Climate and average weather in Magadan

In Magadan, the summers are cool, showery, and mostly cloudy and the winters are frigid, breezy, snowy, and mostly cloudy.

Best: mid July to early September

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Magadan typically varies from -19°C to 13°C, and is rarely below -26°C or above 16°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 Magadan for warm-weather activities is from mid July to early September.

Hottest
Aug
13°
Coldest
Jan
-19°
Wettest
Aug
107 mm
Driest
Feb
13 mm
Rain / yr
578 mm
86 wet days
Daylight
5.7–18.3 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
71 m
59.6°N
Clearest
Oct
62% cloud

Magadan is city in northeastern Russia.

Density
315/km²
people per km²
Founded
1929

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

Magadan 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 July to early September.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

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

The hot season lasts 3.8 months, from June 6 to September 29, with daily high temperatures above 6°C. The hottest month of the year in Magadan is August, with an average high of 13°C and low of 11°C.

The cool season lasts 3.5 months, from November 30 to March 15, with daily high temperatures below -10°C. The coldest month of the year in Magadan is January, with an average low of -19°C and high of -15°C.

Days typically run about 3°C warmer than nights year-round.

-30°-20°-10°10°20°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan-15-18
Feb-15-19
Mar-10-15
Apr-3-8
May3-1
Jun85
Jul129
Aug1311
Sep97
Oct2-1
Nov-7-10
Dec-13-16

How hot and cold Magadan 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 -30°C (around January 23), with roughly 250 freezing days a year (feels-like at or below 0°C) 184 of them bitterly cold — worst in January.

-30°-20°-10°10°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Feels-like high (°C)Air high (°C)Feels-like low (°C)Air low (°C)
Jan-15-15-29-18
Feb-15-15-29-19
Mar-10-10-24-15
Apr-3-3-14-8
May33-5-1
Jun7825
Jul121289
Aug13131111
Sep9947
Oct22-7-1
Nov-7-7-19-10
Dec-13-13-26-16

Average hourly temperature in Magadan

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 13°C, and coldest before dawn in January, near -19°C.

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

Magadan 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-15° / -19°174.66.36.50.0
Feb-15° / -19°133.64.98.70.0
Mar-10° / -15°235.67.211.30.0
Apr-3° / -8°265.56.614.10.0
May / -1°416.84.516.70.0
Jun / 547.80.118.21.1
Jul12° / 728.7017.63.0
Aug13° / 11°10710.6015.33.5
Sep / 849.70.512.61.9
Oct / -1°649.65.99.80.0
Nov-7° / -10°548.49.87.30.0
Dec-13° / -16°235.67.55.80.0

Chance of rain

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

Magadan gets about 578 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 6.3 months, from around May 20 to Nov 27, peaking in August at about 35% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Feb 13.

August is the wettest month by volume, with 107 mm over about 11 wet days; February is the driest, with 13 mm. Some of the cold-season precipitation falls as snow.

0%10%20%30%40%50%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdrierwetterdriermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetAug 20 · 35%Feb 13 · 13%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan145
Feb144
Mar186
Apr186
May217
Jun268
Jul289
Aug3411
Sep3210
Oct3110
Nov278
Dec196

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Magadan collects about 578 mm of rain across 86 wet days — roughly 48 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. August is the wettest month with 107 mm, while February is the driest at just 13 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 46% of the year’s total, and some of the cold-season precipitation falls as snow.

0255075100125JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec1713232641547210784645423
Rainfall (mm)Rain daysSnow days
Jan1756
Feb1345
Mar2367
Apr2667
May4175
Jun5480
Jul7290
Aug107110
Sep84101
Oct64106
Nov54810
Dec2368

Snow in Magadan

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.

Magadan averages about 53 snowy days a year. Snow season runs roughly Sep 18 to Jun 7 — about 8.6 months.

November is snowiest, with roughly 10 days of snow and an estimated 54 cm of snowfall. Over the year that adds up to an estimated 227 cm of snow.

0510JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecsnow seasonsnow seasonNov 18
Snow daysSnowfall (cm)
Jan617
Feb518
Mar729
Apr731
May526
Jun00
Jul00
Aug00
Sep11
Oct625
Nov1054
Dec826

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Magadan, 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 6 and lasts for 3.1 months, ending around November 8. The clearest month is October, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 41% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around November 9 and lasts for 3.5 months, ending around February 22. The cloudiest month is December, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 88% 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 30 · 46%Dec 20 · 10%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastcloudierclearercloudier
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan1288
Feb2377
Mar3565
Apr4060
May3367
Jun2674
Jul2575
Aug3169
Sep4060
Oct4159
Nov2278
Dec1288

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 15, brings about 18 h 18 min of light; the shortest, around December 14, only 5 h 42 min — a swing of roughly 12 h 36 min.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan6.58:523:20
Feb8.77:494:33
Mar11.36:265:47
Apr14.14:527:02
May16.73:328:14
Jun18.22:499:05
Jul17.63:148:51
Aug15.34:227:40
Sep12.65:356:07
Oct9.86:484:36
Nov7.38:063:18
Dec5.89:022:44

Sunny days

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

Magadan averages about 6 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 2 and 10 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 2.9 months, from around Feb 23 to May 21. The sunniest month is April, with roughly 10 sunny days (mixed).

The greyest month is December, down near 2 sunny days — about 80% fewer than the April peak.

051015JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgreyersunniergreyergloomymixedApr 410 daysDec 172 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan2Gloomy
Feb4Gloomy
Mar8Mixed
Apr9Mixed
May7Gloomy
Jun4Gloomy
Jul5Gloomy
Aug6Gloomy
Sep8Gloomy
Oct9Mixed
Nov4Gloomy
Dec2Gloomy

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 Magadan, the air stays dry or comfortable essentially all year. Even in July, the muggiest month, it feels humid or worse only about 0% of the time — humidity is not something you need to plan around here.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdry
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)
Jan1000
Feb1000
Mar1000
Apr1000
May1000
Jun1000
Jul982
Aug973
Sep1000
Oct1000
Nov1000
Dec1000

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 Magadan is typically light breeze, near 18 km/h, and varies a lot with the seasons.

The windier part of the year lasts 5.7 months, from around Oct 2 to Mar 25. The windiest month is December, averaging about 26 km/h (breezy).

The calmer part of the year runs from around Mar 26 to Oct 1, with July the calmest month at about 11 km/h.

051015202530JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwindiercalmerwindiercalmlight breezebreezywindyDec 6 · 26 km/hJul 1 · 11 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan23breezy
Feb20breezy
Mar19light breeze
Apr15light breeze
May13light breeze
Jun11calm
Jul11calm
Aug14light breeze
Sep16light breeze
Oct20breezy
Nov25breezy
Dec26breezy

Hazard calendar for Magadan

In seasonPeak

When the seasonal hazards worth planning around — the rainy season, tropical-cyclone risk and dust haze — are active through the year.

Magadan's rainy season runs June–November, when most of the year's rain falls.

Rainy season
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec

Best time to visit Magadan

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

Around late August, Magadan 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 Magadan for general outdoor tourist activities is from mid July to late August, with a peak score in the first week of August.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationAug 5 · 3.7

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
Mar0.0poor
Apr0.0poor
May0.0poor
Jun1.1poor
Jul3.0poor
Aug3.5fair
Sep1.9poor
Oct0.1poor
Nov0.0poor
Dec0.0poor

The beach/pool score favors clear, rainless days with daytime highs between 24°C and 34°C. Magadan rarely gets warm enough to lift this score — no time of year really suits hot-weather activities here.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDectemperaturecloudsprecipitation

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 Magadan, 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 13°C), the essentials are a warm layer and rain gear. In the cold season around January (highs near -15°C), pack a warm layer, a heavy coat and a windbreaker.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In August, Magadan sees daytime highs around 13°C and nights near 11°C. Worth packing: a warm layer and rain gear. About 11 days see rain.

Sea temperature near Magadan

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 19 km away) is warmest in August at about 13°C and coldest in February near -1°C.

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

0°5°10°15°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbracingcool
Sea temperature (°C)Comfort
Jan-1Bracing
Feb-1Bracing
Mar-1Bracing
Apr-1Bracing
May1Bracing
Jun6Bracing
Jul12Bracing
Aug13Bracing
Sep10Bracing
Oct5Bracing
Nov2Bracing
Dec0Bracing

UV index (midday) in Magadan 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 Magadan peaks around July 13 at about 5 (moderate) — a little sun protection helps at midday. It bottoms out near December 19 at about 0 (low).

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

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecLowModerateLowJul 13UV 5Dec 19UV 0
UV index (midday)Level
Jan0Low
Feb1Low
Mar1Low
Apr3Moderate
May3Moderate
Jun5Moderate
Jul5High
Aug3Moderate
Sep2Moderate
Oct1Low
Nov0Low
Dec0Low

Average hourly UV index in Magadan

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 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
May30
Jun60
Jul6.50
Aug3.50
Sep00
Oct00
Nov00
Dec00
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

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

The growing season in Magadan typically lasts about 146 days, from around May 20 to October 12 — the span where a frost-free day is more likely than not. It is reliably frost-free from June 2 to September 30.

0%25%50%75%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgrowing seasonMay 410%May 2050%Jun 290%Sep 3090%Oct 1250%Nov 310%
Frost-free chance (%)Frost nights
Jan031
Feb028
Mar031
Apr330
May4131
Jun991
Jul1000
Aug1000
Sep990
Oct4431
Nov430
Dec031

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. Magadan banks about 94 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around August.

050100150200JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°C·days)
Jan0
Feb0
Mar0
Apr0
May0
Jun0
Jul28
Aug63
Sep3
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.

Magadan receives about 2.9 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — moderate — with a clear seasonal swing between 0.3 and 5.6 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 5.9 months, from around Mar 15 to Sep 10. The brightest month is May, averaging about 5.6 kWh/m² (bright).

The dimmest month is December, down near 0.3 kWh/m² — roughly 94% less than the May peak.

01234567JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmerbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightintenseMay 105.6 kWhDec 190.3 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan0.5Dim
Feb1.4Dim
Mar3.0Moderate
Apr4.9Bright
May5.6Bright
Jun5.4Bright
Jul4.8Bright
Aug3.8Moderate
Sep2.7Moderate
Oct1.6Dim
Nov0.6Dim
Dec0.3Dim

Where is Magadan?

Magadan sits at 59.6°N, 150.8°E, 71 m above sea level, in Russia. The nearest listed city is Okha, 818 km away.

OkhaYelizovoPetropavlovsk-KamchatskyVilyuchinskNikolayevsk-on-AmureYakutskPoronayskKomsomolsk-on-Amur

Topography around Magadan

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Magadan has significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 417 m around an average of 78 m above sea level; within 16 km, large variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 853 m; within 80 km, very significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 1,530 m.

The land around Magadan is covered by trees (46%) and artificial surfaces (24%) within 3 km, trees (47%) and water (31%) within 16 km, and water (41%) and trees (32%) within 80 km.

3 km
417 m
16 km
853 m
80 km
1,530 m
treesshrubsgrasslandartificial surfacesbare terrainwaterwetlandmoss and lichen
Nearby: Okha 818 km · Yelizovo 847 km · Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky 868 km · Vilyuchinsk 873 km · Nikolayevsk-on-Amure 944 km · Yakutsk 1,170 km · Poronaysk 1,252 km · Komsomolsk-on-Amur 1,327 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 Magadan (59.5627°, 150.8021°, elevation 71 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).