Climate and average weather in Istok

In Istok, the summers are warm, showery, and mostly clear and the winters are cold, snowy, and partly cloudy.

Best: early June to early October

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Istok typically varies from -4°C to 27°C, and is rarely below -11°C or above 32°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 Istok for warm-weather activities is from early June to early October.

Hottest
Aug
27°
Coldest
Jan
-4°
Wettest
May
87 mm
Driest
Aug
49 mm
Rain / yr
839 mm
132 wet days
Daylight
8.8–15.2 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
465 m
42.8°N
Clearest
Aug
38% cloud

Istok is town in Kosovo.

Density
88/km²
people per km²

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

Istok 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 June to early October.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

Daily average highs and lows in Istok, 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 May 31 to September 17, with daily high temperatures above 21°C. The hottest month of the year in Istok is August, with an average high of 27°C and low of 14°C.

The cool season lasts 3.3 months, from November 23 to March 1, with daily high temperatures below 8°C. The coldest month of the year in Istok is January, with an average low of -4°C and high of 4°C.

Days typically run about 10°C warmer than nights, with the widest day–night swing (around 13°C) in August.

-10°10°20°30°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan4-4
Feb6-3
Mar100
Apr154
May199
Jun2412
Jul2614
Aug2714
Sep2210
Oct166
Nov101
Dec4-3

How hot and cold Istok 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 -7°C (around January 31), with roughly 134 freezing days a year (feels-like at or below 0°C), worst in January.

-10°10°20°30°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Feels-like high (°C)Air high (°C)Feels-like low (°C)Air low (°C)
Jan44-6-4
Feb66-5-3
Mar1010-20
Apr151534
May191989
Jun24241212
Jul26261414
Aug27271414
Sep22221010
Oct161656
Nov101001
Dec44-5-3

Average hourly temperature in Istok

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 27°C, and coldest before dawn in January, near -4°C.

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

Istok 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 / -4°579.76.49.20.0
Feb / -3°599.66.610.30.4
Mar10° / 7611.95.111.62.2
Apr15° / 8113.51.613.14.0
May19° / 8714.50.114.45.6
Jun24° / 12°7513.5015.16.4
Jul26° / 14°7210.8014.86.8
Aug27° / 14°499.3013.77.1
Sep22° / 10°679.4012.36.8
Oct16° / 668.90.710.85.2
Nov10° / 739.72.79.62.2
Dec / -3°7810.76.38.90.1

Chance of rain

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

Istok gets about 839 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 4.7 months, from around Feb 18 to Jul 9, peaking in May at about 51% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Oct 30.

May is the wettest month by volume, with 87 mm over about 15 wet days; August is the driest, with 49 mm. Some of the cold-season precipitation falls as snow.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdrierwetterdriermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetMay 29 · 51%Oct 30 · 27%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan3110
Feb3510
Mar3812
Apr4514
May4715
Jun4514
Jul3511
Aug309
Sep319
Oct299
Nov3210
Dec3411

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Istok collects about 839 mm of rain across 132 wet days — roughly 70 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. May is the wettest month with 87 mm, while August is the driest at just 49 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 29% of the year’s total, and some of the cold-season precipitation falls as snow.

0255075100JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec575976818775724967667378
Rainfall (mm)Rain daysSnow days
Jan57106
Feb59107
Mar76125
Apr81142
May87150
Jun75140
Jul72110
Aug4990
Sep6790
Oct6691
Nov73103
Dec78116

Snow in Istok

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.

Istok averages about 30 snowy days a year. Snow season runs roughly Oct 13 to Apr 28 — about 6.5 months.

February is snowiest, with roughly 7 days of snow and an estimated 40 cm of snowfall. Over the year that adds up to an estimated 175 cm of snow.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecsnow seasonsnow seasonFeb 8
Snow daysSnowfall (cm)
Jan631
Feb740
Mar528
Apr216
May01
Jun00
Jul00
Aug00
Sep00
Oct13
Nov321
Dec635

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Istok, 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 May 31 and lasts for 4.0 months, ending around September 30. The clearest month is August, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 76% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around October 1 and lasts for 8.0 months, ending around May 30. The cloudiest month is February, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 62% 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 18 · 78%Feb 24 · 35%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastcloudierclearercloudier
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan4258
Feb3862
Mar4159
Apr4456
May4753
Jun6337
Jul7525
Aug7624
Sep5842
Oct5050
Nov4159
Dec3961

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 20, brings about 15 h 12 min of light; the shortest, around December 20, only 8 h 48 min — a swing of roughly 6 h 24 min.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan9.27:124:23
Feb10.36:455:01
Mar11.65:595:37
Apr13.15:036:13
May14.44:216:47
Jun15.14:047:12
Jul14.84:187:09
Aug13.74:496:35
Sep12.35:245:41
Oct10.85:594:47
Nov9.66:384:09
Dec8.97:084:00

Sunny days

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

Istok averages about 10 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 7 and 17 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 3.5 months, from around Jun 10 to Sep 24. The sunniest month is August, with roughly 17 sunny days (bright).

The greyest month is February, down near 8 sunny days — about 54% fewer than the August peak.

05101520JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgreyersunniergreyergloomymixedbrightAug 1617 daysFeb 267 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan9Mixed
Feb7Gloomy
Mar8Gloomy
Apr7Gloomy
May8Gloomy
Jun11Mixed
Jul16Bright
Aug17Bright
Sep12Mixed
Oct11Mixed
Nov9Mixed
Dec9Mixed

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 Istok, the air stays dry or comfortable essentially all year. Even in August, the muggiest month, it feels humid or worse only about 7% of the time — humidity is not something you need to plan around here.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecSep 17 · 100%Aug 3 · 87%humidcomfortabledrycomfortablehumidcomfortable
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)Humid (%)
Jan10000
Feb10000
Mar10000
Apr10000
May9640
Jun62335
Jul45469
Aug48447
Sep84160
Oct9820
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.

Wind in Istok is steady company: average speeds sit near 5 km/hcalm — in every month of the year, with no meaningful windy or calm season.

0510JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDeccalmMar 23 · 6 km/hAug 12 · 5 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan5calm
Feb6calm
Mar6calm
Apr6calm
May6calm
Jun5calm
Jul5calm
Aug5calm
Sep5calm
Oct5calm
Nov5calm
Dec5calm

Best time to visit Istok

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

Around mid June, Istok 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 Istok for general outdoor tourist activities is from early June to early October, with a peak score in the last week of August.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationAug 27 · 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
Feb0.4poor
Mar2.2poor
Apr4.0fair
May5.6good
Jun6.4good
Jul6.8good
Aug7.1good
Sep6.8good
Oct5.2fair
Nov2.2poor
Dec0.1poor

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 Istok for hot-weather activities is from late June to early September, with a peak score in the third week of August.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationAug 17 · 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 Istok, 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 27°C), the essentials are light clothes, rain gear and sun protection. In the cold season around January (highs near 4°C), pack a warm layer, a heavy coat and rain gear.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In August, Istok sees daytime highs around 27°C and nights near 14°C. Worth packing: light clothes, rain gear and sun protection. About 9 days see rain.

UV index (midday) in Istok 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 Istok peaks around July 14 at about 9 (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.

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecLowModerateHighVery highHighModerateLowJul 14UV 9Dec 22UV 1
UV index (midday)Level
Jan2Low
Feb3Moderate
Mar6High
Apr8Very high
May7Very high
Jun9Very high
Jul9Very high
Aug8Very high
Sep6High
Oct4Moderate
Nov2Moderate
Dec1Low

Average hourly UV index in Istok

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 5.5 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
Mar5.50
Apr73.5
May7.53.5
Jun8.55
Jul8.55.5
Aug7.54.5
Sep60
Oct3.50
Nov00
Dec00
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

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

The growing season in Istok typically lasts about 256 days, from around March 14 to November 24 — the span where a frost-free day is more likely than not. It is reliably frost-free from April 15 to October 21.

0%25%50%75%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgrowing seasonMar 1450%Apr 1590%Oct 2190%Nov 2450%
Frost-free chance (%)Frost nights
Jan1931
Feb2628
Mar5431
Apr9016
May1000
Jun1000
Jul1000
Aug1000
Sep1000
Oct9311
Nov6230
Dec2731

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. Istok banks about 1,208 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around August.

05001,000JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°C·days)
Jan0
Feb0
Mar0
Apr12
May122
Jun235
Jul310
Aug315
Sep176
Oct38
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.

Istok receives about 4.0 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — bright — with a clear seasonal swing between 1.5 and 6.5 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 6.1 months, from around Mar 20 to Sep 20. The brightest month is June, averaging about 6.4 kWh/m² (intense).

The dimmest month is December, down near 1.5 kWh/m² — roughly 76% less than the June peak.

012345678JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmerbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightintenseJun 236.5 kWhDec 181.5 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan1.9Dim
Feb2.6Moderate
Mar3.9Moderate
Apr5.1Bright
May5.8Bright
Jun6.4Intense
Jul6.3Intense
Aug5.7Bright
Sep4.3Bright
Oct3.0Moderate
Nov1.9Dim
Dec1.5Dim

Where is Istok?

Istok sits at 42.8°N, 20.5°E, 465 m above sea level, in Kosovo. The nearest listed city is Pejë, 21 km away.

PejëDeçanZvečanMitrovicëLlazicëGlogovacVushtrriNovi Pazar

Topography around Istok

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Istok has large variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 997 m around an average of 634 m above sea level; within 16 km, very significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 1,764 m; within 80 km, extreme variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 2,450 m.

The land around Istok is covered by trees (40%), cropland (28%) and grassland (25%) within 3 km, trees (48%), grassland (31%) and cropland (21%) within 16 km, and trees (59%) and grassland (29%) within 80 km.

3 km
997 m
16 km
1,764 m
80 km
2,450 m
treesgrasslandcroplandartificial surfaces
Nearby: Pejë 21 km · Deçan 31 km · Zvečan 32 km · Mitrovicë 33 km · Llazicë 34 km · Glogovac 37 km · Vushtrri 39 km · Novi Pazar 40 km

Kosovo travel facts

Travel advisory
Level 2
Exercise Increased Caution
Power plugs
Type C / F
230 V · 50 Hz
Prices
≈ 41% of US
price level, 2025
GDP per capita
$7,899
2025
Homicide rate
1.9
per 100k, 2021
Income group
Upper middle
World Bank
Religion
Muslim 96%Roman Catholic 2%Orthodox 2%other 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 Istok (42.7808°, 20.4875°, elevation 465 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).