Climate and average weather in Kostanay

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

Best: early May to mid September

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Kostanay typically varies from -18°C to 26°C, and is rarely below -28°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 Kostanay for warm-weather activities is from early May to mid September.

Hottest
Jul
26°
Coldest
Jan
-18°
Wettest
Jul
53 mm
Driest
Feb
17 mm
Rain / yr
383 mm
82 wet days
Daylight
7.3–16.7 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
167 m
53.2°N
Clearest
Jun
54% cloud

Kostanay is city in Kazakhstan, administrative centre of the Kostanay Province.

Founded
1879

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

Kostanay 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 mid September.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

Daily average highs and lows in Kostanay, 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 2 to September 20, with daily high temperatures above 17°C. The hottest month of the year in Kostanay is July, with an average high of 26°C and low of 15°C.

The cool season lasts 3.6 months, from November 22 to March 10, with daily high temperatures below -4°C. The coldest month of the year in Kostanay is January, with an average low of -18°C and high of -11°C.

Days typically run about 9°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-11-18
Feb-10-17
Mar-2-10
Apr110
May208
Jun2513
Jul2615
Aug2413
Sep187
Oct91
Nov-2-8
Dec-9-16

How hot and cold Kostanay 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 -27°C (around January 27), with roughly 205 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-11-11-26-18
Feb-10-10-26-17
Mar-2-2-17-10
Apr1111-40
May202058
Jun25251313
Jul26261515
Aug24241313
Sep181857
Oct99-31
Nov-2-2-14-8
Dec-9-9-24-16

Average hourly temperature in Kostanay

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

Kostanay 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-11° / -18°175.16.17.90.0
Feb-10° / -17°174.95.69.40.0
Mar-2° / -10°245.84.811.50.0
Apr11° / 296.51.713.62.9
May20° / 458.60.215.66.5
Jun25° / 13°408016.67.2
Jul26° / 15°539016.26.9
Aug24° / 13°477.9014.67.2
Sep18° / 326.3012.46.0
Oct / 337.12.510.32.1
Nov-2° / -9°246.15.38.40.0
Dec-9° / -16°236.36.97.40.0

Chance of rain

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

Kostanay gets about 383 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 4.5 months, from around Apr 18 to Aug 31, peaking in July at about 33% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Mar 2.

July is the wettest month by volume, with 53 mm over about 9 wet days; February is the driest, with 17 mm. Some of the cold-season precipitation falls as snow.

0%10%20%30%40%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdrierwetterdriermostly drysome rainoften wetJul 6 · 33%Mar 2 · 15%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan185
Feb165
Mar186
Apr237
May279
Jun278
Jul309
Aug258
Sep216
Oct237
Nov206
Dec206

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Kostanay collects about 383 mm of rain across 82 wet days — roughly 32 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. July is the wettest month with 53 mm, while February is the driest at just 17 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 38% of the year’s total, and some of the cold-season precipitation falls as snow.

0255075JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec171724294540534732332423
Rainfall (mm)Rain daysSnow days
Jan1756
Feb1756
Mar2465
Apr2972
May4590
Jun4080
Jul5390
Aug4780
Sep3260
Oct3373
Nov2465
Dec2367

Snow in Kostanay

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.

Kostanay averages about 33 snowy days a year. Snow season runs roughly Sep 28 to May 6 — about 7.3 months.

December is snowiest, with roughly 7 days of snow and an estimated 23 cm of snowfall. Over the year that adds up to an estimated 115 cm of snow.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecsnow seasonsnow seasonDec 27
Snow daysSnowfall (cm)
Jan622
Feb620
Mar520
Apr26
May01
Jun00
Jul00
Aug00
Sep00
Oct37
Nov516
Dec723

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Kostanay, 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 March 30 and lasts for 5.7 months, ending around September 19. The clearest month is June, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 57% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around September 20 and lasts for 6.3 months, ending around March 29. 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%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecJul 29 · 59%Jan 10 · 21%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastcloudierclearercloudier
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan2377
Feb2872
Mar3664
Apr4357
May5149
Jun5743
Jul5446
Aug5446
Sep4357
Oct3169
Nov2872
Dec2575

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 42 min of light; the shortest, around December 13, only 7 h 18 min — a swing of roughly 9 h 24 min.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan7.910:015:49
Feb9.49:166:44
Mar11.58:117:40
Apr13.66:558:36
May15.65:549:30
Jun16.65:2510:06
Jul16.25:449:59
Aug14.66:339:07
Sep12.47:277:52
Oct10.38:226:39
Nov8.49:215:41
Dec7.410:025:21

Sunny days

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

Kostanay averages about 7 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 4 and 11 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 6.1 months, from around Mar 16 to Sep 17. The sunniest month is July, with roughly 10 sunny days (mixed).

The greyest month is December, down near 5 sunny days — about 52% fewer than the July peak.

051015JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgreyersunniergreyergloomymixedJul 3111 daysDec 84 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan5Gloomy
Feb5Gloomy
Mar8Gloomy
Apr9Mixed
May10Mixed
Jun10Mixed
Jul10Mixed
Aug10Mixed
Sep8Gloomy
Oct6Gloomy
Nov5Gloomy
Dec5Gloomy

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 Kostanay, the air stays dry or comfortable essentially all year. Even in July, the muggiest month, it feels humid or worse only about 14% of the time — humidity is not something you need to plan around here.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecMay 8 · 100%Jul 27 · 83%humidcomfortabledrycomfortablehumidcomfortable
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)Humid (%)Muggy (%)
Jan100000
Feb100000
Mar100000
Apr100000
May98200
Jun781840
Jul5531131
Aug732070
Sep99100
Oct100000
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.

Across the year, average wind speed in Kostanay is typically light breeze, near 13 km/h, and varies little with the seasons.

The windier part of the year lasts 5.4 months, from around Dec 12 to May 24. The windiest month is March, averaging about 15 km/h (light breeze).

The calmer part of the year runs from around May 25 to Oct 7, with August the calmest month at about 12 km/h.

05101520JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwindiercalmercalmlight breezeMar 17 · 15 km/hAug 3 · 12 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan14light breeze
Feb14light breeze
Mar15light breeze
Apr14light breeze
May14light breeze
Jun13light breeze
Jul12light breeze
Aug12calm
Sep13light breeze
Oct14light breeze
Nov13light breeze
Dec14light breeze

Best time to visit Kostanay

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

Around early September, Kostanay 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 time of year to visit Kostanay for general outdoor tourist activities is from early May to mid September, with a peak score in the second week of June.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationJun 11 · 7.3

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
Jan0.0poor
Feb0.0poor
Mar0.0poor
Apr2.9poor
May6.4good
Jun7.2good
Jul6.9good
Aug7.2good
Sep6.0good
Oct2.2poor
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 Kostanay for hot-weather activities is from early June to late August, with a peak score in the last week of July.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationJul 27 · 6.7

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 Kostanay, 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 -11°C), pack a warm layer and a heavy coat.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In July, Kostanay sees daytime highs around 26°C and nights near 15°C. Worth packing: light clothes, rain gear and sun protection. About 9 days see rain.

UV index (midday) in Kostanay 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 Kostanay peaks around June 20 at about 6 (high) — sunscreen and a hat are worth it in the middle of the day. It bottoms out near December 21 at about 0 (low).

The index reaches 3 or more — the level where the WHO recommends sun protection — in 6 months of the year.

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecLowModerateHighModerateLowJun 20UV 6Dec 21UV 0
UV index (midday)Level
Jan1Low
Feb1Low
Mar3Moderate
Apr3Moderate
May5Moderate
Jun6High
Jul6High
Aug5Moderate
Sep4Moderate
Oct2Low
Nov1Low
Dec0Low

Average hourly UV index in Kostanay

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 June the burn window is concentrated in the middle of the day: about 7.5 hours a day reach index 3 (protection recommended), and 1.5 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
Apr2.50
May60
Jun7.51.5
Jul70
Aug5.50
Sep30
Oct00
Nov00
Dec00
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

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

The growing season in Kostanay typically lasts about 190 days, from around April 14 to October 20 — the span where a frost-free day is more likely than not. It is reliably frost-free from May 7 to September 27.

0%25%50%75%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgrowing seasonMar 2610%Apr 1450%May 790%Sep 2790%Oct 2050%Nov 1910%
Frost-free chance (%)Frost nights
Jan131
Feb128
Mar631
Apr5230
May946
Jun1000
Jul1000
Aug1000
Sep963
Oct5831
Nov1330
Dec331

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. Kostanay banks about 1,041 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
May114
Jun261
Jul318
Aug266
Sep81
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.

Kostanay receives about 3.3 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — moderate — with a clear seasonal swing between 0.7 and 6.2 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 6.0 months, from around Mar 16 to Sep 13. The brightest month is June, averaging about 6.1 kWh/m² (intense).

The dimmest month is December, down near 0.7 kWh/m² — roughly 89% less than the June peak.

01234567JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmerbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightintenseJun 136.2 kWhDec 200.7 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan0.9Dim
Feb1.9Dim
Mar3.4Moderate
Apr4.7Bright
May5.7Bright
Jun6.2Intense
Jul5.7Bright
Aug4.7Bright
Sep3.2Moderate
Oct1.7Dim
Nov1.0Dim
Dec0.7Dim

Where is Kostanay?

Kostanay sits at 53.2°N, 63.6°E, 167 m above sea level, in Kazakhstan. The nearest listed city is Rudnyy, 44 km away.

TroitskKurtamyshZhitikaraKartalyYuzhnoural’skPlast

Topography around Kostanay

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Kostanay has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 54 m around an average of 157 m above sea level; within 16 km, only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 97 m; within 80 km, large variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 616 m.

The land around Kostanay is covered by artificial surfaces (66%) within 3 km, grassland (43%) and cropland (39%) within 16 km, and cropland (58%) and grassland (33%) within 80 km.

3 km
54 m
16 km
97 m
80 km
616 m
treesgrasslandcroplandartificial surfacesbare terrainwaterwetland
Nearby: Rudnyy 44 km · Lisakovsk 106 km · Troitsk 167 km · Kurtamysh 196 km · Zhitikara 199 km · Kartaly 200 km · Yuzhnoural’sk 207 km · Plast 225 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 Kostanay (53.2144°, 63.6246°, elevation 167 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).