Climate and average weather in Grimstad

In Grimstad, the summers are mild, showery, and partly cloudy and the winters are cold, breezy, snowy, and mostly cloudy.

Best: late May to early September

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Grimstad typically varies from -1°C to 20°C, and is rarely below -7°C or above 25°C. July is the hottest month of the year, while February is the coldest.

Based on the travel score, the best time of year to visit Grimstad for warm-weather activities is from late May to early September.

Hottest
Jul
20°
Coldest
Feb
-1°
Wettest
Oct
119 mm
Driest
Apr
58 mm
Rain / yr
1067 mm
142 wet days
Daylight
6.0–18.0 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
9 m
58.3°N
Clearest
May
56% cloud

Grimstad is settlement in Grimstad Municipality, Norway.

Density
2,552/km²
people per km²
Founded
1816

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

Grimstad 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 Grimstad, from 1991–2020 of climate data. The shaded bands show the range most days fall in — 10th to 90th percentile.

The hot season lasts 3.5 months, from May 30 to September 12, with daily high temperatures above 16°C. The hottest month of the year in Grimstad is July, with an average high of 20°C and low of 14°C.

The cool season lasts 4.1 months, from November 19 to March 24, with daily high temperatures below 7°C. The coldest month of the year in Grimstad is February, with an average low of -1°C and high of 3°C.

Days typically run about 5°C warmer than nights, with the widest day–night swing (around 7°C) in July.

-10°10°20°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan30
Feb3-1
Mar61
Apr104
May148
Jun1811
Jul2014
Aug2014
Sep1611
Oct117
Nov74
Dec41

How hot and cold Grimstad 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 February 6), with roughly 156 freezing days a year (feels-like at or below 0°C), worst in February.

-10°10°20°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Feels-like high (°C)Air high (°C)Feels-like low (°C)Air low (°C)
Jan33-60
Feb33-6-1
Mar66-41
Apr101004
May141458
Jun18181111
Jul20201414
Aug20201314
Sep16161011
Oct111147
Nov77-14
Dec44-41

Average hourly temperature in Grimstad

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 20°C, and coldest before dawn in February, near -1°C.

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

Grimstad 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 / -0°10714.47.66.80.0
Feb / -1°7911.478.90.0
Mar / 7110.14.811.40.4
Apr10° / 589.91.3142.1
May14° / 6310016.44.2
Jun18° / 11°759.5017.85.8
Jul20° / 14°729.7017.26.4
Aug20° / 14°10112015.16.0
Sep16° / 11°10512.4012.54.6
Oct11° / 11914.10.39.92.5
Nov / 11514.82.47.50.8
Dec / 104144.26.20.0

Chance of rain

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

Grimstad gets about 1067 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 5.8 months, from around Aug 21 to Feb 13, peaking in November at about 50% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Mar 24.

October is the wettest month by volume, with 119 mm over about 14 wet days; April is the driest, with 58 mm. Some of the cold-season precipitation falls as snow.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwetterdrierwettermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetNov 25 · 50%Mar 24 · 28%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan4714
Feb4011
Mar3310
Apr3110
May3310
Jun3210
Jul3210
Aug3812
Sep4212
Oct4514
Nov4915
Dec4514

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Grimstad collects about 1067 mm of rain across 142 wet days — roughly 89 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. October is the wettest month with 119 mm, while April is the driest at just 58 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 32% of the year’s total, and some of the cold-season precipitation falls as snow.

0255075100125150JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec107797158637572101105119115104
Rainfall (mm)Rain daysSnow days
Jan107148
Feb79117
Mar71105
Apr58101
May63100
Jun75100
Jul72100
Aug101120
Sep105120
Oct119140
Nov115152
Dec104144

Snow in Grimstad

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.

Grimstad averages about 28 snowy days a year. Snow season runs roughly Oct 24 to Apr 26 — about 6.1 months.

January is snowiest, with roughly 7 days of snow and an estimated 49 cm of snowfall. Over the year that adds up to an estimated 151 cm of snow.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecsnow seasonsnow seasonJan 27
Snow daysSnowfall (cm)
Jan849
Feb743
Mar523
Apr15
May00
Jun00
Jul00
Aug00
Sep00
Oct01
Nov210
Dec420

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Grimstad, 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 March 16 and lasts for 6.3 months, ending around September 22. The clearest month is July, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 52% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around September 23 and lasts for 5.7 months, ending around March 15. The cloudiest month is November, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 71% 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 13 · 53%Nov 26 · 27%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastcloudierclearercloudier
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan3268
Feb3367
Mar4159
Apr4753
May5248
Jun5050
Jul5248
Aug4852
Sep4357
Oct3664
Nov2971
Dec3466

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 21, brings about 18 hours of light; the shortest, around December 20, only 6 hours — a swing of roughly 12 hours.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan6.89:123:58
Feb8.98:135:07
Mar11.46:546:16
Apr14.05:247:28
May16.44:088:35
Jun17.83:299:23
Jul17.23:529:11
Aug15.14:558:04
Sep12.56:056:35
Oct9.97:145:08
Nov7.58:273:54
Dec6.29:193:24

Sunny days

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

Grimstad averages about 8 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 5 and 10 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 5.6 months, from around Mar 16 to Aug 31. The sunniest month is May, with roughly 10 sunny days (mixed).

The greyest month is November, down near 6 sunny days — about 41% fewer than the May peak.

051015JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgreyersunniergreyergloomymixedMay 1010 daysNov 295 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan7Gloomy
Feb6Gloomy
Mar8Mixed
Apr10Mixed
May10Mixed
Jun9Mixed
Jul10Mixed
Aug10Mixed
Sep8Gloomy
Oct7Gloomy
Nov6Gloomy
Dec7Gloomy

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 Grimstad, the air stays dry or comfortable essentially all year. Even in August, the muggiest month, it feels humid or worse only about 8% 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 12 · 100%Aug 1 · 90%humidcomfortabledrycomfortablehumidcomfortable
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)Humid (%)
Jan10000
Feb10000
Mar10000
Apr10000
May9910
Jun9280
Jul65305
Aug60338
Sep86131
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.

Across the year, average wind speed in Grimstad is typically light breeze, near 18 km/h, and varies moderately with the seasons.

The windier part of the year lasts 6.4 months, from around Sep 12 to Mar 24. The windiest month is January, averaging about 20 km/h (breezy).

The calmer part of the year runs from around Mar 25 to Sep 11, with July the calmest month at about 15 km/h.

0510152025JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwindiercalmerwindiercalmlight breezebreezyJan 10 · 21 km/hJul 26 · 15 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan20breezy
Feb19light breeze
Mar18light breeze
Apr16light breeze
May16light breeze
Jun15light breeze
Jul15light breeze
Aug15light breeze
Sep18light breeze
Oct19light breeze
Nov19light breeze
Dec20light breeze

Best time to visit Grimstad

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

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

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationJul 18 · 6.4

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
Mar0.4poor
Apr2.1poor
May4.2fair
Jun5.8good
Jul6.3good
Aug6.0good
Sep4.6fair
Oct2.5poor
Nov0.8poor
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 Grimstad for hot-weather activities is from early July to mid August, with a peak score in the last week of July.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationJul 26 · 3.7

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 Grimstad, 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 20°C), the essentials are rain gear and sun protection. In the cold season around February (highs near 3°C), pack a warm layer, a heavy coat and rain gear.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In July, Grimstad sees daytime highs around 20°C and nights near 14°C. Worth packing: rain gear and sun protection. About 10 days see rain.

Sea temperature near Grimstad

Average ocean temperature at the nearest coast, month by month, banded into swim-comfort zones — the other half of the beach question.

The sea offshore is warmest in August at about 18°C and coldest in February near 4°C.

The water stays below 20°C all year — cool enough that most swimmers want a wetsuit.

0°5°10°15°20°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbracingcoolrefreshing
Sea temperature (°C)Comfort
Jan5Bracing
Feb4Bracing
Mar4Bracing
Apr6Bracing
May10Bracing
Jun15Bracing
Jul17Cool
Aug18Cool
Sep15Cool
Oct12Bracing
Nov9Bracing
Dec7Bracing

UV index (midday) in Grimstad 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 Grimstad peaks around August 10 at about 5 (moderate) — a little sun protection helps at midday. It bottoms out near December 20 at about 0 (low).

The index reaches 3 or more — the level where the WHO recommends sun protection — in 4 months of the year.

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecLowModerateLowAug 10UV 5Dec 20UV 0
UV index (midday)Level
Jan0Low
Feb1Low
Mar2Low
Apr3Moderate
May5Moderate
Jun4Moderate
Jul5Moderate
Aug5Moderate
Sep3Moderate
Oct1Low
Nov1Low
Dec0Low

Average hourly UV index in Grimstad

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 August the burn window is concentrated in the middle of the day: about 6 hours a day reach index 3 (protection recommended). 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
Apr00
May5.50
Jun50
Jul60
Aug60
Sep00
Oct00
Nov00
Dec00
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

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

The growing season in Grimstad typically lasts about 296 days, from around March 7 to December 27 — the span where a frost-free day is more likely than not. It is reliably frost-free from April 11 to November 9.

0%25%50%75%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgrowing seasonMar 750%Apr 1190%Nov 990%Dec 2750%
Frost-free chance (%)Frost nights
Jan4831
Feb4328
Mar5931
Apr9210
May1000
Jun1000
Jul1000
Aug1000
Sep1000
Oct980
Nov8522
Dec5931

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. Grimstad banks about 685 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around July.

0200400600800JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°C·days)
Jan0
Feb0
Mar0
Apr0
May35
Jun136
Jul213
Aug201
Sep95
Oct5
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.

Grimstad receives about 2.9 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — moderate — with a clear seasonal swing between 0.3 and 6.1 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 5.7 months, from around Mar 24 to Sep 11. The brightest month is June, averaging about 6.1 kWh/m² (intense).

The dimmest month is December, down near 0.3 kWh/m² — roughly 95% less than the June peak.

01234567JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmerbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightintenseJun 86.1 kWhDec 180.3 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan0.4Dim
Feb1.1Dim
Mar2.5Moderate
Apr4.2Bright
May5.6Bright
Jun6.1Intense
Jul5.8Bright
Aug4.5Bright
Sep2.7Moderate
Oct1.3Dim
Nov0.5Dim
Dec0.3Dim

Where is Grimstad?

Grimstad sits at 58.3°N, 8.6°E, 9 m above sea level, in Norway. The nearest listed city is Arendal, 17 km away.

Topography around Grimstad

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Grimstad has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 124 m around an average of 29 m above sea level; within 16 km, significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 340 m; within 80 km, large variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 930 m.

The land around Grimstad is covered by trees (39%) and water (30%) within 3 km, water (51%) and trees (40%) within 16 km, and trees (56%) and water (37%) within 80 km.

3 km
124 m
16 km
340 m
80 km
930 m
treesgrasslandcroplandartificial surfaceswater
Nearby: Arendal 17 km · Kristiansand 41 km · Porsgrunn 108 km · Skien 113 km · Larvik 115 km · Hjørring 127 km · Sandefjord 128 km · Skagen 136 km

Norway travel facts

Travel advisory
Level 1
Exercise Normal Precautions
Power plugs
Type C / F
230 V · 50 Hz
Prices
≈ 91% of US
price level, 2025
GDP per capita
$94,594
2025
Happiness
7.2 / 10
World Happiness, 2025
Safe drinking water
99%
of population, 2024
Homicide rate
0.7
per 100k, 2023
Road deaths
2.1
per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group
High
World Bank
English
Very high
EF EPI 613
Religion
Church of Norway 68%other Christian 4%Muslim 3%Roman Catholic 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 Grimstad (58.3405°, 8.5934°, elevation 9 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. Sea temperatures are the NOAA OISST v2.1 1991–2020 monthly climatology (public domain), sampled at the nearest ocean point. 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).