Climate and average weather in Ōdate

In Ōdate, the summers are humid, warm, wet, and mostly cloudy and the winters are very cold, snowy, and mostly cloudy.

Best: mid May to mid October

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Ōdate typically varies from -6°C to 26°C, and is rarely below -10°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 time of year to visit Ōdate for warm-weather activities is from mid May to mid October.

Hottest
Aug
26°
Coldest
Jan
-6°
Wettest
Jul
187 mm
Driest
Feb
80 mm
Rain / yr
1494 mm
185 wet days
Daylight
9.1–14.9 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
66 m
40.3°N
Clearest
Apr
63% cloud

Ōdate is city in Akita Prefecture, Japan.

Density
76/km²
people per km²
Founded
1951

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

Ōdate 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 mid October.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

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

The hot season lasts 3.9 months, from June 1 to September 27, with daily high temperatures above 20°C. The hottest month of the year in Ōdate is August, with an average high of 26°C and low of 19°C.

The cool season lasts 3.5 months, from December 2 to March 17, with daily high temperatures below 5°C. The coldest month of the year in Ōdate is January, with an average low of -6°C and high of 0°C.

Days typically run about 7°C warmer than nights year-round.

-10°10°20°30°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan0-6
Feb1-5
Mar5-2
Apr123
May189
Jun2214
Jul2518
Aug2619
Sep2315
Oct168
Nov92
Dec3-3

How hot and cold Ōdate 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 22), with roughly 152 freezing days a year (feels-like at or below 0°C) 43 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)
Jan00-11-6
Feb11-10-5
Mar55-7-2
Apr121213
May181889
Jun22221414
Jul25251818
Aug26261919
Sep22231515
Oct161678
Nov99-12
Dec33-7-3

Average hourly temperature in Ōdate

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 -6°C.

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

Ōdate 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 / -6°8416.1219.50.0
Feb / -6°8014.917.110.40.0
Mar / -3°1071713.111.70.3
Apr12° / 10714.93.3132.9
May18° / 11313.30.114.25.2
Jun22° / 14°11713.2014.85.8
Jul25° / 18°18717014.65.5
Aug26° / 19°18216.4013.65.5
Sep23° / 15°15313.8012.35.9
Oct16° / 13513.80.110.94.6
Nov / 11816.45.19.81.6
Dec / -3°11017.817.19.20.0

Chance of rain

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

Ōdate gets about 1494 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 2.2 months, from around Nov 6 to Jan 11, peaking in December at about 59% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Jun 1.

July is the wettest month by volume, with 187 mm over about 17 wet days; February is the driest, with 80 mm. Some of the cold-season precipitation falls as snow.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdrierwettermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetDec 10 · 59%Jun 1 · 39%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan5216
Feb5415
Mar5417
Apr5015
May4313
Jun4513
Jul5417
Aug5216
Sep4714
Oct4414
Nov5416
Dec5818

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Ōdate collects about 1494 mm of rain across 185 wet days — roughly 124 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. July is the wettest month with 187 mm, while February is the driest at just 80 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 35% of the year’s total, and some of the cold-season precipitation falls as snow.

050100150200JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec8480107107113117187182153135118110
Rainfall (mm)Rain daysSnow days
Jan841621
Feb801517
Mar1071713
Apr107153
May113130
Jun117130
Jul187170
Aug182160
Sep153140
Oct135140
Nov118165
Dec1101817

Snow in Ōdate

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.

Ōdate averages about 77 snowy days a year. Snow season runs roughly Oct 29 to May 3 — about 6.1 months.

January is snowiest, with roughly 21 days of snow and an estimated 75 cm of snowfall. Over the year that adds up to an estimated 316 cm of snow.

0510152025JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecsnow seasonsnow seasonJan 29
Snow daysSnowfall (cm)
Jan2175
Feb1784
Mar1361
Apr310
May00
Jun00
Jul00
Aug00
Sep00
Oct00
Nov518
Dec1768

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Ōdate, 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 August 21 and lasts for 3.2 months, ending around November 25. The clearest month is October, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 44% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around November 26 and lasts for 3.7 months, ending around March 18. The cloudiest month is January, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 76% 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%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecOct 21 · 46%Feb 11 · 21%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastcloudierclearercloudier
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan2476
Feb2476
Mar3268
Apr4258
May3961
Jun3070
Jul2476
Aug3268
Sep3664
Oct4456
Nov3763
Dec2674

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 16, brings about 14 h 54 min of light; the shortest, around December 16, only 9 h 06 min — a swing of roughly 5 h 48 min.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan9.57:044:30
Feb10.46:405:05
Mar11.75:575:38
Apr13.05:066:10
May14.24:276:41
Jun14.84:127:04
Jul14.64:257:02
Aug13.64:546:30
Sep12.35:245:40
Oct10.95:554:50
Nov9.86:314:15
Dec9.27:004:08

Sunny days

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

Ōdate averages about 5 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 1 and 8 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 2.7 months, from around Mar 27 to Jun 17. The sunniest month is April, with roughly 7 sunny days (gloomy).

The greyest month is February, down near 2 sunny days — about 77% fewer than the April peak.

051015JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgreyersunniergreyergloomymixedApr 288 daysFeb 111 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan1Gloomy
Feb2Gloomy
Mar4Gloomy
Apr7Gloomy
May8Gloomy
Jun5Gloomy
Jul4Gloomy
Aug5Gloomy
Sep6Gloomy
Oct7Gloomy
Nov4Gloomy
Dec2Gloomy

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

The more humid part of the year lasts 3.4 months, from around June 15 to September 24. The muggiest month is August, when the air feels humid, muggy or worse about 89% of the time.

The most comfortable stretch runs from around September 25 to June 14, 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 24 · 100%Aug 3 · 7%oppressivemuggycomfortablehumiddrycomfortablehumidcomfortable
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)Humid (%)Muggy (%)Oppressive (%)
Jan1000000
Feb1000000
Mar1000000
Apr1000000
May928000
Jun37362240
Jul315323813
Aug29223928
Sep302526164
Oct8810200
Nov1000000
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.

Across the year, average wind speed in Ōdate is typically calm, near 9 km/h, and varies little with the seasons.

The windier part of the year lasts 6.7 months, from around Oct 25 to May 16. The windiest month is March, averaging about 11 km/h (calm).

The calmer part of the year runs from around May 17 to Oct 24, with June the calmest month at about 8 km/h.

051015JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwindiercalmerwindiercalmlight breezeMar 15 · 11 km/hJun 26 · 7 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan10calm
Feb11calm
Mar11calm
Apr11calm
May9calm
Jun8calm
Jul7calm
Aug7calm
Sep8calm
Oct9calm
Nov10calm
Dec10calm

Hazard calendar for Ōdate

In seasonPeak

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

Ōdate sits in the Pacific typhoon belt; the season peaks July–October.

Pacific typhoon
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec

Best time to visit Ōdate

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

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

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationSep 13 · 6.0

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
Mar0.3poor
Apr2.8poor
May5.2fair
Jun5.8good
Jul5.5good
Aug5.6good
Sep5.8good
Oct4.6fair
Nov1.6poor
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 Ōdate for hot-weather activities is from early July to mid September, with a peak score in the first week of August.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationAug 6 · 5.5

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 Ōdate, 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 and rain gear. In the cold season around January (highs near 0°C), pack a warm layer, a heavy coat and rain gear.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In August, Ōdate sees daytime highs around 26°C and nights near 19°C. Pack rain gear. Worth having: light clothes. About 16 days see rain.

Sea temperature near Ōdate

Average ocean temperature at the nearest coast, month by month, banded into swim-comfort zones — the other half of the beach question.

The sea at the nearest coast (about 59 km away) is warmest in August at about 25°C and coldest in March near 9°C.

It's comfortable for a long swim from Jul 3 to Oct 20 — about 3.6 months when the water holds above 20°C.

10°20°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbracingcoolrefreshingwarmtropicalcomfortable to swim
Sea temperature (°C)Comfort
Jan11Bracing
Feb9Bracing
Mar9Bracing
Apr10Bracing
May13Bracing
Jun18Cool
Jul22Refreshing
Aug25Warm
Sep24Warm
Oct21Refreshing
Nov17Cool
Dec14Bracing

UV index (midday) in Ōdate 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 Ōdate peaks around August 19 at about 8 (very high) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near December 22 at about 2 (low).

The index reaches 3 or more — the level where the WHO recommends sun protection — in 8 months of the year.

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecLowModerateHighVery highHighVery highHighModerateLowAug 19UV 8Dec 22UV 2
UV index (midday)Level
Jan2Low
Feb3Moderate
Mar3Moderate
Apr6High
May8Very high
Jun8Very high
Jul5Moderate
Aug9Very high
Sep7High
Oct4Moderate
Nov2Moderate
Dec2Low

Average hourly UV index in Ōdate

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 August the burn window is concentrated in the middle of the day: about 7.5 hours a day reach index 3 (protection recommended), and 4.5 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
Mar20
Apr60
May7.54
Jun7.54
Jul6.50
Aug7.54.5
Sep6.52.5
Oct40
Nov00
Dec00

Air quality in Ōdate 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 Ōdate is worst in April — around 20 µg/m³ PM2.5 (moderate), about 2.4× the cleanest month (December, 8 µg/m³).

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

0102030JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecGoodModerateGoodApr 1620 µg/m³Dec 169 µg/m³
PM2.5 (µg/m³)Level
Jan9Good
Feb13Moderate
Mar18Moderate
Apr20Moderate
May18Moderate
Jun13Moderate
Jul12Good
Aug10Good
Sep10Good
Oct10Good
Nov9Good
Dec8Good
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

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

The growing season in Ōdate typically lasts about 241 days, from around March 31 to November 26 — the span where a frost-free day is more likely than not. It is reliably frost-free from April 19 to November 6.

0%25%50%75%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgrowing seasonMar 310%Mar 3150%Apr 1990%Nov 690%Nov 2650%Dec 2210%
Frost-free chance (%)Frost nights
Jan331
Feb428
Mar2531
Apr8217
May1000
Jun1000
Jul1000
Aug1000
Sep1000
Oct990
Nov7223
Dec1731

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. Ōdate banks about 1,423 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
Apr3
May108
Jun233
Jul357
Aug396
Sep259
Oct68
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.

Ōdate receives about 3.7 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — moderate — with a clear seasonal swing between 1.7 and 5.6 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 6.4 months, from around Mar 4 to Sep 15. The brightest month is May, averaging about 5.4 kWh/m² (bright).

The dimmest month is December, down near 1.7 kWh/m² — roughly 68% less than the May peak.

01234567JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmerbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightintenseMay 315.6 kWhDec 101.7 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan2.1Moderate
Feb3.0Moderate
Mar4.2Bright
Apr5.0Bright
May5.4Bright
Jun5.3Bright
Jul4.5Bright
Aug4.4Bright
Sep3.7Moderate
Oct2.9Moderate
Nov2.0Dim
Dec1.7Dim

Where is Ōdate?

Ōdate sits at 40.3°N, 140.6°E, 66 m above sea level, in Japan. The nearest listed city is Kita-Akita, 16 km away.

Topography around Ōdate

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Ōdate has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 208 m around an average of 66 m above sea level; within 16 km, large variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 799 m; within 80 km, very significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 1,976 m.

The land around Ōdate is covered by trees (33%), artificial surfaces (32%) and cropland (29%) within 3 km, trees (85%) within 16 km, and trees (71%) within 80 km.

3 km
208 m
16 km
799 m
80 km
1,976 m
treesgrasslandcroplandartificial surfaceswater
Nearby: Kita-Akita 16 km · Takanosu 17 km · Hanawa 22 km · Hirakawa 35 km · Hirosaki 36 km · Kuroishi 42 km · Moritake 45 km · Noshiro 46 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 Ōdate (40.2718°, 140.5576°, elevation 66 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. Tropical-cyclone seasons are the published climatological basin seasons (NOAA National Hurricane Center / regional warning centres). Sea temperatures are the NOAA OISST v2.1 1991–2020 monthly climatology (public domain), sampled at the nearest ocean point. 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).