Climate and average weather in Muzaffarabad

In Muzaffarabad, the summers are hot, showery, and mostly clear and the winters are cool, snowy, and mostly clear.

Best: mid September to mid November

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Muzaffarabad typically varies from -4°C to 28°C, and is rarely below -10°C or above 32°C. June is the hottest month of the year, while January is the coldest.

Based on the travel score, the best time of year to visit Muzaffarabad for warm-weather activities is from mid September to mid November.

Hottest
Jun
28°
Coldest
Jan
-4°
Wettest
Mar
190 mm
Driest
Oct
28 mm
Rain / yr
1254 mm
136 wet days
Daylight
9.7–14.3 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
739 m
34.4°N
Clearest
Oct
27% cloud

Muzaffarabad is city in Azad Kashmir.

Density
442/km²
people per km²
Founded
1646

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

Muzaffarabad 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 mid September to mid November.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

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

The hot season lasts 5.5 months, from April 26 to October 9, with daily high temperatures above 23°C. The hottest month of the year in Muzaffarabad is June, with an average high of 28°C and low of 15°C.

The cool season lasts 2.3 months, from December 19 to February 25, with daily high temperatures below 12°C. The coldest month of the year in Muzaffarabad is January, with an average low of -4°C and high of 9°C.

Days typically run about 13°C warmer than nights, with the widest day–night swing (around 15°C) in November.

-10°10°20°30°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan9-4
Feb11-1
Mar163
Apr228
May2612
Jun2815
Jul2818
Aug2718
Sep2614
Oct228
Nov183
Dec13-2

How hot and cold Muzaffarabad 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 16), with roughly 103 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)
Jan99-6-4
Feb1011-3-1
Mar161623
Apr212278
May26261212
Jun28281515
Jul28281818
Aug28271818
Sep26261414
Oct222288
Nov171823
Dec1313-3-2

Average hourly temperature in Muzaffarabad

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 June afternoons, near 28°C, and coldest before dawn in January, near -4°C.

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

Muzaffarabad 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°1149.14.7101.8
Feb11° / -1°17911.74.210.72.4
Mar16° / 19013.50.811.74.6
Apr22° / 12613.6012.86.0
May26° / 12°6712.5013.86.6
Jun28° / 15°5711014.36.1
Jul28° / 18°17720.6014.15.0
Aug27° / 18°15620.2013.35.2
Sep26° / 14°599.2012.27.3
Oct22° / 284.4011.18.2
Nov18° / 434.50.110.26.8
Dec13° / -2°595.61.19.74.0

Chance of rain

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

Muzaffarabad gets about 1254 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 2.8 months, from around Jun 18 to Sep 10, peaking in August at about 73% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Oct 27.

March is the wettest month by volume, with 190 mm over about 14 wet days; October is the driest, with 28 mm. Some of the cold-season precipitation falls as snow.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdrierwetterdriermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetAug 2 · 73%Oct 27 · 12%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan299
Feb4212
Mar4414
Apr4514
May3913
Jun3811
Jul6621
Aug6420
Sep329
Oct154
Nov145
Dec196

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Muzaffarabad collects about 1254 mm of rain across 136 wet days — roughly 105 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. March is the wettest month with 190 mm, while October is the driest at just 28 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 43% of the year’s total, and some of the cold-season precipitation falls as snow.

050100150200JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec114179190126675717715659284359
Rainfall (mm)Rain daysSnow days
Jan11495
Feb179124
Mar190141
Apr126140
May67130
Jun57110
Jul177210
Aug156200
Sep5990
Oct2840
Nov4350
Dec5961

Snow in Muzaffarabad

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.

Muzaffarabad averages about 11 snowy days a year. Snow season runs roughly Dec 5 to Mar 18 — about 3.4 months.

February is snowiest, with roughly 4 days of snow and an estimated 52 cm of snowfall. Over the year that adds up to an estimated 107 cm of snow.

02468JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecsnow seasonFeb 7
Snow daysSnowfall (cm)
Jan546
Feb452
Mar13
Apr00
May00
Jun00
Jul00
Aug00
Sep00
Oct00
Nov00
Dec15

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Muzaffarabad, 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 August 17 and lasts for 3.7 months, ending around December 8. The clearest month is September, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 89% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around December 9 and lasts for 5.2 months, ending around May 14. The cloudiest month is March, 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%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecSep 25 · 92%Mar 18 · 48%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastcloudierclearer
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan5743
Feb4951
Mar4951
Apr5248
May6832
Jun8416
Jul6733
Aug6832
Sep8911
Oct8614
Nov7525
Dec6733

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 12, brings about 14 h 18 min of light; the shortest, around January 1, only 9 h 42 min — a swing of roughly 4 h 36 min.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan10.07:175:14
Feb10.76:595:42
Mar11.76:246:08
Apr12.85:416:32
May13.85:096:56
Jun14.34:587:15
Jul14.15:097:14
Aug13.35:316:49
Sep12.25:546:07
Oct11.16:175:25
Nov10.26:464:57
Dec9.77:114:54

Sunny days

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

Muzaffarabad averages about 15 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 10 and 23 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 4.5 months, from around Aug 23 to Jan 5. The sunniest month is September, with roughly 21 sunny days (bright).

The greyest month is August, down near 13 sunny days — about 38% fewer than the September peak.

0510152025JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgreyersunniergloomymixedbrightbrilliantSep 2623 daysAug 110 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan14Mixed
Feb10Mixed
Mar10Mixed
Apr9Mixed
May12Mixed
Jun18Bright
Jul13Mixed
Aug13Mixed
Sep21Bright
Oct22Bright
Nov19Bright
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 Muzaffarabad, how humid it feels changes dramatically over the year.

The more humid part of the year lasts 3.2 months, from around June 14 to September 19. The muggiest month is August, when the air feels humid, muggy or worse about 88% of the time.

The most comfortable stretch runs from around September 20 to June 13, and April is the most comfortable month — the air is dry or comfortable 100% of the time.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecApr 28 · 100%Aug 4 · 4%muggyhumidcomfortabledrycomfortablehumidcomfortable
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)Humid (%)Muggy (%)Oppressive (%)
Jan1000000
Feb1000000
Mar1000000
Apr1000000
May928100
Jun492416101
Jul41126546
Aug11134504
Sep41262570
Oct954100
Nov1000000
Dec1000000

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

0510JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDeccalmJan 31 · 5 km/hAug 3 · 3 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan5calm
Feb5calm
Mar5calm
Apr5calm
May5calm
Jun4calm
Jul3calm
Aug3calm
Sep4calm
Oct4calm
Nov5calm
Dec5calm

Best time to visit Muzaffarabad

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

Around mid November, Muzaffarabad 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 Muzaffarabad for general outdoor tourist activities is from early September to mid November, with a peak score in the first week of October.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationOct 6 · 8.3

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
Jan1.8poor
Feb2.4poor
Mar4.6fair
Apr6.0good
May6.6good
Jun6.1good
Jul5.0fair
Aug5.3fair
Sep7.3good
Oct8.1ideal
Nov6.7good
Dec4.0fair

The beach/pool score favors clear, rainless days with daytime highs between 24°C and 34°C. Based on this score, the best times of year to visit Muzaffarabad for hot-weather activities run from mid May to early July and again from late August to mid October, with a peak score in the last week of September.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationSep 26 · 7.3

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 Muzaffarabad, 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 June (highs near 28°C), the essentials are light clothes, rain gear and sun protection. In the cold season around January (highs near 9°C), pack a warm layer, a heavy coat and rain gear.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In June, Muzaffarabad sees daytime highs around 28°C and nights near 15°C. Pack light clothes and sun protection. Worth having: rain gear. About 11 days see rain.

UV index (midday) in Muzaffarabad 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 Muzaffarabad peaks around June 20 at about 12 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near January 10 at about 3 (moderate).

The index reaches 3 or more — the level where the WHO recommends sun protection — in 10 months of the year.

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecModerateHighVery highExtremeVery highModerateJun 20UV 12Jan 10UV 3
UV index (midday)Level
Jan3Moderate
Feb6High
Mar8Very high
Apr8Very high
May11Extreme
Jun12Extreme
Jul12Extreme
Aug10Extreme
Sep9Very high
Oct7High
Nov3Moderate
Dec3Moderate

Average hourly UV index in Muzaffarabad

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 9 hours a day reach index 3 (protection recommended), and 6.5 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)
Jan10
Feb50
Mar6.53.5
Apr74
May8.56.5
Jun96.5
Jul96.5
Aug85.5
Sep7.54.5
Oct5.52
Nov1.50
Dec10

Air quality in Muzaffarabad 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 Muzaffarabad is worst in January — around 73 µg/m³ PM2.5 (unhealthy), about 2.0× the cleanest month (July, 36 µg/m³).

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

020406080JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecUnhealthyPoorUnhealthyJan 1673 µg/m³Jul 1936 µg/m³
PM2.5 (µg/m³)Level
Jan73Unhealthy
Feb68Unhealthy
Mar57Unhealthy
Apr45Poor
May37Poor
Jun40Poor
Jul36Poor
Aug38Poor
Sep43Poor
Oct50Poor
Nov63Unhealthy
Dec68Unhealthy
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

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

The growing season in Muzaffarabad typically lasts about 282 days, from around February 24 to December 2 — the span where a frost-free day is more likely than not. It is reliably frost-free from March 19 to November 12.

0%25%50%75%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgrowing seasonFeb 2450%Mar 1990%Nov 1290%Dec 250%
Frost-free chance (%)Frost nights
Jan1731
Feb4028
Mar8318
Apr1000
May1000
Jun1000
Jul1000
Aug1000
Sep1000
Oct1000
Nov8218
Dec2931

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. Muzaffarabad banks about 2,026 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around July.

05001,0001,5002,000JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°C·days)
Jan0
Feb0
Mar15
Apr138
May273
Jun352
Jul397
Aug379
Sep295
Oct160
Nov19
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.

Muzaffarabad receives about 4.9 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — bright — with a clear seasonal swing between 3.0 and 7.0 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 6.6 months, from around Mar 20 to Oct 5. The brightest month is June, averaging about 6.8 kWh/m² (intense).

The dimmest month is December, down near 3.0 kWh/m² — roughly 56% less than the June peak.

012345678JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmerbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightintenseJun 27.0 kWhDec 193.0 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan3.2Moderate
Feb3.9Moderate
Mar4.8Bright
Apr5.9Bright
May6.8Intense
Jun6.8Intense
Jul5.5Bright
Aug5.2Bright
Sep5.2Bright
Oct4.6Bright
Nov3.5Moderate
Dec3.0Moderate

Where is Muzaffarabad?

Muzaffarabad sits at 34.4°N, 73.5°E, 739 m above sea level, in Pakistan. The nearest listed city is Murree, 52 km away.

PeshawarGilgitĀsmārAsadābādSkarduSialkot

Topography around Muzaffarabad

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Muzaffarabad has large variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 1,004 m around an average of 925 m above sea level; within 16 km, extreme variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 2,530 m; within 80 km, extreme variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 4,902 m.

The land around Muzaffarabad is covered by trees (39%), artificial surfaces (33%) and grassland (22%) within 3 km, trees (59%) and grassland (33%) within 16 km, and trees (53%) and grassland (31%) within 80 km.

3 km
1,004 m
16 km
2,530 m
80 km
4,902 m
treesshrubsgrasslandcroplandartificial surfacesbare terrainsnow and icewatermoss and lichen
Nearby: Murree 52 km · Islamabad 82 km · Peshawar 179 km · Gilgit 188 km · Āsmār 207 km · Asadābād 220 km · Skardu 223 km · Sialkot 231 km

Pakistan travel facts

Travel advisory
Level 3
Reconsider Travel
Power plugs
Type C / D / G / M
230 V · 50 Hz
Prices
≈ 24% of US
price level, 2025
GDP per capita
$1,596
2025
Happiness
4.9 / 10
World Happiness, 2025
Safe drinking water
45%
of population, 2024
Homicide rate
4.3
per 100k, 2023
Road deaths
13
per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group
Lower middle
World Bank
English
Low
EF EPI 493
Religion
Muslim 96%Hindu 2%Christian 1%

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 Muzaffarabad (34.37°, 73.4708°, elevation 739 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).