Climate and average weather in Uliastay

In Uliastay, the summers are mild, showery, and partly cloudy and the winters are frigid, snowy, and mostly clear.

Best: late May to early September

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Uliastay typically varies from -29°C to 21°C, and is rarely below -38°C or above 27°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 Uliastay for warm-weather activities is from late May to early September.

Hottest
Jul
21°
Coldest
Jan
-29°
Wettest
Jul
64 mm
Driest
Jan
2 mm
Rain / yr
264 mm
58 wet days
Daylight
8.2–15.8 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
1,755 m
47.7°N
Clearest
Oct
38% cloud

Uliastay is capital city and sum (district) in Zavkhan Aimag, Mongolia.

Density
508/km²
people per km²
Founded
1733

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

Uliastay 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 late May to early September.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

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

The hot season lasts 4.3 months, from May 11 to September 19, with daily high temperatures above 12°C. The hottest month of the year in Uliastay is July, with an average high of 21°C and low of 10°C.

The cool season lasts 3.3 months, from November 19 to February 26, with daily high temperatures below -8°C. The coldest month of the year in Uliastay is January, with an average low of -29°C and high of -16°C.

Days typically run about 13°C warmer than nights, with the widest day–night swing (around 16°C) in February.

-40°-20°20°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan-15-29
Feb-11-27
Mar-3-18
Apr6-6
May131
Jun197
Jul2110
Aug197
Sep130
Oct4-8
Nov-7-18
Dec-14-26

How hot and cold Uliastay 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 -36°C (around January 19), with roughly 261 freezing days a year (feels-like at or below 0°C) 187 of them bitterly cold — worst in January.

-40°-30°-20°-10°10°20°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Feels-like high (°C)Air high (°C)Feels-like low (°C)Air low (°C)
Jan-15-15-36-29
Feb-11-11-33-27
Mar-3-3-24-18
Apr66-10-6
May1313-21
Jun191957
Jul2121910
Aug191967
Sep1313-20
Oct44-12-8
Nov-7-7-23-18
Dec-14-14-31-26

Average hourly temperature in Uliastay

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 21°C, and coldest before dawn in January, near -29°C.

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

Uliastay 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-16° / -29°20.71.28.70.0
Feb-11° / -27°41.329.90.0
Mar-3° / -18°103.23.811.60.0
Apr / -6°195.34.513.40.9
May13° / 286.72.714.94.1
Jun19° / 4180.515.76.3
Jul21° / 10°6410.6015.46.4
Aug19° / 498.40.314.16.4
Sep13° / 235.21.812.44.2
Oct / -8°134.13.810.60.4
Nov-7° / -18°82.83.39.10.0
Dec-14° / -26°31.21.98.30.0

Chance of rain

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

Uliastay gets about 264 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 5.6 months, from around Apr 9 to Sep 26, peaking in July at about 35% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Jan 18.

July is the wettest month by volume, with 64 mm over about 11 wet days; January is the driest, with 2 mm. Some of the cold-season precipitation falls as snow.

0%10%20%30%40%50%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdrierwetterdriermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetJul 17 · 35%Jan 18 · 2%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan31
Feb41
Mar103
Apr185
May227
Jun278
Jul3411
Aug278
Sep175
Oct144
Nov93
Dec41

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Uliastay collects about 264 mm of rain across 58 wet days — roughly 22 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. July is the wettest month with 64 mm, while January is the driest at just 2 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 59% of the year’s total, and some of the cold-season precipitation falls as snow.

0255075JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec24101928416449231383
Rainfall (mm)Rain daysSnow days
Jan211
Feb412
Mar1034
Apr1955
May2873
Jun4181
Jul64110
Aug4980
Sep2352
Oct1344
Nov833
Dec312

Snow in Uliastay

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.

Uliastay averages about 26 snowy days a year. Snow season runs roughly Aug 30 to Jun 12 — about 9.4 months.

April is snowiest, with roughly 5 days of snow and an estimated 16 cm of snowfall. Over the year that adds up to an estimated 86 cm of snow.

0246JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecsnow seasonsnow seasonApr 10
Snow daysSnowfall (cm)
Jan13
Feb26
Mar414
Apr516
May39
Jun11
Jul00
Aug01
Sep26
Oct415
Nov311
Dec25

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Uliastay, 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 18 and lasts for 6.5 months, ending around March 3. The clearest month is October, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 71% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around March 4 and lasts for 5.5 months, ending around August 17. The cloudiest month is July, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 51% 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 22 · 72%Jun 25 · 48%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastclearercloudierclearer
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan7030
Feb6535
Mar5842
Apr5050
May5149
Jun5050
Jul4951
Aug6040
Sep6832
Oct7129
Nov6931
Dec6832

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 15 h 48 min of light; the shortest, around December 14, only 8 h 12 min — a swing of roughly 7 h 36 min.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan8.78:245:00
Feb9.97:495:45
Mar11.66:556:29
Apr13.45:517:14
May14.95:017:56
Jun15.74:408:26
Jul15.44:558:21
Aug14.15:347:40
Sep12.46:176:37
Oct10.67:005:35
Nov9.17:474:48
Dec8.38:224:36

Sunny days

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

Uliastay averages about 13 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 8 and 17 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 6.2 months, from around Aug 30 to Mar 7. The sunniest month is January, with roughly 17 sunny days (bright).

The greyest month is June, down near 8 sunny days — about 51% fewer than the January peak.

05101520JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecsunniergreyersunniergloomymixedbrightJan 3017 daysJun 238 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan17Bright
Feb14Bright
Mar13Mixed
Apr10Mixed
May9Mixed
Jun8Mixed
Jul9Mixed
Aug12Mixed
Sep15Mixed
Oct17Bright
Nov16Bright
Dec17Bright

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 Uliastay, the air stays dry or comfortable essentially all year. Even in July, the muggiest month, it feels humid or worse only about 0% of the time — humidity is not something you need to plan around here.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdry
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)
Jan1000
Feb1000
Mar1000
Apr1000
May1000
Jun1000
Jul991
Aug1000
Sep1000
Oct1000
Nov1000
Dec1000

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 Uliastay is typically calm, near 7 km/h, and varies little with the seasons.

The windier part of the year lasts 6.7 months, from around Mar 11 to Sep 30. The windiest month is May, averaging about 9 km/h (calm).

The calmer part of the year runs from around Oct 1 to Mar 10, with January the calmest month at about 6 km/h.

051015JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDeccalmerwindiercalmercalmlight breezeMay 4 · 10 km/hJan 9 · 6 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan6calm
Feb6calm
Mar8calm
Apr9calm
May9calm
Jun8calm
Jul8calm
Aug8calm
Sep8calm
Oct7calm
Nov6calm
Dec6calm

Best time to visit Uliastay

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

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

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationAug 17 · 6.5

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
Apr1.0poor
May4.2fair
Jun6.3good
Jul6.4good
Aug6.4good
Sep4.2fair
Oct0.5poor
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 Uliastay for hot-weather activities is from late June to early August, with a peak score in the third week of July.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationJul 15 · 4.1

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 Uliastay, 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 21°C), the essentials are rain gear and sun protection. In the cold season around January (highs near -16°C), pack a warm layer and a heavy coat.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In July, Uliastay sees daytime highs around 21°C and nights near 10°C. Pack sun protection. Worth having: rain gear. About 11 days see rain.

UV index (midday) in Uliastay 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 Uliastay peaks around July 16 at about 9 (very high) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near January 10 at about 1 (low).

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

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecLowModerateVery highHighModerateLowJul 16UV 9Jan 10UV 1
UV index (midday)Level
Jan1Low
Feb2Moderate
Mar3Moderate
Apr7High
May9Very high
Jun8Very high
Jul9Very high
Aug7Very high
Sep5Moderate
Oct3Moderate
Nov1Low
Dec1Low

Average hourly UV index in Uliastay

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
Mar30
Apr72.5
May8.55
Jun8.54.5
Jul8.55.5
Aug73.5
Sep5.50
Oct00
Nov00
Dec00
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

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

The growing season in Uliastay typically lasts about 126 days, from around May 14 to September 16 — the span where a frost-free day is more likely than not. It is reliably frost-free from June 7 to August 31.

0%25%50%75%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgrowing seasonApr 1410%May 1450%Jun 790%Aug 3190%Sep 1650%Oct 510%
Frost-free chance (%)Frost nights
Jan031
Feb028
Mar131
Apr1430
May5531
Jun956
Jul1000
Aug980
Sep5330
Oct531
Nov030
Dec031

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. Uliastay banks about 345 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around July.

0100200300400JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°C·days)
Jan0
Feb0
Mar0
Apr0
May0
Jun86
Jul165
Aug93
Sep1
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.

Uliastay receives about 4.5 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — bright — with a clear seasonal swing between 1.6 and 7.1 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 6.4 months, from around Mar 12 to Sep 22. The brightest month is May, averaging about 6.9 kWh/m² (intense).

The dimmest month is December, down near 1.6 kWh/m² — roughly 77% less than the May peak.

012345678JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmerbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightintenseMay 317.1 kWhDec 201.6 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan2.0Dim
Feb3.1Moderate
Mar4.8Bright
Apr6.1Intense
May6.9Intense
Jun7.0Intense
Jul6.4Intense
Aug5.7Bright
Sep4.8Bright
Oct3.4Moderate
Nov2.1Moderate
Dec1.6Dim

Where is Uliastay?

Uliastay sits at 47.7°N, 96.8°E, 1,755 m above sea level, in Mongolia. The nearest listed city is Altai, 159 km away.

AltaiMörönBayanhongorTsetserlegKhovdUlaangomKyzylArvayheer

Topography around Uliastay

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Uliastay has significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 399 m around an average of 1,798 m above sea level; within 16 km, very significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 1,247 m; within 80 km, extreme variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 2,539 m.

The land around Uliastay is covered by grassland (85%) within 3 km, grassland (87%) within 16 km, and grassland (78%) within 80 km.

3 km
399 m
16 km
1,247 m
80 km
2,539 m
treesgrasslandcroplandartificial surfacesbare terrainwatermoss and lichen
Nearby: Altai 159 km · Mörön 322 km · Bayanhongor 341 km · Tsetserleg 347 km · Khovd 389 km · Ulaangom 429 km · Kyzyl 474 km · Arvayheer 479 km

Mongolia travel facts

Travel advisory
Level 1
Exercise Normal Precautions
Power plugs
Type C / E / F
220 V · 50 Hz
Prices
≈ 34% of US
price level, 2025
GDP per capita
$7,108
2025
Happiness
5.9 / 10
World Happiness, 2025
Safe drinking water
43%
of population, 2024
Homicide rate
5.9
per 100k, 2023
Road deaths
21
per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group
Upper middle
World Bank
English
Very low
EF EPI 447
Religion
Buddhist 52%no religion 41%Muslim 3%Shaman 3%

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 Uliastay (47.7417°, 96.8444°, elevation 1,755 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).