Climate and average weather in Craiova

In Craiova, the summers are hot, showery, and mostly clear and the winters are cold, snowy, and partly cloudy.

Best: mid April to mid June

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Craiova typically varies from -3°C to 31°C, and is rarely below -12°C or above 36°C. July is the hottest month of the year, while January is the coldest.

Based on the travel score, the best times of year to visit Craiova for warm-weather activities are from mid April to mid June and late August to late October.

Hottest
Jul
31°
Coldest
Jan
-3°
Wettest
Jun
68 mm
Driest
Feb
33 mm
Rain / yr
576 mm
92 wet days
Daylight
8.7–15.3 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
105 m
44.3°N
Clearest
Aug
34% cloud

Craiova is locality in Dolj County, Romania.

Air quality
Moderate
PM10 31.5 µg/m³ · 2018
Founded
1475

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

Craiova 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 April to mid June.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

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

The hot season lasts 4.1 months, from May 19 to September 19, with daily high temperatures above 24°C. The hottest month of the year in Craiova is July, with an average high of 31°C and low of 19°C.

The cool season lasts 3.3 months, from November 21 to February 27, with daily high temperatures below 9°C. The coldest month of the year in Craiova is January, with an average low of -3°C and high of 3°C.

Days typically run about 10°C warmer than nights, with the widest day–night swing (around 12°C) in August.

-10°10°20°30°40°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan3-3
Feb6-1
Mar123
Apr198
May2413
Jun2917
Jul3119
Aug3119
Sep2514
Oct189
Nov104
Dec4-2

How hot and cold Craiova 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 -8°C (around January 29), with roughly 118 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)
Jan33-7-3
Feb66-5-1
Mar121203
Apr191968
May24241313
Jun28291717
Jul31311919
Aug31311919
Sep25251414
Oct181879
Nov101014
Dec44-5-2

Average hourly temperature in Craiova

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 31°C, and coldest before dawn in January, near -3°C.

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

Craiova 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 / -3°386.83.99.10.0
Feb / -1°336.33.310.20.7
Mar12° / 457.91.811.63.6
Apr19° / 508.30.113.26.1
May24° / 13°5910.4014.56.9
Jun29° / 17°6810.6015.35.8
Jul31° / 19°648.20155.0
Aug31° / 19°426.5013.85.2
Sep25° / 14°496.1012.37.5
Oct18° / 456.8010.86.2
Nov10° / 4271.29.42.6
Dec / -2°427.12.98.70.1

Chance of rain

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

Craiova gets about 576 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 3.7 months, from around Mar 24 to Jul 15, peaking in June at about 37% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Sep 1.

June is the wettest month by volume, with 68 mm over about 11 wet days; February is the driest, with 33 mm. Some of the cold-season precipitation falls as snow.

0%10%20%30%40%50%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdrierwetterdriermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetJun 7 · 37%Sep 1 · 18%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan217
Feb236
Mar258
Apr298
May3310
Jun3511
Jul268
Aug217
Sep206
Oct227
Nov237
Dec237

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Craiova collects about 576 mm of rain across 92 wet days — roughly 48 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. June is the wettest month with 68 mm, while February is the driest at just 33 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 33% of the year’s total, and some of the cold-season precipitation falls as snow.

0255075100JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec383345505968644249454242
Rainfall (mm)Rain daysSnow days
Jan3874
Feb3363
Mar4582
Apr5080
May59100
Jun68110
Jul6480
Aug4270
Sep4960
Oct4570
Nov4271
Dec4273

Snow in Craiova

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.

Craiova averages about 13 snowy days a year. Snow season runs roughly Nov 5 to Apr 4 — about 5 months.

January is snowiest, with roughly 4 days of snow and an estimated 16 cm of snowfall. Over the year that adds up to an estimated 67 cm of snow.

0246JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecsnow seasonsnow seasonJan 27
Snow daysSnowfall (cm)
Jan416
Feb317
Mar28
Apr01
May00
Jun00
Jul00
Aug00
Sep00
Oct00
Nov110
Dec316

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Craiova, 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 24 and lasts for 4.4 months, ending around October 4. The clearest month is August, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 81% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around October 5 and lasts for 7.6 months, ending around May 23. The cloudiest month is November, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 61% 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 · 83%Nov 26 · 34%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastcloudierclearercloudier
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan4357
Feb4555
Mar4852
Apr5050
May5545
Jun6931
Jul7921
Aug8119
Sep6733
Oct5347
Nov3961
Dec3961

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 11, brings about 15 h 18 min of light; the shortest, around January 1, only 8 h 42 min — a swing of roughly 6 h 36 min.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan9.18:045:05
Feb10.27:345:44
Mar11.66:466:23
Apr13.25:487:02
May14.55:047:38
Jun15.34:468:04
Jul15.05:008:01
Aug13.85:337:25
Sep12.36:106:28
Oct10.86:475:32
Nov9.47:294:51
Dec8.78:014:41

Sunny days

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

Craiova averages about 12 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 7 and 20 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 4.3 months, from around Jun 8 to Oct 16. The sunniest month is August, with roughly 19 sunny days (bright).

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

0510152025JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgreyersunniergreyergloomymixedbrightbrilliantAug 1720 daysNov 257 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan10Mixed
Feb8Mixed
Mar10Mixed
Apr10Mixed
May10Mixed
Jun14Mixed
Jul18Bright
Aug20Bright
Sep15Bright
Oct12Mixed
Nov8Mixed
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 Craiova, how humid it feels changes dramatically over the year.

The more humid part of the year lasts 3.4 months, from around May 25 to September 5. The muggiest month is July, when the air feels humid, muggy or worse about 47% of the time.

The most comfortable stretch runs from around September 6 to May 24, 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 11 · 100%Jul 30 · 44%muggyhumidcomfortabledrycomfortablehumidcomfortable
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)Humid (%)Muggy (%)
Jan100000
Feb100000
Mar100000
Apr98200
May722170
Jun3032307
Jul23303313
Aug2735289
Sep642880
Oct91820
Nov100000
Dec100000

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 Craiova is steady company: average speeds sit near 10 km/hcalm — in every month of the year, with no meaningful windy or calm season.

051015JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDeccalmlight breezeApr 8 · 12 km/hJul 31 · 9 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan10calm
Feb11calm
Mar11calm
Apr11calm
May10calm
Jun9calm
Jul9calm
Aug9calm
Sep10calm
Oct10calm
Nov10calm
Dec10calm

Best time to visit Craiova

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

Around early June, Craiova 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 times of year to visit Craiova for general outdoor tourist activities run from mid April to mid June and again from late August to mid October, with a peak score in the third week of September.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationSep 16 · 7.6

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
Feb0.7poor
Mar3.6fair
Apr6.1good
May6.8good
Jun5.8good
Jul5.0fair
Aug5.3fair
Sep7.4good
Oct6.2good
Nov2.6poor
Dec0.1poor

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 Craiova for hot-weather activities is from early June to late September, with a peak score in the last week of August.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationAug 29 · 8.0

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 Craiova, 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 31°C), the essentials are light clothes, rain gear and sun protection. In the cold season around January (highs near 3°C), pack a warm layer and a heavy coat.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In July, Craiova sees daytime highs around 31°C and nights near 19°C. Pack light clothes and sun protection. Worth having: rain gear. About 8 days see rain.

UV index (midday) in Craiova 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 Craiova peaks around July 14 at about 8 (very high) — sunscreen and a hat are worth it in the middle of the day. 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.

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecLowModerateHighVery highHighModerateLowJul 14UV 8Dec 20UV 1
UV index (midday)Level
Jan1Low
Feb2Moderate
Mar3Moderate
Apr8Very high
May6High
Jun8Very high
Jul8Very high
Aug8Very high
Sep5High
Oct3Moderate
Nov2Low
Dec1Low

Average hourly UV index in Craiova

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 hours a day reach index 3 (protection recommended), and 4.5 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
Mar20
Apr73.5
May71.5
Jun84.5
Jul84.5
Aug7.54
Sep5.50
Oct1.50
Nov00
Dec00

Air quality in Craiova 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 Craiova is worst in March — around 16 µg/m³ PM2.5 (moderate), about 1.6× the cleanest month (December, 10 µg/m³).

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

01020JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecModerateGoodMar 2116 µg/m³Dec 1310 µg/m³
PM2.5 (µg/m³)Level
Jan12Moderate
Feb13Moderate
Mar16Moderate
Apr15Moderate
May14Moderate
Jun15Moderate
Jul15Moderate
Aug13Moderate
Sep12Moderate
Oct11Good
Nov11Good
Dec10Good
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

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

The growing season in Craiova typically lasts about 283 days, from around February 25 to December 4 — the span where a frost-free day is more likely than not. It is reliably frost-free from March 28 to November 3.

0%25%50%75%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgrowing seasonFeb 2550%Mar 2890%Nov 390%Dec 450%
Frost-free chance (%)Frost nights
Jan2831
Feb4028
Mar7628
Apr990
May1000
Jun1000
Jul1000
Aug1000
Sep1000
Oct980
Nov7829
Dec3731

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. Craiova banks about 2,066 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
Mar1
Apr103
May267
Jun381
Jul462
Aug458
Sep291
Oct104
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.

Craiova receives about 3.9 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — moderate — with a clear seasonal swing between 1.3 and 6.4 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 6.0 months, from around Mar 20 to Sep 19. The brightest month is June, averaging about 6.3 kWh/m² (intense).

The dimmest month is December, down near 1.3 kWh/m² — roughly 79% less than the June peak.

012345678JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmerbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightintenseJun 266.4 kWhDec 61.3 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan1.6Dim
Feb2.5Moderate
Mar3.7Moderate
Apr5.0Bright
May5.9Bright
Jun6.4Intense
Jul6.3Intense
Aug5.6Bright
Sep4.2Bright
Oct2.7Moderate
Nov1.6Dim
Dec1.3Dim

Where is Craiova?

Craiova sits at 44.3°N, 23.8°E, 105 m above sea level, in Romania. The nearest listed city is Balş, 24 km away.

SlatinaBăileştiCaracalDrăgăşaniLomCalafat

Topography around Craiova

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Craiova has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 67 m around an average of 101 m above sea level; within 16 km, only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 174 m; within 80 km, significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 561 m.

The land around Craiova is covered by artificial surfaces (69%) within 3 km, cropland (54%) within 16 km, and cropland (56%) and trees (25%) within 80 km.

3 km
67 m
16 km
174 m
80 km
561 m
treesgrasslandcroplandartificial surfacesbare terrainwater
Nearby: Balş 24 km · Filiaşi 34 km · Slatina 47 km · Băileşti 49 km · Caracal 49 km · Drăgăşani 52 km · Lom 70 km · Calafat 78 km

Romania travel facts

Travel advisory
Level 1
Exercise Normal Precautions
Power plugs
Type C / F
230 V · 50 Hz
Prices
≈ 44% of US
price level, 2025
GDP per capita
$22,538
2025
Happiness
6.6 / 10
World Happiness, 2025
Safe drinking water
82%
of population, 2024
Homicide rate
1.1
per 100k, 2023
Road deaths
10.3
per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group
High
World Bank
English
Very high
EF EPI 605
Religion
Romanian Orthodox 85%other 5%Roman Catholic 5%Reformed 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 Craiova (44.3167°, 23.8°, elevation 105 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).