Climate and average weather in Bitola

In Bitola, the summers are warm, fairly dry, and mostly clear and the winters are cold, snowy, and partly cloudy.

Best: late May to mid October

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Bitola 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 Bitola for warm-weather activities is from late May to mid October.

Hottest
Aug
27°
Coldest
Jan
-4°
Wettest
May
77 mm
Driest
Aug
35 mm
Rain / yr
703 mm
111 wet days
Daylight
9.0–15.0 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
583 m
41.0°N
Clearest
Aug
31% cloud

Bitola is town and seat of Bitola Municipality, North Macedonia.

Air quality
Elevated
PM10 46.4 µg/m³ · 2018
Density
164/km²
people per km²

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

Bitola 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 mid October.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

Daily average highs and lows in Bitola, 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 June 2 to September 20, with daily high temperatures above 21°C. The hottest month of the year in Bitola is August, with an average high of 27°C and low of 15°C.

The cool season lasts 3.3 months, from November 24 to March 4, with daily high temperatures below 8°C. The coldest month of the year in Bitola 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 12°C) in June.

-10°10°20°30°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan4-4
Feb6-3
Mar100
Apr154
May198
Jun2412
Jul2715
Aug2715
Sep2212
Oct177
Nov102
Dec5-2

How hot and cold Bitola 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 -6°C (around January 29), with roughly 130 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
Apr151524
May191978
Jun24241212
Jul27271515
Aug27271515
Sep22221112
Oct171767
Nov101012
Dec55-4-2

Average hourly temperature in Bitola

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

Bitola 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°579.36.69.40.0
Feb / -3°559.46.310.40.5
Mar10° / 6811.45.211.72.2
Apr15° / 7412.61.313.14.1
May19° / 7712.20.114.36.0
Jun24° / 12°519.3014.97.2
Jul27° / 15°396.9014.67.5
Aug27° / 15°356.8013.67.5
Sep22° / 12°516.9012.37.4
Oct17° / 627.40.510.95.7
Nov10° / 668.82.29.72.5
Dec / -2°709.75.79.10.2

Chance of rain

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

Bitola gets about 703 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 4.9 months, from around Jan 22 to Jun 19, peaking in April at about 42% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Aug 23.

May is the wettest month by volume, with 77 mm over about 12 wet days; August is the driest, with 35 mm. Some of the cold-season precipitation falls as snow.

0%10%20%30%40%50%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwetterdriermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetApr 14 · 42%Aug 23 · 20%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan309
Feb349
Mar3711
Apr4213
May3812
Jun329
Jul227
Aug227
Sep237
Oct247
Nov299
Dec3210

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Bitola collects about 703 mm of rain across 111 wet days — roughly 59 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. May is the wettest month with 77 mm, while August is the driest at just 35 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 31% of the year’s total, and some of the cold-season precipitation falls as snow.

0255075100JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec575568747751393551626670
Rainfall (mm)Rain daysSnow days
Jan5797
Feb5596
Mar68115
Apr74131
May77120
Jun5190
Jul3970
Aug3570
Sep5170
Oct6271
Nov6692
Dec70106

Snow in Bitola

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.

Bitola averages about 28 snowy days a year. Snow season runs roughly Oct 19 to Apr 24 — about 6.2 months.

January is snowiest, with roughly 6 days of snow and an estimated 31 cm of snowfall. Over the year that adds up to an estimated 167 cm of snow.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecsnow seasonsnow seasonJan 30
Snow daysSnowfall (cm)
Jan731
Feb638
Mar531
Apr18
May00
Jun00
Jul00
Aug00
Sep00
Oct13
Nov220
Dec636

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Bitola, 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 28 and lasts for 4.2 months, ending around October 3. The clearest month is August, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 87% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around October 4 and lasts for 7.8 months, ending around May 27. The cloudiest month is December, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 59% 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 · 89%Nov 30 · 39%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastcloudierclearercloudier
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan4456
Feb4456
Mar4753
Apr4753
May5347
Jun7327
Jul8614
Aug8713
Sep6733
Oct5644
Nov4456
Dec4159

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 hours of light; the shortest, around December 19, only 9 hours — a swing of roughly 6 hours.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan9.47:034:25
Feb10.46:385:00
Mar11.75:545:34
Apr13.15:026:08
May14.34:226:40
Jun14.94:077:03
Jul14.64:207:01
Aug13.64:496:28
Sep12.35:215:37
Oct10.95:534:46
Nov9.76:304:10
Dec9.16:594:03

Sunny days

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

Bitola averages about 12 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 8 and 21 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 4.8 months, from around Jun 3 to Oct 27. The sunniest month is August, with roughly 20 sunny days (bright).

The greyest month is December, down near 8 sunny days — about 58% fewer than the August peak.

0510152025JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgreyersunniergreyergloomymixedbrightbrilliantAug 1821 daysDec 58 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan10Mixed
Feb8Mixed
Mar9Mixed
Apr8Mixed
May10Mixed
Jun15Bright
Jul20Bright
Aug20Bright
Sep14Mixed
Oct13Mixed
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 Bitola, the air stays dry or comfortable essentially all year. Even in July, the muggiest month, it feels humid or worse only about 5% 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
May9820
Jun73252
Jul61345
Aug60364
Sep87130
Oct9910
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 Bitola is steady company: average speeds sit near 6 km/hcalm — in every month of the year, with no meaningful windy or calm season.

0510JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDeccalmMar 31 · 7 km/hAug 18 · 5 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan6calm
Feb6calm
Mar6calm
Apr6calm
May6calm
Jun6calm
Jul6calm
Aug5calm
Sep5calm
Oct5calm
Nov5calm
Dec6calm

Best time to visit Bitola

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

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

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationAug 30 · 7.8

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
Feb0.5poor
Mar2.2poor
Apr4.1fair
May6.0good
Jun7.2good
Jul7.5ideal
Aug7.6ideal
Sep7.4good
Oct5.7good
Nov2.5poor
Dec0.2poor

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

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationAug 17 · 7.7

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 Bitola, 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 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, Bitola sees daytime highs around 27°C and nights near 15°C. Pack sun protection. Worth having: light clothes. About 7 days see rain.

UV index (midday) in Bitola 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 Bitola peaks around June 23 at about 10 (very high) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near December 20 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 highHighModerateLowJun 23UV 10Dec 20UV 1
UV index (midday)Level
Jan2Low
Feb3Moderate
Mar5Moderate
Apr8Very high
May7High
Jun10Very high
Jul10Very high
Aug9Very high
Sep6High
Oct4Moderate
Nov2Moderate
Dec1Low

Average hourly UV index in Bitola

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 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
Mar50
Apr73.5
May7.53.5
Jun8.55.5
Jul8.55.5
Aug85
Sep6.52
Oct40
Nov00
Dec00

Air quality in Bitola by month

GoodModeratePoorUnhealthyVery unhealthy

Average fine-particle pollution (PM2.5) through the year — so you can see which months the air is worst, not just the yearly average.

Air quality in Bitola is worst in May — around 16 µg/m³ PM2.5 (moderate), about 2.0× the cleanest month (December, 8 µg/m³).

Modeled monthly averages (CAMS reanalysis, 2015–2024).

01020JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecGoodModerateGoodMay 1315 µg/m³Dec 188 µg/m³
PM2.5 (µg/m³)Level
Jan9Good
Feb11Good
Mar14Moderate
Apr15Moderate
May16Moderate
Jun14Moderate
Jul12Moderate
Aug14Moderate
Sep11Good
Oct10Good
Nov10Good
Dec8Good
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

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

The growing season in Bitola typically lasts about 262 days, from around March 17 to December 3 — the span where a frost-free day is more likely than not. It is reliably frost-free from April 14 to October 31.

0%25%50%75%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgrowing seasonMar 1750%Apr 1490%Oct 3190%Dec 350%
Frost-free chance (%)Frost nights
Jan2031
Feb2428
Mar5231
Apr9113
May1000
Jun1000
Jul1000
Aug1000
Sep1000
Oct981
Nov7430
Dec3331

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. Bitola banks about 1,307 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
Apr8
May115
Jun239
Jul334
Aug344
Sep206
Oct62
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.

Bitola receives about 4.3 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — bright — with a clear seasonal swing between 1.6 and 6.9 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 6.1 months, from around Mar 21 to Sep 21. The brightest month is July, averaging about 6.7 kWh/m² (intense).

The dimmest month is December, down near 1.6 kWh/m² — roughly 76% less than the July peak.

012345678JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmerbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightintenseJul 16.9 kWhDec 131.6 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan2.0Dim
Feb2.9Moderate
Mar4.1Bright
Apr5.2Bright
May6.0Intense
Jun6.8Intense
Jul6.8Intense
Aug6.1Intense
Sep4.6Bright
Oct3.1Moderate
Nov2.0Moderate
Dec1.6Dim

Where is Bitola?

Bitola sits at 41.0°N, 21.3°E, 583 m above sea level, in North Macedonia. The nearest listed city is Resen, 28 km away.

ResenFlórinaKruševoPrilepPustecOhridStrugaPogradec

Topography around Bitola

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Bitola has significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 364 m around an average of 651 m above sea level; within 16 km, very significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 2,056 m; within 80 km, extreme variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 2,567 m.

The land around Bitola is covered by artificial surfaces (34%), grassland (27%) and trees (21%) within 3 km, cropland (42%), trees (31%) and grassland (24%) within 16 km, and trees (51%) and grassland (29%) within 80 km.

3 km
364 m
16 km
2,056 m
80 km
2,567 m
treesshrubsgrasslandcroplandartificial surfaceswater
Nearby: Resen 28 km · Flórina 29 km · Kruševo 38 km · Prilep 39 km · Pustec 46 km · Ohrid 46 km · Struga 57 km · Pogradec 59 km

North Macedonia travel facts

Travel advisory
Level 1
Exercise Normal Precautions
Power plugs
Type C / F
230 V · 50 Hz
Prices
≈ 37% of US
price level, 2025
GDP per capita
$10,490
2025
Happiness
5.7 / 10
World Happiness, 2025
Safe drinking water
81%
of population, 2024
Homicide rate
1.5
per 100k, 2023
Road deaths
5.1
per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group
Upper middle
World Bank
English
High
EF EPI 595
Religion
Orthodox 46%Islam 32%Christian 13%Other 7%

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 Bitola (41.0323°, 21.3355°, elevation 583 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. Monthly air-quality (PM2.5) seasonality is from the CAMS EAC4 reanalysis (Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service), scaled to the WHO annual mean where available. Topography is sampled from the Copernicus DEM GLO-90 elevation model (© ESA/Airbus) and ESA WorldCover 2021 land cover (CC BY 4.0).