Climate and average weather in Cherkessk

In Cherkessk, the summers are warm, showery, and mostly clear and the winters are very cold, snowy, and partly cloudy.

Best: early June to early October

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Cherkessk typically varies from -7°C to 26°C, and is rarely below -17°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 Cherkessk for warm-weather activities is from early June to early October.

Hottest
Aug
26°
Coldest
Jan
-7°
Wettest
Jun
121 mm
Driest
Feb
36 mm
Rain / yr
825 mm
123 wet days
Daylight
8.7–15.3 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
544 m
44.2°N
Clearest
Aug
41% cloud

Cherkessk is city in the Karachay-Cherkess Republic.

Density
1,754/km²
people per km²
Founded
1825

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

Cherkessk 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 early June to early October.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

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

The hot season lasts 3.9 months, from May 26 to September 20, with daily high temperatures above 21°C. The hottest month of the year in Cherkessk is August, with an average high of 26°C and low of 15°C.

The cool season lasts 3.4 months, from November 22 to March 5, with daily high temperatures below 7°C. The coldest month of the year in Cherkessk is January, with an average low of -7°C and high of 2°C.

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

-20°-10°10°20°30°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan2-7
Feb3-6
Mar8-2
Apr154
May199
Jun2313
Jul2615
Aug2615
Sep2210
Oct165
Nov8-1
Dec3-5

How hot and cold Cherkessk 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 -11°C (around January 26), with roughly 165 freezing days a year (feels-like at or below 0°C) 40 of them bitterly cold — worst in January.

-10°10°20°30°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Feels-like high (°C)Air high (°C)Feels-like low (°C)Air low (°C)
Jan22-11-7
Feb33-10-6
Mar88-5-2
Apr141514
May191979
Jun23231313
Jul26261515
Aug26261515
Sep22221010
Oct161635
Nov88-4-1
Dec33-9-5

Average hourly temperature in Cherkessk

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 26°C, and coldest before dawn in January, near -7°C.

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

Cherkessk 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 / -7°388.57.39.10.0
Feb / -6°367.56.610.20.0
Mar / -2°6311.86.511.61.4
Apr15° / 7911.71.513.24.0
May19° / 10814.80.214.55.4
Jun23° / 13°12113.6015.36.3
Jul26° / 15°8110.40156.8
Aug26° / 15°769.5013.87.0
Sep22° / 10°699012.37.0
Oct16° / 669.60.810.85.0
Nov / -1°488.13.79.41.5
Dec / -5°448.66.58.70.0

Chance of rain

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

Cherkessk gets about 825 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 4.4 months, from around Mar 4 to Jul 14, peaking in May at about 48% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Feb 10.

June is the wettest month by volume, with 121 mm over about 14 wet days; February is the driest, with 36 mm. Some of the cold-season precipitation falls as snow.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdrierwetterdriermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetMay 22 · 48%Feb 10 · 26%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan279
Feb288
Mar3712
Apr4012
May4715
Jun4514
Jul3510
Aug3110
Sep299
Oct3010
Nov288
Dec289

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Cherkessk collects about 825 mm of rain across 123 wet days — roughly 69 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. June is the wettest month with 121 mm, while February is the driest at just 36 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 37% of the year’s total, and some of the cold-season precipitation falls as snow.

0255075100125150JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec38366379108121817669664844
Rainfall (mm)Rain daysSnow days
Jan3897
Feb3687
Mar63127
Apr79122
May108150
Jun121140
Jul81100
Aug76100
Sep6990
Oct66101
Nov4884
Dec4497

Snow in Cherkessk

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.

Cherkessk averages about 33 snowy days a year. Snow season runs roughly Oct 16 to May 2 — about 6.5 months.

January is snowiest, with roughly 7 days of snow and an estimated 31 cm of snowfall. Over the year that adds up to an estimated 138 cm of snow.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecsnow seasonsnow seasonJan 28
Snow daysSnowfall (cm)
Jan731
Feb728
Mar727
Apr26
May00
Jun00
Jul00
Aug00
Sep00
Oct12
Nov417
Dec728

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Cherkessk, 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 June 9 and lasts for 4.4 months, ending around October 20. The clearest month is August, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 70% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around November 15 and lasts for 6.8 months, ending around June 8. The cloudiest month is March, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 68% 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 8 · 71%Mar 13 · 30%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastcloudierclearercloudier
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan3367
Feb3664
Mar3268
Apr3763
May3961
Jun5149
Jul6832
Aug7030
Sep6139
Oct4951
Nov4456
Dec3763

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)
Jan9.17:504:52
Feb10.27:215:32
Mar11.66:336:10
Apr13.25:356:49
May14.54:517:25
Jun15.34:337:51
Jul15.04:477:48
Aug13.85:207:11
Sep12.35:576:15
Oct10.86:345:19
Nov9.47:164:38
Dec8.77:474:29

Sunny days

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

Cherkessk averages about 10 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 6 and 17 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 5.0 months, from around Jun 19 to Nov 18. The sunniest month is August, with roughly 16 sunny days (bright).

The greyest month is March, down near 6 sunny days — about 60% fewer than the August peak.

05101520JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgreyersunniergreyergloomymixedbrightAug 517 daysMar 176 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan6Gloomy
Feb7Gloomy
Mar7Gloomy
Apr7Gloomy
May8Gloomy
Jun9Mixed
Jul15Mixed
Aug16Bright
Sep14Mixed
Oct12Mixed
Nov10Mixed
Dec8Gloomy

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 Cherkessk, how humid it feels changes dramatically over the year.

The more humid part of the year lasts 3.1 months, from around June 7 to September 8. The muggiest month is July, when the air feels humid, muggy or worse about 40% of the time.

The most comfortable stretch runs from around September 9 to June 6, 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%Jul 27 · 54%muggyhumidcomfortabledrycomfortablehumidcomfortable
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)Humid (%)Muggy (%)
Jan100000
Feb100000
Mar100000
Apr100000
May871210
Jun4439161
Jul2239346
Aug2936314
Sep732250
Oct99100
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 Cherkessk is steady company: average speeds sit near 9 km/hcalm — in every month of the year, with no meaningful windy or calm season.

051015JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDeccalmlight breezeApr 23 · 10 km/hJan 6 · 8 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan8calm
Feb9calm
Mar10calm
Apr10calm
May9calm
Jun9calm
Jul9calm
Aug9calm
Sep9calm
Oct9calm
Nov9calm
Dec8calm

Best time to visit Cherkessk

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

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

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationAug 31 · 7.3

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
Jan0.0poor
Feb0.1poor
Mar1.4poor
Apr4.0fair
May5.4fair
Jun6.3good
Jul6.8good
Aug7.0good
Sep7.0good
Oct4.9fair
Nov1.5poor
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 Cherkessk for hot-weather activities is from late June to early September, with a peak score in the first week of August.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationAug 5 · 6.9

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 Cherkessk, 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 26°C), the essentials are light clothes, rain gear and sun protection. 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 August, Cherkessk sees daytime highs around 26°C and nights near 15°C. Worth packing: light clothes, rain gear and sun protection. About 10 days see rain.

UV index (midday) in Cherkessk 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 Cherkessk peaks around July 11 at about 9 (very high) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near January 1 at about 1 (low).

The index reaches 3 or more — the level where the WHO recommends sun protection — in 7 months of the year.

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecLowModerateHighVery highHighModerateLowJul 11UV 9Jan 1UV 1
UV index (midday)Level
Jan1Low
Feb2Low
Mar2Moderate
Apr6High
May6High
Jun9Very high
Jul9Very high
Aug8Very high
Sep6High
Oct3Moderate
Nov2Low
Dec1Low

Average hourly UV index in Cherkessk

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 8.5 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
Mar00
Apr60
May72
Jun8.55.5
Jul8.55.5
Aug7.54.5
Sep60
Oct2.50
Nov00
Dec00

Air quality in Cherkessk 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 Cherkessk is worst in March — around 16 µg/m³ PM2.5 (moderate), about 2.2× the cleanest month (December, 7 µg/m³).

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

01020JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecGoodModerateGoodMar 1916 µg/m³Dec 198 µg/m³
PM2.5 (µg/m³)Level
Jan9Good
Feb10Good
Mar16Moderate
Apr13Moderate
May13Moderate
Jun14Moderate
Jul13Moderate
Aug12Moderate
Sep10Good
Oct10Good
Nov10Good
Dec7Good
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

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

The growing season in Cherkessk typically lasts about 227 days, from around March 27 to November 8 — the span where a frost-free day is more likely than not. It is reliably frost-free from April 21 to October 18.

0%25%50%75%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgrowing seasonJan 2110%Mar 2750%Apr 2190%Oct 1890%Nov 850%Jan 910%
Frost-free chance (%)Frost nights
Jan1131
Feb1528
Mar3531
Apr8223
May1000
Jun1000
Jul1000
Aug1000
Sep1000
Oct8915
Nov4030
Dec1731

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. Cherkessk banks about 1,232 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around July.

05001,000JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°C·days)
Jan0
Feb0
Mar0
Apr6
May124
Jun241
Jul329
Aug324
Sep178
Oct31
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.

Cherkessk receives about 3.8 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — moderate — with a clear seasonal swing between 1.5 and 6.1 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 6.1 months, from around Mar 20 to Sep 21. The brightest month is July, averaging about 6.0 kWh/m² (bright).

The dimmest month is December, down near 1.5 kWh/m² — roughly 75% less than the July peak.

01234567JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmerbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightintenseJul 76.1 kWhDec 191.5 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan1.8Dim
Feb2.8Moderate
Mar3.7Moderate
Apr4.8Bright
May5.4Bright
Jun5.8Bright
Jul6.0Intense
Aug5.4Bright
Sep4.0Bright
Oct2.8Moderate
Nov1.9Dim
Dec1.5Dim

Where is Cherkessk?

Cherkessk sits at 44.2°N, 42.0°E, 544 m above sea level, in Russia. The nearest listed city is Ust’-Dzheguta, 17 km away.

Topography around Cherkessk

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Cherkessk has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 97 m around an average of 534 m above sea level; within 16 km, significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 586 m; within 80 km, extreme variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 3,012 m.

The land around Cherkessk is covered by artificial surfaces (62%) within 3 km, cropland (59%) and grassland (23%) within 16 km, and cropland (41%), grassland (36%) and trees (21%) within 80 km.

3 km
97 m
16 km
586 m
80 km
3,012 m
treesgrasslandcroplandartificial surfacesbare terrainwater
Nearby: Ust’-Dzheguta 17 km · Otradnaya 46 km · Nevinnomyssk 46 km · Uchkeken 49 km · Suvorovskaya 49 km · Kochubeyevskoye 49 km · Karachayevsk 51 km · Zelenchukskaya 55 km

Russia travel facts

Travel advisory
Level 4
Do Not Travel
Power plugs
Type C / F
230 V · 50 Hz
Prices
≈ 32% of US
price level, 2025
GDP per capita
$17,547
2025
Happiness
5.8 / 10
World Happiness, 2025
Safe drinking water
76%
of population, 2024
Homicide rate
6.8
per 100k, 2021
Road deaths
12
per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group
High
World Bank
English
Moderate
EF EPI 521
Religion
other Christian 2%

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 Cherkessk (44.2238°, 42.0462°, elevation 544 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).