Climate and average weather in Yoshkar-Ola

In Yoshkar-Ola, the summers are warm, showery, and partly cloudy and the winters are frigid, snowy, and mostly cloudy.

Best: mid May to early September

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Yoshkar-Ola typically varies from -13°C to 24°C, and is rarely below -27°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 Yoshkar-Ola for warm-weather activities is from mid May to early September.

Hottest
Jul
24°
Coldest
Jan
-13°
Wettest
Jul
73 mm
Driest
Feb
32 mm
Rain / yr
605 mm
123 wet days
Daylight
6.5–17.5 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
94 m
56.6°N
Clearest
Jul
60% cloud

Yoshkar-Ola is capital city of the Mari El Republic, Russia.

Density
2,672/km²
people per km²
Founded
1584

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

Yoshkar-Ola 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 May to early September.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

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

The hot season lasts 4.2 months, from May 7 to September 11, with daily high temperatures above 16°C. The hottest month of the year in Yoshkar-Ola is July, with an average high of 24°C and low of 14°C.

The cool season lasts 3.5 months, from November 20 to March 6, with daily high temperatures below -2°C. The coldest month of the year in Yoshkar-Ola is January, with an average low of -13°C and high of -8°C.

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

-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan-8-13
Feb-6-13
Mar0-7
Apr101
May187
Jun2211
Jul2414
Aug2212
Sep157
Oct71
Nov-1-5
Dec-6-11

How hot and cold Yoshkar-Ola 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 -23°C (around January 31), with roughly 203 freezing days a year (feels-like at or below 0°C) 135 of them bitterly cold — worst in January.

-20°-10°10°20°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Feels-like high (°C)Air high (°C)Feels-like low (°C)Air low (°C)
Jan-8-8-21-13
Feb-7-6-20-13
Mar00-13-7
Apr1010-31
May181847
Jun22221111
Jul24241414
Aug22221212
Sep151547
Oct77-21
Nov-1-1-11-5
Dec-6-6-18-11

Average hourly temperature in Yoshkar-Ola

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 24°C, and coldest before dawn in January, near -13°C.

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

Yoshkar-Ola 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-8° / -13°3910.612.77.20.0
Feb-7° / -13°328.49.99.10.0
Mar / -7°378.8911.40.0
Apr10° / 4092.813.92.1
May18° / 499.90.216.15.6
Jun22° / 11°6611.7017.46.3
Jul24° / 14°7311.3016.96.8
Aug22° / 12°6210.3014.96.4
Sep15° / 5810.80.212.54.4
Oct / 6111.52.7101.1
Nov-1° / -5°4510.38.47.80.0
Dec-6° / -11°4310.811.96.60.0

Chance of rain

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

Yoshkar-Ola gets about 605 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 2.0 months, from around May 25 to Jul 23, peaking in June at about 39% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Mar 14.

July is the wettest month by volume, with 73 mm over about 11 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 15 · 39%Mar 14 · 28%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan3411
Feb318
Mar299
Apr309
May3310
Jun3812
Jul3611
Aug3410
Sep3611
Oct3812
Nov3510
Dec3411

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Yoshkar-Ola collects about 605 mm of rain across 123 wet days — roughly 50 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. July is the wettest month with 73 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.

0255075100JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec393237404966736258614543
Rainfall (mm)Rain daysSnow days
Jan391113
Feb32810
Mar3799
Apr4093
May49100
Jun66120
Jul73110
Aug62100
Sep58110
Oct61123
Nov45108
Dec431112

Snow in Yoshkar-Ola

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.

Yoshkar-Ola averages about 58 snowy days a year. Snow season runs roughly Sep 29 to May 7 — about 7.3 months.

January is snowiest, with roughly 12 days of snow and an estimated 45 cm of snowfall. Over the year that adds up to an estimated 214 cm of snow.

051015JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecsnow seasonsnow seasonJan 4
Snow daysSnowfall (cm)
Jan1345
Feb1038
Mar932
Apr311
May01
Jun00
Jul00
Aug00
Sep00
Oct311
Nov833
Dec1244

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Yoshkar-Ola, 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 18 and lasts for 6.0 months, ending around September 17. The clearest month is July, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 47% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around September 18 and lasts for 5.9 months, ending around March 17. The cloudiest month is December, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 93% 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 17 · 49%Jan 4 · 5%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastcloudierclearercloudier
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan991
Feb1882
Mar2773
Apr3664
May4258
Jun4456
Jul4753
Aug4060
Sep2872
Oct1684
Nov1189
Dec793

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 17, brings about 17 h 30 min of light; the shortest, around December 16, only 6 h 30 min — a swing of roughly 11 hours.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan7.28:233:32
Feb9.17:304:36
Mar11.46:165:40
Apr13.94:516:46
May16.13:417:49
Jun17.43:058:32
Jul16.93:278:21
Aug14.94:257:21
Sep12.55:295:57
Oct10.06:324:35
Nov7.87:403:27
Dec6.68:283:01

Sunny days

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

Yoshkar-Ola averages about 5 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 1 and 9 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 6.2 months, from around Mar 4 to Sep 7. The sunniest month is May, with roughly 8 sunny days (mixed).

The greyest month is January, down near 2 sunny days — about 81% fewer than the May peak.

051015JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgreyersunniergreyergloomymixedMay 109 daysJan 41 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan2Gloomy
Feb3Gloomy
Mar6Gloomy
Apr7Gloomy
May8Mixed
Jun7Gloomy
Jul8Mixed
Aug7Gloomy
Sep4Gloomy
Oct3Gloomy
Nov2Gloomy
Dec1Gloomy

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 Yoshkar-Ola, how humid it feels changes noticeably over the year.

The more humid part of the year lasts 2.7 months, from around June 8 to August 29. The muggiest month is July, when the air feels humid, muggy or worse about 23% of the time.

The most comfortable stretch runs from around August 30 to June 7, and May 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%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecMay 2 · 100%Jul 21 · 75%humidcomfortabledrycomfortablehumidcomfortable
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)Humid (%)Muggy (%)
Jan100000
Feb100000
Mar100000
Apr100000
May95400
Jun721890
Jul4730193
Aug6324111
Sep94510
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 Yoshkar-Ola is typically light breeze, near 13 km/h, and varies little with the seasons.

The windier part of the year lasts 6.7 months, from around Sep 27 to Apr 17. The windiest month is December, averaging about 14 km/h (light breeze).

The calmer part of the year runs from around Apr 18 to Sep 26, with July the calmest month at about 10 km/h.

05101520JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwindiercalmerwindiercalmlight breezeDec 24 · 14 km/hJul 19 · 10 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan14light breeze
Feb14light breeze
Mar14light breeze
Apr13light breeze
May12light breeze
Jun11calm
Jul10calm
Aug11calm
Sep12light breeze
Oct13light breeze
Nov13light breeze
Dec14light breeze

Best time to visit Yoshkar-Ola

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

Around late May, Yoshkar-Ola 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 Yoshkar-Ola for general outdoor tourist activities is from mid May to early September, with a peak score in the last week of July.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationJul 23 · 6.9

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
Apr2.2poor
May5.6good
Jun6.3good
Jul6.8good
Aug6.4good
Sep4.4fair
Oct1.1poor
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 Yoshkar-Ola for hot-weather activities is from late June to mid August, with a peak score in the last week of July.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationJul 22 · 6.0

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 Yoshkar-Ola, 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 24°C), the essentials are light clothes, rain gear and sun protection. In the cold season around January (highs near -8°C), pack a warm layer, a heavy coat and rain gear.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In July, Yoshkar-Ola sees daytime highs around 24°C and nights near 14°C. Worth packing: light clothes, rain gear and sun protection. About 11 days see rain.

UV index (midday) in Yoshkar-Ola 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 Yoshkar-Ola peaks around June 21 at about 6 (high) — sunscreen and a hat are worth it in the middle of the day. 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 6 months of the year.

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecLowModerateHighModerateLowJun 21UV 6Dec 19UV 0
UV index (midday)Level
Jan0Low
Feb1Low
Mar2Moderate
Apr3Moderate
May4Moderate
Jun6High
Jul6High
Aug4Moderate
Sep3Moderate
Oct1Low
Nov1Low
Dec0Low

Average hourly UV index in Yoshkar-Ola

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 7.5 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
Apr2.50
May50
Jun7.50
Jul70
Aug4.50
Sep20
Oct00
Nov00
Dec00
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

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

The growing season in Yoshkar-Ola typically lasts about 193 days, from around April 13 to October 22 — the span where a frost-free day is more likely than not. It is reliably frost-free from May 10 to September 25.

0%25%50%75%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgrowing seasonMar 2010%Apr 1350%May 1090%Sep 2590%Oct 2250%Dec 510%
Frost-free chance (%)Frost nights
Jan631
Feb628
Mar1131
Apr5530
May919
Jun1000
Jul1000
Aug1000
Sep955
Oct6231
Nov2030
Dec831

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. Yoshkar-Ola banks about 798 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around July.

02004006008001,000JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°C·days)
Jan0
Feb0
Mar0
Apr0
May71
Jun197
Jul277
Aug210
Sep44
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.

Yoshkar-Ola receives about 2.9 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — moderate — with a clear seasonal swing between 0.3 and 5.7 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 5.7 months, from around Mar 19 to Sep 9. The brightest month is June, averaging about 5.7 kWh/m² (bright).

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

01234567JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmerbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightintenseJun 125.7 kWhDec 180.3 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan0.5Dim
Feb1.3Dim
Mar2.7Moderate
Apr4.2Bright
May5.4Bright
Jun5.7Bright
Jul5.4Bright
Aug4.2Bright
Sep2.6Moderate
Oct1.3Dim
Nov0.6Dim
Dec0.3Dim

Where is Yoshkar-Ola?

Yoshkar-Ola sits at 56.6°N, 47.9°E, 94 m above sea level, in Russia. The nearest listed city is Medvedevo, 5.0 km away.

Topography around Yoshkar-Ola

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Yoshkar-Ola has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 41 m around an average of 95 m above sea level; within 16 km, only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 102 m; within 80 km, only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 229 m.

The land around Yoshkar-Ola is covered by artificial surfaces (52%) and trees (26%) within 3 km, trees (51%) and cropland (25%) within 16 km, and trees (64%) within 80 km.

3 km
41 m
16 km
102 m
80 km
229 m
treesgrasslandcroplandartificial surfaceswaterwetland
Nearby: Medvedevo 5.0 km · Novocheboksarsk 64 km · Cheboksary 69 km · Yaransk 74 km · Koz’modem’yansk 89 km · Volzhsk 91 km · Zelenodolsk 97 km · Vasil’yevo 103 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 Yoshkar-Ola (56.6388°, 47.8908°, elevation 94 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).