Climate and average weather in Grytviken
In Grytviken, the weather is cold, wet, and mostly cloudy and remarkably steady, with daytime highs holding near cold levels all year. The wettest stretch peaks around March.
Over the course of the year, the temperature in Grytviken typically varies from -5°C to 3°C, and is rarely below -9°C or above 6°C. February is the hottest month of the year, while July is the coldest.
Based on the travel score, Grytviken has no standout warm-weather window — it stays modest all year, so any month is much like another for a visit.
- Hottest
- Feb
- 3°
- Coldest
- Jul
- -5°
- Wettest
- Mar
- 139 mm
- Driest
- Nov
- 106 mm
- Rain / yr
- 1414 mm
- 224 wet days
- Daylight
- 7.1–16.9 h
- shortest–longest
- Elevation
- 4 m
- 54.3°S
- Clearest
- Apr
- 82% cloud
Grytviken is abandoned whaling station; settlement on the island of South Georgia–South Sandwich Islands.
Air quality: WHO Ambient Air Quality Database. Density & description: Wikidata (CC0), GeoNames.
Grytviken 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.
Temperature through the year
Daily average highs and lows in Grytviken, from 1991–2020 of climate data. The shaded bands show the range most days fall in — 10th to 90th percentile.
Temperatures in Grytviken stay fairly even through the year, without a distinct hot or cool season. The warmest month is February, with an average high of 3°C and low of 1°C; the coolest is July, with an average low of -5°C and high of -2°C.
Days typically run about 3°C warmer than nights year-round.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avg high (°C) | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | -2 | -2 | -2 | -1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Avg low (°C) | 0 | 1 | 0 | -1 | -3 | -5 | -5 | -5 | -4 | -3 | -2 | -1 |
| Avg high (°C) | Avg low (°C) | |
|---|---|---|
| Jan | 3 | 0 |
| Feb | 3 | 1 |
| Mar | 3 | 0 |
| Apr | 1 | -1 |
| May | 0 | -3 |
| Jun | -2 | -5 |
| Jul | -2 | -5 |
| Aug | -2 | -5 |
| Sep | -1 | -4 |
| Oct | 0 | -3 |
| Nov | 1 | -2 |
| Dec | 2 | -1 |
How hot and cold Grytviken really feels
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 -12°C (around July 12), with roughly 365 freezing days a year (feels-like at or below 0°C) — 123 of them bitterly cold — worst in July.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feels-like high (°C) | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | -2 | -2 | -2 | -1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Air high (°C) | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | -2 | -2 | -2 | -1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Feels-like low (°C) | -5 | -4 | -5 | -7 | -9 | -11 | -12 | -12 | -11 | -9 | -7 | -6 |
| Air low (°C) | 0 | 1 | 0 | -1 | -3 | -5 | -5 | -5 | -4 | -3 | -2 | -1 |
| Feels-like high (°C) | Air high (°C) | Feels-like low (°C) | Air low (°C) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 3 | 3 | -5 | 0 |
| Feb | 3 | 3 | -4 | 1 |
| Mar | 3 | 3 | -5 | 0 |
| Apr | 1 | 1 | -7 | -1 |
| May | 0 | 0 | -9 | -3 |
| Jun | -2 | -2 | -11 | -5 |
| Jul | -2 | -2 | -12 | -5 |
| Aug | -2 | -2 | -12 | -5 |
| Sep | -1 | -1 | -11 | -4 |
| Oct | 0 | 0 | -9 | -3 |
| Nov | 1 | 1 | -7 | -2 |
| Dec | 2 | 2 | -6 | -1 |
Average hourly temperature in Grytviken
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 February afternoons, near 3°C, and coldest before dawn in July, near -5°C.
Grytviken weather by month
Every month at a glance. Click a month for its detailed page.
| Month | High / Low (°C) | Rainfall (mm) | Wet days | Snow days | Daylight (hours) | Travel score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 3° / 0° | 120 | 19.5 | 13.5 | 16.3 | 0.0 |
| Feb | 3° / 1° | 115 | 18.1 | 11.3 | 14.7 | 0.0 |
| Mar | 3° / 0° | 139 | 20.3 | 13.1 | 12.5 | 0.0 |
| Apr | 1° / -1° | 131 | 19.2 | 16.3 | 10.3 | 0.0 |
| May | -0° / -3° | 119 | 19.2 | 18.7 | 8.3 | 0.0 |
| Jun | -2° / -5° | 115 | 17.8 | 19.4 | 7.2 | 0.0 |
| Jul | -2° / -5° | 118 | 18.4 | 20.8 | 7.6 | 0.0 |
| Aug | -2° / -5° | 121 | 18.9 | 21.1 | 9.3 | 0.0 |
| Sep | -1° / -4° | 113 | 17.2 | 19.3 | 11.5 | 0.0 |
| Oct | -0° / -3° | 109 | 18.5 | 18.3 | 13.8 | 0.0 |
| Nov | 1° / -2° | 106 | 17.5 | 16.2 | 15.8 | 0.0 |
| Dec | 2° / -1° | 108 | 19 | 16 | 16.8 | 0.0 |
Chance of rain
How likely it is to rain on a typical day, and how that shifts across the wetter and drier seasons.
Grytviken gets about 1414 mm of precipitation a year. On a typical day the chance of rain is very wet, but that rises and falls sharply with the seasons.
The wetter season lasts 5.0 months, from around Dec 13 to May 13, peaking in April at about 68% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Sep 29.
March is the wettest month by volume, with 139 mm over about 20 wet days; November is the driest, with 106 mm. Some of the cold-season precipitation falls as snow.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rain on a day (%) | 63 | 64 | 65 | 65 | 61 | 59 | 59 | 61 | 58 | 60 | 59 | 61 |
| Rain days | 20 | 18 | 20 | 19 | 19 | 18 | 18 | 19 | 17 | 19 | 18 | 19 |
| Rain on a day (%) | Rain days | |
|---|---|---|
| Jan | 63 | 20 |
| Feb | 64 | 18 |
| Mar | 65 | 20 |
| Apr | 65 | 19 |
| May | 61 | 19 |
| Jun | 59 | 18 |
| Jul | 59 | 18 |
| Aug | 61 | 19 |
| Sep | 58 | 17 |
| Oct | 60 | 19 |
| Nov | 59 | 18 |
| Dec | 61 | 19 |
Monthly rainfall
Over a full year, Grytviken collects about 1414 mm of rain across 224 wet days — roughly 118 mm in an average month.
It doesn’t fall evenly. March is the wettest month with 139 mm, while November is the driest at just 106 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 28% of the year’s total, and some of the cold-season precipitation falls as snow.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rainfall (mm) | 120 | 115 | 139 | 131 | 119 | 115 | 118 | 121 | 113 | 109 | 106 | 108 |
| Rain days | 20 | 18 | 20 | 19 | 19 | 18 | 18 | 19 | 17 | 19 | 18 | 19 |
| Snow days | 14 | 11 | 13 | 16 | 19 | 19 | 21 | 21 | 19 | 18 | 16 | 16 |
| Rainfall (mm) | Rain days | Snow days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 120 | 20 | 14 |
| Feb | 115 | 18 | 11 |
| Mar | 139 | 20 | 13 |
| Apr | 131 | 19 | 16 |
| May | 119 | 19 | 19 |
| Jun | 115 | 18 | 19 |
| Jul | 118 | 18 | 21 |
| Aug | 121 | 19 | 21 |
| Sep | 113 | 17 | 19 |
| Oct | 109 | 19 | 18 |
| Nov | 106 | 18 | 16 |
| Dec | 108 | 19 | 16 |
Snow in Grytviken
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.
Grytviken averages about 204 snowy days a year. Snow falls only in scattered spells rather than a settled season.
July is snowiest, with roughly 20 days of snow and an estimated 109 cm of snowfall. Over the year that adds up to an estimated 1028 cm of snow.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Snow days | 14 | 11 | 13 | 16 | 19 | 19 | 21 | 21 | 19 | 18 | 16 | 16 |
| Snowfall (cm) | 60 | 49 | 57 | 75 | 83 | 109 | 109 | 119 | 115 | 99 | 77 | 76 |
| Snow days | Snowfall (cm) | |
|---|---|---|
| Jan | 14 | 60 |
| Feb | 11 | 49 |
| Mar | 13 | 57 |
| Apr | 16 | 75 |
| May | 19 | 83 |
| Jun | 19 | 109 |
| Jul | 21 | 109 |
| Aug | 21 | 119 |
| Sep | 19 | 115 |
| Oct | 18 | 99 |
| Nov | 16 | 77 |
| Dec | 16 | 76 |
Clouds and sunshine
How often the daytime sky is clear, partly cloudy or overcast.
In Grytviken, the average share of the sky covered by clouds shows mild seasonal variation over the course of the year.
The clearer part of the year begins around March 14 and lasts for 2.6 months, ending around June 1. The clearest month is May, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 15% of the time on average.
The cloudier part of the year begins around January 21 and lasts for 1.7 months, ending around March 13. The cloudiest month is February, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 90% of the time.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clearer (%) | 13 | 10 | 13 | 15 | 15 | 13 | 13 | 12 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 14 |
| Cloudier (%) | 87 | 90 | 87 | 85 | 85 | 87 | 87 | 88 | 88 | 87 | 86 | 86 |
| Clearer (%) | Cloudier (%) | |
|---|---|---|
| Jan | 13 | 87 |
| Feb | 10 | 90 |
| Mar | 13 | 87 |
| Apr | 15 | 85 |
| May | 15 | 85 |
| Jun | 13 | 87 |
| Jul | 13 | 87 |
| Aug | 12 | 88 |
| Sep | 12 | 88 |
| Oct | 13 | 87 |
| Nov | 14 | 86 |
| Dec | 14 | 86 |
Daylight, sunrise and sunset
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 December 13, brings about 16 h 54 min of light; the shortest, around June 13, only 7 h 06 min — a swing of roughly 9 h 48 min.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daylight (h) | 16.3 | 14.7 | 12.5 | 10.3 | 8.3 | 7.2 | 7.6 | 9.3 | 11.5 | 13.8 | 15.8 | 16.8 |
| Sunrise (AM) | 4:24 | 5:21 | 6:19 | 7:19 | 8:15 | 8:53 | 8:45 | 7:50 | 6:33 | 5:17 | 4:16 | 3:55 |
| Sunset (PM) | 8:47 | 8:00 | 6:52 | 5:33 | 4:30 | 3:59 | 4:18 | 5:10 | 6:07 | 7:05 | 8:06 | 8:49 |
| Daylight (h) | Sunrise (AM) | Sunset (PM) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 16.3 | 4:24 | 8:47 |
| Feb | 14.7 | 5:21 | 8:00 |
| Mar | 12.5 | 6:19 | 6:52 |
| Apr | 10.3 | 7:19 | 5:33 |
| May | 8.3 | 8:15 | 4:30 |
| Jun | 7.2 | 8:53 | 3:59 |
| Jul | 7.6 | 8:45 | 4:18 |
| Aug | 9.3 | 7:50 | 5:10 |
| Sep | 11.5 | 6:33 | 6:07 |
| Oct | 13.8 | 5:17 | 7:05 |
| Nov | 15.8 | 4:16 | 8:06 |
| Dec | 16.8 | 3:55 | 8:49 |
Sunny days
How many genuinely sunny days each month brings — days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — banded into plain-language zones.
Grytviken gets about 1 sunny days a month — gloomy — and it barely shifts through the year, holding between 1 and 1 days every month. Clear skies here are a flat line, not a season.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sunny days | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Sky | Gloomy | Gloomy | Gloomy | Gloomy | Gloomy | Gloomy | Gloomy | Gloomy | Gloomy | Gloomy | Gloomy | Gloomy |
| Sunny days | Sky | |
|---|---|---|
| Jan | 1 | Gloomy |
| Feb | 1 | Gloomy |
| Mar | 1 | Gloomy |
| Apr | 1 | Gloomy |
| May | 1 | Gloomy |
| Jun | 1 | Gloomy |
| Jul | 1 | Gloomy |
| Aug | 1 | Gloomy |
| Sep | 1 | Gloomy |
| Oct | 1 | Gloomy |
| Nov | 1 | Gloomy |
| Dec | 1 | Gloomy |
Humidity comfort
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 Grytviken, the air stays dry or comfortable essentially all year. Even in January, the muggiest month, it feels humid or worse only about 0% of the time — humidity is not something you need to plan around here.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dry (%) | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 |
| Dry (%) | |
|---|---|
| Jan | 100 |
| Feb | 100 |
| Mar | 100 |
| Apr | 100 |
| May | 100 |
| Jun | 100 |
| Jul | 100 |
| Aug | 100 |
| Sep | 100 |
| Oct | 100 |
| Nov | 100 |
| Dec | 100 |
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 Grytviken is typically light breeze, near 20 km/h, and varies little with the seasons.
The windier part of the year lasts 3.0 months, from around Jun 22 to Sep 19. The windiest month is August, averaging about 21 km/h (breezy).
The calmer part of the year runs from around Nov 13 to Feb 13, with December the calmest month at about 18 km/h.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wind speed (km/h) | 18 | 19 | 20 | 20 | 19 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 20 | 20 | 19 | 18 |
| Feels | light breeze | light breeze | light breeze | light breeze | light breeze | light breeze | breezy | breezy | light breeze | light breeze | light breeze | light breeze |
| Wind speed (km/h) | Feels | |
|---|---|---|
| Jan | 18 | light breeze |
| Feb | 19 | light breeze |
| Mar | 20 | light breeze |
| Apr | 20 | light breeze |
| May | 19 | light breeze |
| Jun | 19 | light breeze |
| Jul | 20 | breezy |
| Aug | 21 | breezy |
| Sep | 20 | light breeze |
| Oct | 20 | light breeze |
| Nov | 19 | light breeze |
| Dec | 18 | light breeze |
Best time to visit Grytviken
To characterize how pleasant the weather is in Grytviken throughout the year, we compute two travel scores — one for general sightseeing, one for beach and pool weather.
The travel score favors clear, rainless days with daytime highs between 18°C and 28°C. Grytviken rarely gets warm enough to lift this score — no time of year really suits general outdoor tourist activities here.
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).
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Travel score (0–10) | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Rating | poor | poor | poor | poor | poor | poor | poor | poor | poor | poor | poor | poor |
| Travel score (0–10) | Rating | |
|---|---|---|
| Jan | 0.0 | poor |
| Feb | 0.0 | poor |
| Mar | 0.0 | poor |
| Apr | 0.0 | poor |
| May | 0.0 | poor |
| Jun | 0.0 | poor |
| Jul | 0.0 | poor |
| Aug | 0.0 | poor |
| Sep | 0.0 | poor |
| Oct | 0.0 | poor |
| Nov | 0.0 | poor |
| Dec | 0.0 | poor |
The beach/pool score favors clear, rainless days with daytime highs between 24°C and 34°C. Grytviken rarely gets warm enough to lift this score — no time of year really suits hot-weather activities here.
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 Grytviken, by month
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.
Grytviken packs about the same all year — highs hold near 3°C. Across the year the things worth having are a warm layer, a heavy coat, rain gear, sun protection and a windbreaker.
In February, Grytviken sees daytime highs around 3°C and nights near 1°C. Pack a warm layer and rain gear. Worth having: a heavy coat and sun protection. About 18 days see rain.
Sea temperature near Grytviken
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 February at about 4°C and coldest in August near 0°C.
The water stays below 20°C all year — cool enough that most swimmers want a wetsuit.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sea temperature (°C) | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Comfort | Bracing | Bracing | Bracing | Bracing | Bracing | Bracing | Bracing | Bracing | Bracing | Bracing | Bracing | Bracing |
| Sea temperature (°C) | Comfort | |
|---|---|---|
| Jan | 3 | Bracing |
| Feb | 4 | Bracing |
| Mar | 4 | Bracing |
| Apr | 3 | Bracing |
| May | 2 | Bracing |
| Jun | 1 | Bracing |
| Jul | 1 | Bracing |
| Aug | 0 | Bracing |
| Sep | 0 | Bracing |
| Oct | 1 | Bracing |
| Nov | 2 | Bracing |
| Dec | 3 | Bracing |
UV index (midday) in Grytviken by month
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 Grytviken peaks around December 16 at about 10 (very high) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near June 16 at about 0 (low).
The index reaches 3 or more — the level where the WHO recommends sun protection — in 7 months of the year.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UV index (midday) | 8 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 8 | 10 |
| Level | Very high | Very high | Moderate | Moderate | Low | Low | Low | Low | Moderate | Very high | Very high | Very high |
| UV index (midday) | Level | |
|---|---|---|
| Jan | 8 | Very high |
| Feb | 7 | Very high |
| Mar | 4 | Moderate |
| Apr | 2 | Moderate |
| May | 1 | Low |
| Jun | 0 | Low |
| Jul | 1 | Low |
| Aug | 1 | Low |
| Sep | 3 | Moderate |
| Oct | 7 | Very high |
| Nov | 8 | Very high |
| Dec | 10 | Very high |
Average hourly UV index in Grytviken
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 December the burn window is concentrated in the middle of the day: about 9.5 hours a day reach index 3 (protection recommended), and 6 hours reach 6 or more. Mornings and late afternoons stay comparatively gentle year round.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UV ≥ 3 (h/day) | 8.5 | 7.5 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.5 | 7 | 8.5 | 9.5 |
| UV ≥ 6 (h/day) | 5 | 3.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.5 | 5 | 6 |
| UV ≥ 3 (h/day) | UV ≥ 6 (h/day) | |
|---|---|---|
| Jan | 8.5 | 5 |
| Feb | 7.5 | 3.5 |
| Mar | 4 | 0 |
| Apr | 0 | 0 |
| May | 0 | 0 |
| Jun | 0 | 0 |
| Jul | 0 | 0 |
| Aug | 0 | 0 |
| Sep | 1.5 | 0 |
| Oct | 7 | 3.5 |
| Nov | 8.5 | 5 |
| Dec | 9.5 | 6 |
Growing season
The growing season in Grytviken typically lasts about 69 days, from around January 7 to March 16 — the span where a frost-free day is more likely than not. It is reliably frost-free from February 3 to February 3.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Frost-free chance (%) | 59 | 67 | 50 | 26 | 10 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 17 | 33 |
| Frost nights | 31 | 28 | 31 | 30 | 31 | 30 | 31 | 31 | 30 | 31 | 30 | 31 |
| Frost-free chance (%) | Frost nights | |
|---|---|---|
| Jan | 59 | 31 |
| Feb | 67 | 28 |
| Mar | 50 | 31 |
| Apr | 26 | 30 |
| May | 10 | 31 |
| Jun | 4 | 30 |
| Jul | 3 | 31 |
| Aug | 3 | 31 |
| Sep | 3 | 30 |
| Oct | 7 | 31 |
| Nov | 17 | 30 |
| Dec | 33 | 31 |
Growing degree days
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. Grytviken banks about 0 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around January.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Growing degree days (°C·days) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Growing degree days (°C·days) | |
|---|---|
| Jan | 0 |
| Feb | 0 |
| Mar | 0 |
| Apr | 0 |
| May | 0 |
| Jun | 0 |
| Jul | 0 |
| Aug | 0 |
| Sep | 0 |
| Oct | 0 |
| Nov | 0 |
| Dec | 0 |
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.
Grytviken receives about 3.3 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — moderate — with a clear seasonal swing between 0.6 and 6.7 kWh/m².
The brighter stretch of the year lasts 5.6 months, from around Sep 25 to Mar 13. The brightest month is December, averaging about 6.6 kWh/m² (intense).
The dimmest month is June, down near 0.6 kWh/m² — roughly 91% less than the December peak.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Solar energy (kWh/m²) | 6.0 | 4.7 | 3.1 | 1.8 | 0.9 | 0.6 | 0.7 | 1.5 | 2.8 | 4.5 | 6.0 | 6.7 |
| Level | Intense | Bright | Moderate | Dim | Dim | Dim | Dim | Dim | Moderate | Bright | Bright | Intense |
| Solar energy (kWh/m²) | Level | |
|---|---|---|
| Jan | 6.0 | Intense |
| Feb | 4.7 | Bright |
| Mar | 3.1 | Moderate |
| Apr | 1.8 | Dim |
| May | 0.9 | Dim |
| Jun | 0.6 | Dim |
| Jul | 0.7 | Dim |
| Aug | 1.5 | Dim |
| Sep | 2.8 | Moderate |
| Oct | 4.5 | Bright |
| Nov | 6.0 | Bright |
| Dec | 6.7 | Intense |
Where is Grytviken?
Grytviken sits at 54.3°S, 36.5°W, 4 m above sea level, in South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. The nearest listed city is Stanley, 1,452 km away.
Topography around Grytviken
How much the land rises and falls, and what covers it, within 3, 16 and 80 km of Grytviken.
Within 3 km, the terrain around Grytviken has significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 589 m around an average of 172 m above sea level; within 16 km, very significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 2,359 m; within 80 km, extreme variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 2,915 m.
The land around Grytviken is covered by bare terrain (59%) and water (24%) within 3 km, water (46%), snow and ice (24%) and bare terrain (22%) within 16 km, and water (76%) within 80 km.
Data sources
Temperature, precipitation, cloud, humidity, wind and solar figures are a 1991–2020 climatology for Grytviken (-54.2811°, -36.5092°, elevation 4 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).