Climate and average weather in Karagandy

In Karagandy, the summers are warm, showery, and partly cloudy and the winters are frigid, snowy, and mostly cloudy.

Best: early May to late September

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Karagandy typically varies from -18°C to 26°C, and is rarely below -29°C or above 32°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 Karagandy for warm-weather activities is from early May to late September.

Hottest
Jul
26°
Coldest
Jan
-18°
Wettest
Jul
52 mm
Driest
Jan
18 mm
Rain / yr
352 mm
82 wet days
Daylight
7.9–16.1 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
545 m
49.8°N
Clearest
Aug
48% cloud

Karagandy is city in Kazakhstan.

Density
905/km²
people per km²
Founded
1931

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

Karagandy 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 September.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

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

The hot season lasts 4.7 months, from May 1 to September 21, with daily high temperatures above 17°C. The hottest month of the year in Karagandy is July, with an average high of 26°C and low of 14°C.

The cool season lasts 3.6 months, from November 22 to March 11, with daily high temperatures below -3°C. The coldest month of the year in Karagandy is January, with an average low of -18°C and high of -10°C.

Days typically run about 10°C warmer than nights, with the widest day–night swing (around 12°C) in May.

-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan-10-18
Feb-9-17
Mar-1-10
Apr121
May207
Jun2513
Jul2614
Aug2512
Sep186
Oct100
Nov-1-9
Dec-8-15

How hot and cold Karagandy 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 -28°C (around January 25), with roughly 210 freezing days a year (feels-like at or below 0°C) 147 of them bitterly cold — worst in January.

-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Feels-like high (°C)Air high (°C)Feels-like low (°C)Air low (°C)
Jan-10-10-27-18
Feb-9-9-27-17
Mar-1-1-17-10
Apr1212-41
May202047
Jun24251313
Jul26261414
Aug25251212
Sep181846
Oct1010-40
Nov-1-1-15-9
Dec-8-8-24-15

Average hourly temperature in Karagandy

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 26°C, and coldest before dawn in January, near -18°C.

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

Karagandy 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-10° / -18°185.56.98.40.0
Feb-9° / -17°195.46.49.80.0
Mar-1° / -10°256.65.211.50.0
Apr12° / 306.81.713.53.4
May20° / 357.60.315.16.6
Jun25° / 13°448.30167.2
Jul26° / 14°5210.7015.76.8
Aug25° / 12°306.1014.27.6
Sep18° / 225.20.112.46.5
Oct10° / -0°286.22.410.52.5
Nov-1° / -9°286.96.18.80.0
Dec-8° / -16°236.78.180.0

Chance of rain

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

Karagandy gets about 352 mm of precipitation a year. On a typical day the chance of rain is some rain, but that rises and falls sharply with the seasons.

The wetter season lasts 3.4 months, from around Apr 20 to Aug 2, peaking in July at about 36% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Jan 29.

July is the wettest month by volume, with 52 mm over about 11 wet days; January is the driest, with 18 mm. Some of the cold-season precipitation falls as snow.

0%10%20%30%40%50%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdrierwetterdriermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetJul 15 · 36%Jan 29 · 16%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan196
Feb195
Mar217
Apr227
May258
Jun288
Jul3311
Aug206
Sep185
Oct216
Nov227
Dec217

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Karagandy collects about 352 mm of rain across 82 wet days — roughly 29 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. July is the wettest month with 52 mm, while January is the driest at just 18 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 37% of the year’s total, and some of the cold-season precipitation falls as snow.

0255075JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec181925303544523022282823
Rainfall (mm)Rain daysSnow days
Jan1867
Feb1956
Mar2575
Apr3072
May3580
Jun4480
Jul52110
Aug3060
Sep2250
Oct2862
Nov2876
Dec2378

Snow in Karagandy

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.

Karagandy averages about 37 snowy days a year. Snow season runs roughly Sep 27 to May 6 — about 7.3 months.

December is snowiest, with roughly 8 days of snow and an estimated 24 cm of snowfall. Over the year that adds up to an estimated 131 cm of snow.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecsnow seasonsnow seasonDec 23
Snow daysSnowfall (cm)
Jan725
Feb623
Mar518
Apr29
May01
Jun00
Jul00
Aug00
Sep00
Oct28
Nov623
Dec824

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Karagandy, 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 April 9 and lasts for 6.2 months, ending around October 15. The clearest month is August, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 63% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around October 16 and lasts for 5.7 months, ending around April 8. The cloudiest month is January, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 77% 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 9 · 66%Jan 8 · 18%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastcloudierclearercloudier
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan2377
Feb2674
Mar3268
Apr4555
May5545
Jun5941
Jul5644
Aug6337
Sep5446
Oct4258
Nov3070
Dec2476

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 06 min of light; the shortest, around December 13, only 7 h 54 min — a swing of roughly 8 h 12 min.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan8.49:075:27
Feb9.88:296:15
Mar11.57:317:03
Apr13.56:237:53
May15.15:298:38
Jun16.05:059:10
Jul15.75:229:05
Aug14.26:048:20
Sep12.46:517:13
Oct10.57:386:07
Nov8.88:305:16
Dec8.09:065:01

Sunny days

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

Karagandy averages about 9 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 4 and 13 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 6.5 months, from around Apr 7 to Oct 21. The sunniest month is August, with roughly 13 sunny days (mixed).

The greyest month is January, down near 5 sunny days — about 60% fewer than the August peak.

05101520JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgreyersunniergreyergloomymixedbrightAug 1113 daysJan 104 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan5Gloomy
Feb5Gloomy
Mar7Gloomy
Apr9Mixed
May11Mixed
Jun10Mixed
Jul10Mixed
Aug13Mixed
Sep11Mixed
Oct10Mixed
Nov7Gloomy
Dec6Gloomy

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 Karagandy, the air stays dry or comfortable essentially all year. Even in July, the muggiest month, it feels humid or worse only about 3% of the time — humidity is not something you need to plan around here.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDeccomfortabledry
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)Humid (%)
Jan10000
Feb10000
Mar10000
Apr10000
May10000
Jun9190
Jul76213
Aug9460
Sep10000
Oct10000
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 Karagandy is typically light breeze, near 16 km/h, and varies moderately with the seasons.

The windier part of the year lasts 4.1 months, from around Dec 2 to Apr 6. The windiest month is February, averaging about 19 km/h (light breeze).

The calmer part of the year runs from around Apr 7 to Nov 4, with August the calmest month at about 13 km/h.

0510152025JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwindiercalmerwindiercalmlight breezebreezyFeb 18 · 19 km/hAug 1 · 13 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan19light breeze
Feb19light breeze
Mar18light breeze
Apr15light breeze
May15light breeze
Jun14light breeze
Jul13light breeze
Aug13light breeze
Sep14light breeze
Oct15light breeze
Nov16light breeze
Dec17light breeze

Best time to visit Karagandy

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

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

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationAug 16 · 7.7

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
Mar0.1poor
Apr3.4poor
May6.6good
Jun7.2good
Jul6.8good
Aug7.6ideal
Sep6.5good
Oct2.5poor
Nov0.0poor
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 Karagandy for hot-weather activities is from early June to late August, with a peak score in the second week of August.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationAug 8 · 7.1

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 Karagandy, 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 26°C), the essentials are light clothes, rain gear and sun protection. In the cold season around January (highs near -10°C), pack a warm layer and a heavy coat.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In July, Karagandy sees daytime highs around 26°C and nights near 14°C. Worth packing: light clothes, rain gear and sun protection. About 11 days see rain.

UV index (midday) in Karagandy 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 Karagandy peaks around July 20 at about 7 (high) — sunscreen and a hat are worth it in the middle of the day. 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 6 months of the year.

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecLowModerateHighModerateLowJul 20UV 7Dec 22UV 1
UV index (midday)Level
Jan1Low
Feb2Low
Mar3Moderate
Apr5Moderate
May6High
Jun6High
Jul7High
Aug7High
Sep4Moderate
Oct2Moderate
Nov2Low
Dec1Low

Average hourly UV index in Karagandy

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
Mar00
Apr50
May71.5
Jun7.52
Jul83.5
Aug72.5
Sep40
Oct00
Nov00
Dec00
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

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

The growing season in Karagandy typically lasts about 186 days, from around April 13 to October 15 — the span where a frost-free day is more likely than not. It is reliably frost-free from May 8 to September 21.

0%25%50%75%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgrowing seasonMar 2110%Apr 1350%May 890%Sep 2190%Oct 1550%Nov 1610%
Frost-free chance (%)Frost nights
Jan131
Feb128
Mar931
Apr5630
May947
Jun1000
Jul1000
Aug1000
Sep9310
Oct5131
Nov1230
Dec231

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. Karagandy banks about 1,007 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around July.

02505007501,000JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°C·days)
Jan0
Feb0
Mar0
Apr0
May104
Jun256
Jul310
Aug262
Sep74
Oct0
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.

Karagandy receives about 3.8 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — moderate — with a clear seasonal swing between 1.0 and 6.4 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 6.1 months, from around Mar 14 to Sep 16. The brightest month is June, averaging about 6.4 kWh/m² (intense).

The dimmest month is December, down near 1.1 kWh/m² — roughly 84% less than the June peak.

012345678JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmerbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightintenseJun 166.4 kWhDec 201.0 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan1.4Dim
Feb2.4Moderate
Mar3.9Moderate
Apr5.2Bright
May6.2Intense
Jun6.4Intense
Jul6.0Bright
Aug5.3Bright
Sep3.9Moderate
Oct2.2Moderate
Nov1.3Dim
Dec1.0Dim

Where is Karagandy?

Karagandy sits at 49.8°N, 73.1°E, 545 m above sea level, in Kazakhstan. The nearest listed city is Saran, 19 km away.

AstanaEkibastuzStepnogorskBalqash

Topography around Karagandy

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Karagandy has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 69 m around an average of 539 m above sea level; within 16 km, only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 156 m; within 80 km, large variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 658 m.

The land around Karagandy is covered by artificial surfaces (68%) and trees (20%) within 3 km, grassland (73%) within 16 km, and grassland (78%) within 80 km.

3 km
69 m
16 km
156 m
80 km
658 m
treesgrasslandcroplandartificial surfacesbare terrainwaterwetland
Nearby: Saran 19 km · Abay 25 km · Temirtau 30 km · Shakhtinsk 38 km · Astana 193 km · Ekibastuz 265 km · Stepnogorsk 296 km · Balqash 357 km

Kazakhstan travel facts

Travel advisory
Level 1
Exercise Normal Precautions
Power plugs
Type C / F
230 V · 50 Hz
Prices
≈ 33% of US
price level, 2025
GDP per capita
$14,692
2025
Happiness
6.6 / 10
World Happiness, 2025
Safe drinking water
92%
of population, 2024
Homicide rate
2.6
per 100k, 2022
Road deaths
12.7
per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group
Upper middle
World Bank
English
Very low
EF EPI 417
Religion
Muslim 69%Christian 17%non-believers 2%Buddhism 0%

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 Karagandy (49.8019°, 73.1021°, elevation 545 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).