December 7 to March 13, with daily high temperatures below 7°C. The coldest month of the year in Hokuto is January, with an average low of -7°C and high of 2°C.

Days typically run about 9°C warmer than nights year-round.

-10°10°20°30°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan2-7
Feb3-6
Mar7-2
Apr133
May189
Jun2113
Jul2517
Aug2618
Sep2215
Oct178
Nov112
Dec5-3

How hot and cold Hokuto 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 -11°C (around January 26), with roughly 139 freezing days a year (feels-like at or below 0°C) 22 of them bitterly cold — worst in January.

-10°10°20°30°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Feels-like high (°C)Air high (°C)Feels-like low (°C)Air low (°C)
Jan22-10-7
Feb33-9-6
Mar77-5-2
Apr131323
May181889
Jun21211313
Jul25251717
Aug26261818
Sep22221515
Oct171788
Nov111112
Dec55-5-3

Average hourly temperature in Hokuto

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 26°C, and coldest before dawn in January, near -7°C.

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

Hokuto 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 / -7°646.879.80.0
Feb / -6°727.96.510.60.0
Mar / -3°12512.87.611.70.9
Apr13° / 12112.62.112.93.5
May18° / 13012.80.113.95.4
Jun21° / 13°17716.3014.45.2
Jul25° / 17°19917.4014.25.4
Aug26° / 18°13916.8013.45.6
Sep22° / 15°18514.6012.25.7
Oct17° / 18613011.14.9
Nov11° / 859.20.510.12.8
Dec / -3°607.44.29.60.3

Chance of rain

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

Hokuto gets about 1542 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 5.4 months, from around May 7 to Oct 16, peaking in June at about 62% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Jan 1.

July is the wettest month by volume, with 199 mm over about 17 wet days; December is the driest, with 60 mm. Some of the cold-season precipitation falls as snow.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdrierwetterdriermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetJun 25 · 62%Jan 1 · 19%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan237
Feb298
Mar4013
Apr4213
May4113
Jun5516
Jul5617
Aug5417
Sep4915
Oct4113
Nov319
Dec247

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Hokuto collects about 1542 mm of rain across 148 wet days — roughly 129 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. July is the wettest month with 199 mm, while December is the driest at just 60 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 37% of the year’s total, and some of the cold-season precipitation falls as snow.

050100150200250JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec64721251211301771991391851868560
Rainfall (mm)Rain daysSnow days
Jan6477
Feb7287
Mar125138
Apr121132
May130130
Jun177160
Jul199170
Aug139170
Sep185150
Oct186130
Nov8591
Dec6074

Snow in Hokuto

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.

Hokuto averages about 28 snowy days a year. Snow season runs roughly Nov 17 to Apr 30 — about 5.4 months.

March is snowiest, with roughly 7 days of snow and an estimated 49 cm of snowfall. Over the year that adds up to an estimated 195 cm of snow.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecsnow seasonsnow seasonMar 1
Snow daysSnowfall (cm)
Jan755
Feb755
Mar849
Apr215
May00
Jun00
Jul00
Aug00
Sep00
Oct00
Nov12
Dec420

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Hokuto, 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 17 and lasts for 5.7 months, ending around April 8. The clearest month is December, 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 9 and lasts for 6.3 months, ending around October 16. The cloudiest month is June, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 81% 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 · 75%Jun 22 · 16%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastclearercloudierclearer
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan6931
Feb6139
Mar5248
Apr4555
May3763
Jun1981
Jul2575
Aug3664
Sep3664
Oct4852
Nov6238
Dec7129

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 9, 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)
Jan9.87:014:50
Feb10.66:425:20
Mar11.76:055:48
Apr12.95:196:14
May13.94:466:39
Jun14.44:346:59
Jul14.24:466:58
Aug13.45:096:32
Sep12.25:345:47
Oct11.15:595:04
Nov10.16:304:34
Dec9.66:554:30

Sunny days

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

Hokuto 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 18 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 5.3 months, from around Oct 16 to Mar 25. The sunniest month is December, with roughly 16 sunny days (bright).

The greyest month is June, down near 3 sunny days — about 84% fewer than the December peak.

05101520JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecsunniergreyersunniergloomymixedbrightDec 3118 daysJun 232 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan16Bright
Feb12Mixed
Mar10Mixed
Apr9Mixed
May7Gloomy
Jun3Gloomy
Jul4Gloomy
Aug6Gloomy
Sep6Gloomy
Oct10Mixed
Nov14Mixed
Dec16Bright

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

The more humid part of the year lasts 3.2 months, from around June 20 to September 23. The muggiest month is August, when the air feels humid, muggy or worse about 83% of the time.

The most comfortable stretch runs from around September 24 to June 19, 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 16 · 100%Aug 5 · 10%muggydryhumidcomfortablecomfortablehumidcomfortable
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)Humid (%)Muggy (%)
Jan100000
Feb100000
Mar100000
Apr100000
May97300
Jun5729141
Jul4265812
Aug2156023
Sep3530314
Oct891010
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 Hokuto is steady company: average speeds sit near 5 km/hcalm — in every month of the year, with no meaningful windy or calm season.

0510JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDeccalmMar 16 · 6 km/hAug 2 · 4 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan6calm
Feb6calm
Mar6calm
Apr6calm
May5calm
Jun5calm
Jul5calm
Aug4calm
Sep5calm
Oct5calm
Nov5calm
Dec6calm

Best time to visit Hokuto

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

Around mid May, Hokuto 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 Hokuto for general outdoor tourist activities is from early May to late October, with a peak score in the first week of September.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationSep 7 · 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
Mar1.0poor
Apr3.5poor
May5.4fair
Jun5.2fair
Jul5.4fair
Aug5.6good
Sep5.7good
Oct4.8fair
Nov2.8poor
Dec0.4poor

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 Hokuto for hot-weather activities is from early July to mid September, with a peak score in the third week of August.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationAug 17 · 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 Hokuto, 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 26°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 and a heavy coat.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In August, Hokuto sees daytime highs around 26°C and nights near 18°C. Pack rain gear. Worth having: light clothes and sun protection. About 17 days see rain.

UV index (midday) in Hokuto 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 Hokuto peaks around July 14 at about 10 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near December 21 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 highExtremeVery highModerateJul 14UV 10Dec 21UV 2
UV index (midday)Level
Jan3Moderate
Feb4Moderate
Mar6High
Apr7Very high
May9Very high
Jun10Very high
Jul11Extreme
Aug9Very high
Sep9Very high
Oct6High
Nov4Moderate
Dec2Moderate

Average hourly UV index in Hokuto

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 6 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
Feb40
Mar5.50
Apr73.5
May85
Jun8.56
Jul8.56
Aug85
Sep7.54.5
Oct5.51
Nov30
Dec00

Air quality in Hokuto 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 Hokuto 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 Hokuto typically lasts about 244 days, from around March 31 to November 29 — the span where a frost-free day is more likely than not. It is reliably frost-free from April 21 to November 4.

0%25%50%75%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgrowing seasonFeb 1910%Mar 3150%Apr 2190%Nov 490%Nov 2950%Dec 2410%
Frost-free chance (%)Frost nights
Jan531
Feb928
Mar2831
Apr8021
May1000
Jun1000
Jul1000
Aug1000
Sep1000
Oct990
Nov7426
Dec2031

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. Hokuto banks about 1,369 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around August.

05001,0001,500JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°C·days)
Jan0
Feb0
Mar0
Apr4
May107
Jun219
Jul345
Aug369
Sep250
Oct77
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.

Hokuto receives about 4.1 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — bright — with a clear seasonal swing between 2.6 and 5.5 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 6.4 months, from around Feb 24 to Sep 7. The brightest month is May, averaging about 5.5 kWh/m² (bright).

The dimmest month is December, down near 2.7 kWh/m² — roughly 51% less than the May peak.

01234567JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmerbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightintenseMay 215.5 kWhDec 52.6 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan3.1Moderate
Feb3.9Moderate
Mar4.7Bright
Apr5.3Bright
May5.5Bright
Jun4.8Bright
Jul4.8Bright
Aug4.9Bright
Sep3.9Moderate
Oct3.2Moderate
Nov2.8Moderate
Dec2.6Moderate

Where is Hokuto?

Hokuto sits at 35.8°N, 138.4°E, 715 m above sea level, in Japan. The nearest listed city is Nirasaki, 16 km away.

Topography around Hokuto

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Hokuto has significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 285 m around an average of 736 m above sea level; within 16 km, extreme variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 2,526 m; within 80 km, extreme variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 3,732 m.

The land around Hokuto is covered by cropland (35%) and trees (33%) within 3 km, trees (78%) within 16 km, and trees (86%) within 80 km.

3 km
285 m
16 km
2,526 m
80 km
3,732 m
treesgrasslandcroplandartificial surfacesbare terrainwater
Nearby: Nirasaki 16 km · Kai 20 km · Ryūō 23 km · Kofu 24 km · Minami-Alps 25 km · Minamiarupusu 26 km · Shōwa 26 km · Chino 28 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 Hokuto (35.8346°, 138.3961°, elevation 715 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).