Sapporo in Spring

In spring (March, April and May), Sapporo sees average daytime highs around 9°C and overnight lows near 1°C, with 229 mm of precipitation over about 37 wet days across the season. It is the 3rd-warmest season and the 3rd-wettest season.

Over the season highs climb from about -0°C in early March to 17°C by late May. The sky is clear or mostly clear about 25% of the time across spring, and the air most often feels dry.

Spring is Sapporo's 3rd-best season to visit on our travel score. For the whole year in context, see Sapporo's year-round climate.

Avg daytime high: 9°C; 3rd-warmest season
Avg overnight low: 1°C
Precipitation: 229 mm; 37 wet days
Avg wind: 10 km/h
Travel score: 2.0; 3rd-best season
Months: Mar · Apr · May

← Winter Sapporo year-round climate Summer →

Spring Summer Fall Winter

Temperature in Sapporo in Spring

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

Over the season highs climb from about -0°C in early March to 17°C by late May.

A typical spring day in Sapporo reaches about 9°C and drops to 1°C overnight. The warmest of the three months is May, the coolest March.

How spring really feels in Sapporo

Once humidity and wind are folded in, spring brings about 0 days that feel above 32°C and 56 that feel at or below 0°C.

Days feeling ≥ 32°C

heat index over the day's high

Days feeling ≤ 0°C

15 feel bitter (≤ -10°C)

The story in spring is cold — wind chill drags the overnight "feels like" below the raw low.

Sapporo weather by month

How the three spring months (March, April and May) compare with the rest of the year — the season's months are highlighted.

Month	High / Low (°C)	Rainfall (mm)	Wet days	Snow days	Daylight (hours)	Travel score
Jan	-3° / -10°	51	10.3	16.3	9.2	0.0
Feb	-2° / -9°	46	9.8	14.1	10.2	0.0
Mar	2° / -6°	64	12.1	12.8	11.6	0.0
Apr	9° / 1°	73	11.9	5.4	13.1	1.8
May	15° / 7°	93	12.6	0.4	14.4	4.3
Jun	19° / 12°	89	11.9	0	15.1	5.7
Jul	23° / 16°	138	13.9	0	14.9	6.0
Aug	24° / 18°	191	14.2	0	13.8	6.1
Sep	20° / 13°	155	14.7	0	12.3	5.5
Oct	14° / 6°	99	13.6	0.7	10.8	3.8
Nov	6° / -0°	88	14.4	9.2	9.5	0.7
Dec	-1° / -6°	73	12.7	17.7	8.9	0.0

Cloud cover in Spring

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

The sky is clear or mostly clear about 25% of the time across spring.

Chance of precipitation in Spring

Any precipitationSnow

Sapporo gets around 229 mm of rain and snow over 37 wet days across spring. The line is the day-by-day chance of measurable precipitation.

Humidity in Spring

DryComfortableHumidMuggyOppressiveMiserable

Most of spring feels dry — the stacked bands show each day's mix of comfort levels, read off the dew point.

Wind in Spring

Winds average 10 km/h across spring.

Sunrise & sunset in Spring

DaylightNight

Daylight runs from about 10 h 54 min in early March to 14 h 54 min by late May. The lit band spans sunrise to sunset each day.

Solar energy in Spring

Daily solar energy (kWh/m²)

Average shortwave solar energy reaching the ground each day across spring, about 5.1 kWh/m².

Planning a trip in spring

Hazard calendar for Sapporo

In seasonPeak

In spring, Sapporo overlaps its pacific typhoon and rainy season season. The full year is below, with each hazard's peak months called out.

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

Sapporo's rainy season runs May–November, when most of the year's rain falls.

Pacific typhoon

Rainy season

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Is spring a good time to visit Sapporo?

Our two travel scores rate spring for general sightseeing and for beach or pool weather — 0 (poor) to 10 (ideal), averaged across the three months.

2.0

Sightseeing

3rd-best month of the year

0.2

Beach & pool

3rd-best month of the year

spring is a weaker month for outdoor sightseeing in Sapporo.

What to pack for Sapporo in Spring

From spring's temperature range, rain chance, sun and wind — what's worth putting in the bag.

In spring, Sapporo sees daytime highs around 9°C and nights near 1°C. Pack a warm layer and a heavy coat. Worth having: rain gear and sun protection. About 37 days see rain.

a warm layera heavy coatrain gearsun protection

Sea temperature near Sapporo in Spring

The nearest coast averages about 8°C across spring — the other half of the beach question. The full-year curve and swim-comfort zones are below.

The sea at the nearest coast (about 34 km away) is warmest in August at about 22°C and coldest in February near 5°C.

It's comfortable for a long swim from Jul 31 to Sep 22 — about 1.8 months when the water holds above 20°C.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Sea temperature (°C)	7	5	5	7	10	14	19	22	21	17	13	9
Comfort	Bracing	Bracing	Bracing	Bracing	Bracing	Bracing	Cool	Refreshing	Refreshing	Cool	Bracing	Bracing

	Sea temperature (°C)	Comfort
Jan	7	Bracing
Feb	5	Bracing
Mar	5	Bracing
Apr	7	Bracing
May	10	Bracing
Jun	14	Bracing
Jul	19	Cool
Aug	22	Refreshing
Sep	21	Refreshing
Oct	17	Cool
Nov	13	Bracing
Dec	9	Bracing

UV index in Sapporo in Spring

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Clear-sky midday UV across spring averages around 5 — enough to warrant sun protection. The full-year curve, shaded by WHO exposure level, is below.

Under clear skies, the midday UV index in Sapporo peaks around August 18 at about 8 (very high) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near December 22 at about 1 (low).

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

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
UV index (midday)	1	2	3	5	7	7	5	8	6	4	2	1
Level	Low	Moderate	Moderate	High	Very high	High	Moderate	Very high	High	Moderate	Low	Low

	UV index (midday)	Level
Jan	1	Low
Feb	2	Moderate
Mar	3	Moderate
Apr	5	High
May	7	Very high
Jun	7	High
Jul	5	Moderate
Aug	8	Very high
Sep	6	High
Oct	4	Moderate
Nov	2	Low
Dec	1	Low

Air quality in Sapporo in Spring

GoodModeratePoorUnhealthyVery unhealthy

Average fine-particle pollution (PM2.5) through the year — so you can see where spring falls, not just the annual average.

Air quality in Sapporo is worst in April — around 22 µg/m³ PM2.5 (moderate), about 2.5× the cleanest month (December, 9 µg/m³).

Seasonal pattern from CAMS reanalysis, scaled to Sapporo's WHO annual average of 14 µg/m³.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
PM2.5 (µg/m³)	11	16	21	22	20	14	13	11	10	12	10	9
Level	Good	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Good	Good	Good	Good	Good

	PM2.5 (µg/m³)	Level
Jan	11	Good
Feb	16	Moderate
Mar	21	Moderate
Apr	22	Moderate
May	20	Moderate
Jun	14	Moderate
Jul	13	Moderate
Aug	11	Good
Sep	10	Good
Oct	12	Good
Nov	10	Good
Dec	9	Good

Location & terrain

Where is Sapporo?

Sapporo sits at 43.1°N, 141.3°E, 26 m above sea level, in Japan. The nearest listed city is Ebetsu, 17 km away.

Topography around Sapporo

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Sapporo has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 37 m around an average of 20 m above sea level; within 16 km, large variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 1,095 m; within 80 km, very significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 1,863 m.

The land around Sapporo is covered by artificial surfaces (90%) within 3 km, trees (44%) and artificial surfaces (36%) within 16 km, and trees (57%) and water (27%) within 80 km.

3 km

37 m

artificial surfaces 90%

16 km

1,095 m

trees 44%

80 km

1,863 m

trees 57%

treesgrasslandcroplandartificial surfaceswater

← Winter Sapporo year-round climate Summer →

Spring weather nearby: Ebetsu 17 km · Ishikari 19 km · Kitahiroshima 20 km · Tōbetsu 22 km · Eniwa 27 km · Otaru 31 km · Iwamizawa 36 km · Chitose 37 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

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 Sapporo (43.0667°, 141.35°, elevation 26 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.