Climate and average weather in Molde

In Molde, the summers are mild, wet, and mostly cloudy and the winters are cold, snowy, and mostly cloudy.

Best: late June to late August

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Molde typically varies from -3°C to 17°C, and is rarely below -10°C or above 24°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 Molde for warm-weather activities is from late June to late August.

Hottest
Jul
17°
Coldest
Jan
-2°
Wettest
Sep
174 mm
Driest
May
99 mm
Rain / yr
1639 mm
199 wet days
Daylight
4.4–19.6 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
3 m
62.7°N
Clearest
May
71% cloud

Molde is town in Molde Municipality, Norway.

Density
2,468/km²
people per km²
Founded
1614

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

Molde 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 June to late August.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

Daily average highs and lows in Molde, 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 1 to September 16, with daily high temperatures above 14°C. The hottest month of the year in Molde is July, with an average high of 17°C and low of 11°C.

The cool season lasts 4.2 months, from November 11 to March 18, with daily high temperatures below 5°C. The coldest month of the year in Molde is January, with an average low of -2°C and high of 2°C.

Days typically run about 6°C warmer than nights, with the widest day–night swing (around 8°C) in May.

-10°10°20°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan2-2
Feb3-2
Mar5-1
Apr92
May125
Jun158
Jul1711
Aug1711
Sep148
Oct94
Nov51
Dec2-2

How hot and cold Molde 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 1), with roughly 174 freezing days a year (feels-like at or below 0°C), worst in January.

-10°-5°10°15°20°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Feels-like high (°C)Air high (°C)Feels-like low (°C)Air low (°C)
Jan22-6-2
Feb33-6-2
Mar55-5-1
Apr99-12
May121235
Jun151578
Jul17171011
Aug17171111
Sep141478
Oct9924
Nov55-21
Dec22-6-2

Average hourly temperature in Molde

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 17°C, and coldest before dawn in January, near -2°C.

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

Molde 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 / -2°15917.913.25.50.0
Feb / -3°14316.412.78.20.0
Mar / -1°13817.812.111.20.1
Apr / 10014.56.514.41.5
May12° / 9915.82.317.42.9
Jun15° / 11715.9019.43.7
Jul17° / 11°11415.8018.64.7
Aug17° / 11°14217.1015.84.5
Sep14° / 17417.2012.73.3
Oct / 15516.93.19.51.5
Nov / 13615.67.26.50.1
Dec / -2°16418.312.44.60.0

Chance of rain

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

Molde gets about 1639 mm of precipitation a year. On a typical day the chance of rain is very wet, but that rises and falls sharply with the seasons.

The wetter season lasts 3.8 months, from around Dec 5 to Mar 29, peaking in December at about 61% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Apr 23.

September is the wettest month by volume, with 174 mm over about 17 wet days; May is the driest, with 99 mm. Some of the cold-season precipitation falls as snow.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwetterdrierwettermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetDec 22 · 61%Apr 23 · 47%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan5818
Feb5816
Mar5818
Apr4915
May5016
Jun5316
Jul5116
Aug5517
Sep5817
Oct5417
Nov5316
Dec5918

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Molde collects about 1639 mm of rain across 199 wet days — roughly 137 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. September is the wettest month with 174 mm, while May is the driest at just 99 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 30% of the year’s total, and some of the cold-season precipitation falls as snow.

0255075100125150175200JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec15914313810099117114142174155136164
Rainfall (mm)Rain daysSnow days
Jan1591813
Feb1431613
Mar1381812
Apr100157
May99162
Jun117160
Jul114160
Aug142170
Sep174170
Oct155173
Nov136167
Dec1641812

Snow in Molde

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.

Molde averages about 70 snowy days a year. Snow season runs roughly Sep 30 to May 28 — about 7.9 months.

February is snowiest, with roughly 13 days of snow and an estimated 81 cm of snowfall. Over the year that adds up to an estimated 442 cm of snow.

05101520JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecsnow seasonsnow seasonFeb 1
Snow daysSnowfall (cm)
Jan1384
Feb1381
Mar1281
Apr736
May211
Jun00
Jul00
Aug00
Sep00
Oct316
Nov750
Dec1283

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Molde, the average share of the sky covered by clouds shows mild seasonal variation over the course of the year.

The clearer part of the year begins around April 1 and lasts for 2.3 months, ending around June 9. The clearest month is May, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 30% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around December 8 and lasts for 3.7 months, ending around March 31. The cloudiest month is January, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 81% 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%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecApr 25 · 32%Dec 24 · 17%clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastcloudierclearercloudier
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan1981
Feb2179
Mar2278
Apr2872
May3070
Jun2278
Jul2278
Aug2278
Sep2476
Oct2575
Nov2476
Dec2080

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 16, brings about 19 h 36 min of light; the shortest, around December 16, only 4 h 24 min — a swing of roughly 15 h 12 min.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan5.59:573:24
Feb8.28:394:53
Mar11.27:046:18
Apr14.45:177:46
May17.43:439:12
Jun19.42:4510:18
Jul18.63:179:57
Aug15.84:418:30
Sep12.76:086:44
Oct9.57:325:01
Nov6.59:053:28
Dec4.610:152:40

Sunny days

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

Molde gets about 4 sunny days a month gloomy — and it barely shifts through the year, holding between 3 and 5 days every month. Clear skies here are a flat line, not a season.

0510JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgloomymixedMay 165 daysAug 273 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan4Gloomy
Feb4Gloomy
Mar5Gloomy
Apr5Gloomy
May5Gloomy
Jun4Gloomy
Jul4Gloomy
Aug3Gloomy
Sep4Gloomy
Oct5Gloomy
Nov4Gloomy
Dec4Gloomy

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 Molde, the air stays dry or comfortable essentially all year. Even in August, the muggiest month, it feels humid or worse only about 1% 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
May10000
Jun9910
Jul83161
Aug81181
Sep9730
Oct10000
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 Molde is typically calm, near 9 km/h, and varies little with the seasons.

The windier part of the year lasts 5.5 months, from around Oct 24 to Apr 9. The windiest month is January, averaging about 11 km/h (calm).

The calmer part of the year runs from around Apr 10 to Oct 23, with July the calmest month at about 7 km/h.

051015JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwindiercalmerwindiercalmlight breezeJan 11 · 11 km/hJul 30 · 7 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan11calm
Feb11calm
Mar10calm
Apr9calm
May8calm
Jun8calm
Jul7calm
Aug7calm
Sep9calm
Oct9calm
Nov10calm
Dec11calm

Best time to visit Molde

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

Around late August, Molde 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 Molde for general outdoor tourist activities is from late June to late August, with a peak score in the last week of July.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationJul 30 · 5.0

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
Mar0.1poor
Apr1.5poor
May2.9poor
Jun3.7fair
Jul4.6fair
Aug4.5fair
Sep3.3poor
Oct1.5poor
Nov0.1poor
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 Molde for hot-weather activities is from late July to mid August, with a peak score in the last week of July.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDectemperaturecloudsprecipitationJul 31 · 1.7

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 Molde, 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 17°C), the essentials are rain gear. In the cold season around January (highs near 2°C), pack a warm layer, a heavy coat and rain gear.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In July, Molde sees daytime highs around 17°C and nights near 11°C. Pack rain gear. About 16 days see rain.

Sea temperature near Molde

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

The sea at the nearest coast (about 21 km away) is warmest in August at about 14°C and coldest in March near 6°C.

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

5°10°15°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbracingcool
Sea temperature (°C)Comfort
Jan7Bracing
Feb6Bracing
Mar6Bracing
Apr6Bracing
May8Bracing
Jun11Bracing
Jul13Bracing
Aug14Bracing
Sep14Bracing
Oct12Bracing
Nov9Bracing
Dec8Bracing

UV index (midday) in Molde 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 Molde peaks around June 22 at about 4 (moderate) — a little sun protection helps at midday. It bottoms out near January 1 at about 0 (low).

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

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecLowModerateLowJun 22UV 4Jan 1UV 0
UV index (midday)Level
Jan0Low
Feb1Low
Mar1Low
Apr2Moderate
May4Moderate
Jun5Moderate
Jul4Moderate
Aug4Moderate
Sep2Low
Oct1Low
Nov0Low
Dec0Low

Average hourly UV index in Molde

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 6.5 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
May4.50
Jun6.50
Jul60
Aug40
Sep00
Oct00
Nov00
Dec00
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

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

The growing season in Molde typically lasts about 234 days, from around April 2 to November 21 — the span where a frost-free day is more likely than not. It is reliably frost-free from May 4 to October 16.

0%25%50%75%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgrowing seasonApr 250%May 490%Oct 1690%Nov 2150%
Frost-free chance (%)Frost nights
Jan3131
Feb3128
Mar3931
Apr7030
May952
Jun1000
Jul1000
Aug1000
Sep1000
Oct9016
Nov5830
Dec3631

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. Molde banks about 338 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around August.

0100200300400JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°C·days)
Jan0
Feb0
Mar0
Apr0
May1
Jun47
Jul124
Aug127
Sep39
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.

Molde receives about 2.3 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — moderate — with a clear seasonal swing between 0.1 and 5.0 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 5.6 months, from around Mar 25 to Sep 11. The brightest month is May, averaging about 4.7 kWh/m² (bright).

The dimmest month is December, down near 0.1 kWh/m² — roughly 98% less than the May peak.

0123456JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmerbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightMay 305.0 kWhDec 210.1 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan0.2Dim
Feb0.8Dim
Mar1.9Dim
Apr3.5Moderate
May4.8Bright
Jun4.8Bright
Jul4.4Bright
Aug3.4Moderate
Sep2.1Moderate
Oct1.0Dim
Nov0.3Dim
Dec0.1Dim

Where is Molde?

Molde sits at 62.7°N, 7.2°E, 3 m above sea level, in Norway. The nearest listed city is Kristiansund, 50 km away.

TrondheimStjørdalshalsenFlamLevangerLillehammerBergen

Topography around Molde

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Molde has significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 518 m around an average of 114 m above sea level; within 16 km, large variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 965 m; within 80 km, very significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 1,995 m.

The land around Molde is covered by water (45%) and trees (34%) within 3 km, water (47%), trees (32%) and grassland (20%) within 16 km, and water (41%), trees (22%) and grassland (22%) within 80 km.

3 km
518 m
16 km
965 m
80 km
1,995 m
treesgrasslandartificial surfacesbare terrainsnow and icewatermoss and lichen
Nearby: Kristiansund 50 km · Alesund 59 km · Trondheim 180 km · Stjørdalshalsen 206 km · Flam 208 km · Levanger 236 km · Lillehammer 250 km · Bergen 278 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 Molde (62.7375°, 7.1591°, elevation 3 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).