Climate and average weather in Penza

In Penza, the summers are warm, showery, and partly cloudy and the winters are frigid, snowy, and mostly cloudy.

Best: early May to mid September

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Penza typically varies from -12°C to 25°C, and is rarely below -24°C or above 31°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 Penza for warm-weather activities is from early May to mid September.

Hottest
Jul
25°
Coldest
Jan
-12°
Wettest
Jun
63 mm
Driest
Feb
32 mm
Rain / yr
566 mm
112 wet days
Daylight
7.3–16.7 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
156 m
53.2°N
Clearest
Jul
54% cloud

Penza is city in central Russia.

Density
1,803/km²
people per km²
Founded
1663

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

Penza 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 May to mid September.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

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

The hot season lasts 4.4 months, from May 4 to September 14, with daily high temperatures above 17°C. The hottest month of the year in Penza is July, with an average high of 25°C and low of 15°C.

The cool season lasts 3.7 months, from November 20 to March 12, with daily high temperatures below -0°C. The coldest month of the year in Penza is January, with an average low of -12°C and high of -6°C.

Days typically run about 8°C warmer than nights, with the widest day–night swing (around 11°C) in May.

-20°-10°10°20°30°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan-6-12
Feb-5-12
Mar0-7
Apr112
May198
Jun2312
Jul2515
Aug2413
Sep178
Oct92
Nov1-4
Dec-5-9

How hot and cold Penza 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 -21°C (around January 30), with roughly 193 freezing days a year (feels-like at or below 0°C) 129 of them bitterly cold — worst in January.

-20°-10°10°20°30°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Feels-like high (°C)Air high (°C)Feels-like low (°C)Air low (°C)
Jan-6-6-19-12
Feb-5-5-19-12
Mar00-13-7
Apr1111-22
May191968
Jun23231212
Jul25251415
Aug24241313
Sep171768
Oct99-22
Nov11-9-4
Dec-5-5-16-9

Average hourly temperature in Penza

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 25°C, and coldest before dawn in January, near -12°C.

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

Penza 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-6° / -12°389.411.17.90.0
Feb-5° / -12°327.68.59.40.0
Mar / -7°3798.111.50.0
Apr11° / 428.51.613.62.9
May19° / 499.30.215.66.2
Jun23° / 12°6310.4016.66.8
Jul25° / 15°6310.5016.26.8
Aug24° / 13°598.8014.57.1
Sep17° / 529.3012.45.4
Oct / 519.81.810.31.9
Nov / -4°408.768.40.0
Dec-5° / -10°4010.510.97.40.0

Chance of rain

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

Penza gets about 566 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 2.7 months, from around May 16 to Aug 5, peaking in June at about 37% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Apr 5.

June is the wettest month by volume, with 63 mm over about 10 wet days; February is the driest, with 32 mm. Some of the cold-season precipitation falls as snow.

0%10%20%30%40%50%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdrierwetterdriermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetJun 27 · 37%Apr 5 · 25%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan319
Feb288
Mar299
Apr289
May319
Jun3410
Jul3411
Aug299
Sep319
Oct3110
Nov309
Dec3311

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Penza collects about 566 mm of rain across 112 wet days — roughly 47 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. June is the wettest month with 63 mm, while February is the driest at just 32 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 33% of the year’s total, and some of the cold-season precipitation falls as snow.

0255075JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec383237424963635952514040
Rainfall (mm)Rain daysSnow days
Jan38911
Feb3289
Mar3798
Apr4292
May4990
Jun63100
Jul63110
Aug5990
Sep5290
Oct51102
Nov4096
Dec401111

Snow in Penza

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.

Penza averages about 48 snowy days a year. Snow season runs roughly Oct 2 to Apr 30 — about 6.9 months.

December is snowiest, with roughly 11 days of snow and an estimated 41 cm of snowfall. Over the year that adds up to an estimated 181 cm of snow.

051015JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecsnow seasonsnow seasonDec 20
Snow daysSnowfall (cm)
Jan1140
Feb935
Mar830
Apr25
May01
Jun00
Jul00
Aug00
Sep00
Oct26
Nov624
Dec1141

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Penza, 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 March 19 and lasts for 6.4 months, ending around September 29. The clearest month is July, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 55% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around September 30 and lasts for 5.6 months, ending around March 18. The cloudiest month is December, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 91% 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%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecJul 19 · 57%Jan 6 · 7%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastcloudierclearercloudier
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan991
Feb1585
Mar2971
Apr3763
May4654
Jun5149
Jul5545
Aug5248
Sep3664
Oct2278
Nov1387
Dec991

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 14, brings about 16 h 42 min of light; the shortest, around December 14, only 7 h 18 min — a swing of roughly 9 h 24 min.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan7.98:154:04
Feb9.47:314:59
Mar11.56:255:54
Apr13.65:106:51
May15.64:087:44
Jun16.63:408:21
Jul16.23:588:13
Aug14.54:477:21
Sep12.45:426:07
Oct10.36:374:53
Nov8.47:353:55
Dec7.48:173:35

Sunny days

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

Penza averages about 6 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 1 and 11 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 6.6 months, from around Mar 15 to Oct 1. The sunniest month is August, with roughly 10 sunny days (mixed).

The greyest month is January, down near 2 sunny days — about 84% fewer than the August peak.

051015JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgreyersunniergreyergloomymixedAug 611 daysJan 61 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan2Gloomy
Feb3Gloomy
Mar6Gloomy
Apr7Gloomy
May9Mixed
Jun9Mixed
Jul11Mixed
Aug11Mixed
Sep7Gloomy
Oct4Gloomy
Nov3Gloomy
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 Penza, how humid it feels changes noticeably over the year.

The more humid part of the year lasts 2.6 months, from around June 8 to August 26. The muggiest month is July, when the air feels humid, muggy or worse about 25% of the time.

The most comfortable stretch runs from around August 27 to June 7, 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 30 · 100%Jul 26 · 72%humidcomfortabledrycomfortablehumidcomfortable
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)Humid (%)Muggy (%)
Jan100000
Feb100000
Mar100000
Apr100000
May94600
Jun6623101
Jul4035232
Aug5928121
Sep95500
Oct100000
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.

Across the year, average wind speed in Penza is typically light breeze, near 13 km/h, and varies little with the seasons.

The windier part of the year lasts 6.5 months, from around Sep 28 to Apr 13. The windiest month is February, averaging about 15 km/h (light breeze).

The calmer part of the year runs from around Apr 14 to Sep 27, with July the calmest month at about 11 km/h.

05101520JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwindiercalmerwindiercalmlight breezeFeb 18 · 15 km/hJul 24 · 10 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan15light breeze
Feb15light breeze
Mar15light breeze
Apr13light breeze
May12light breeze
Jun11calm
Jul11calm
Aug11calm
Sep12light breeze
Oct14light breeze
Nov14light breeze
Dec14light breeze

Best time to visit Penza

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

Around mid May, Penza 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 Penza for general outdoor tourist activities is from early May to mid September, with a peak score in the second week of August.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationAug 14 · 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
Feb0.0poor
Mar0.0poor
Apr2.9poor
May6.1good
Jun6.8good
Jul6.8good
Aug7.0good
Sep5.4fair
Oct1.9poor
Nov0.0poor
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 Penza for hot-weather activities is from mid June to late August, with a peak score in the third week of July.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationJul 21 · 6.3

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 Penza, 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 25°C), the essentials are light clothes, rain gear and sun protection. In the cold season around January (highs near -6°C), pack a warm layer, a heavy coat and rain gear.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In July, Penza sees daytime highs around 25°C and nights near 15°C. Worth packing: light clothes, rain gear and sun protection. About 11 days see rain.

UV index (midday) in Penza 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 Penza peaks around June 21 at about 7 (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 6 months of the year.

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecLowModerateHighModerateLowJun 21UV 7Dec 20UV 1
UV index (midday)Level
Jan1Low
Feb1Low
Mar3Moderate
Apr4Moderate
May4Moderate
Jun7High
Jul7High
Aug5Moderate
Sep4Moderate
Oct2Low
Nov1Low
Dec1Low

Average hourly UV index in Penza

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 8 hours a day reach index 3 (protection recommended), and 3.5 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
Apr4.50
May50
Jun83.5
Jul7.52.5
Aug5.50
Sep40
Oct00
Nov00
Dec00
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

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

The growing season in Penza typically lasts about 200 days, from around April 10 to October 26 — the span where a frost-free day is more likely than not. It is reliably frost-free from May 1 to September 29.

0%25%50%75%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgrowing seasonMar 110%Apr 1050%May 190%Sep 2990%Oct 2650%Dec 1010%
Frost-free chance (%)Frost nights
Jan731
Feb728
Mar1331
Apr6330
May960
Jun1000
Jul1000
Aug1000
Sep971
Oct6831
Nov2430
Dec931

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. Penza banks about 977 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around July.

02505007501,000JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°C·days)
Jan0
Feb0
Mar0
Apr2
May116
Jun228
Jul304
Aug252
Sep76
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.

Penza receives about 3.1 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — moderate — with a clear seasonal swing between 0.5 and 5.9 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 5.9 months, from around Mar 18 to Sep 13. The brightest month is June, averaging about 5.8 kWh/m² (bright).

The dimmest month is December, down near 0.5 kWh/m² — roughly 91% less than the June peak.

01234567JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmerbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightintenseJun 125.9 kWhDec 170.5 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan0.7Dim
Feb1.6Dim
Mar3.0Moderate
Apr4.3Bright
May5.5Bright
Jun5.8Bright
Jul5.7Bright
Aug4.6Bright
Sep3.0Moderate
Oct1.6Dim
Nov0.7Dim
Dec0.5Dim

Where is Penza?

Penza sits at 53.2°N, 45.0°E, 156 m above sea level, in Russia. The nearest listed city is Zarechnyy, 12 km away.

Topography around Penza

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Penza has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 149 m around an average of 169 m above sea level; within 16 km, only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 161 m; within 80 km, only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 227 m.

The land around Penza is covered by artificial surfaces (58%) and trees (36%) within 3 km, trees (47%) and grassland (24%) within 16 km, and cropland (44%), trees (34%) and grassland (21%) within 80 km.

3 km
149 m
16 km
161 m
80 km
227 m
treesgrasslandcroplandartificial surfaceswater
Nearby: Zarechnyy 12 km · Kamenka 64 km · Nikol’sk 91 km · Nizhniy Lomov 96 km · Ruzayevka 96 km · Serdobsk 98 km · Petrovsk 102 km · Kuznetsk 106 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 Penza (53.1957°, 45.0108°, elevation 156 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. Topography is sampled from the Copernicus DEM GLO-90 elevation model (© ESA/Airbus) and ESA WorldCover 2021 land cover (CC BY 4.0).