Climate and average weather in Hwacheon

In Hwacheon, the summers are humid, warm, wet, and partly cloudy and the winters are very cold, snowy, and mostly clear.

Best: late April to late June

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Hwacheon typically varies from -9°C to 28°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 times of year to visit Hwacheon for warm-weather activities are from late April to late June and late August to late October.

Hottest
Aug
28°
Coldest
Jan
-9°
Wettest
Jul
316 mm
Driest
Jan
22 mm
Rain / yr
1234 mm
103 wet days
Daylight
9.3–14.7 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
115 m
38.1°N
Clearest
Dec
43% cloud

Hwacheon 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 late April to late June.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

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

The hot season lasts 4.5 months, from May 16 to September 29, with daily high temperatures above 21°C. The hottest month of the year in Hwacheon is August, with an average high of 28°C and low of 20°C.

The cool season lasts 3.0 months, from November 29 to February 26, with daily high temperatures below 6°C. The coldest month of the year in Hwacheon is January, with an average low of -9°C and high of 1°C.

Days typically run about 9°C warmer than nights, with the widest day–night swing (around 12°C) in April.

-20°-10°10°20°30°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan1-9
Feb4-6
Mar10-1
Apr165
May2210
Jun2516
Jul2720
Aug2820
Sep2415
Oct188
Nov101
Dec3-6

How hot and cold Hwacheon 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 -13°C (around January 24), with roughly 144 freezing days a year (feels-like at or below 0°C) 56 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)
Jan11-13-9
Feb44-10-6
Mar910-4-1
Apr161635
May22221010
Jun25251616
Jul28272020
Aug29282020
Sep24241515
Oct181878
Nov1010-11
Dec33-9-6

Average hourly temperature in Hwacheon

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 28°C, and coldest before dawn in January, near -9°C.

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

Hwacheon 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 / -9°224.149.70.0
Feb / -6°274.83.510.50.1
Mar10° / -1°4372.911.72.2
Apr16° / 748.30.5135.4
May22° / 10°1008.80146.8
Jun25° / 16°12310.3014.66.6
Jul27° / 20°31617.4014.45.2
Aug28° / 20°27316.2013.55.3
Sep24° / 15°1268.4012.37.0
Oct18° / 555.70116.5
Nov10° / 487.21.29.92.4
Dec / -6°265.23.79.40.0

Chance of rain

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

Hwacheon gets about 1234 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 3.3 months, from around Jun 9 to Sep 15, peaking in July at about 60% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Jan 23.

July is the wettest month by volume, with 316 mm over about 17 wet days; January is the driest, with 22 mm. Some of the cold-season precipitation falls as snow.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdrierwetterdriermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetJul 26 · 60%Jan 23 · 13%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan134
Feb175
Mar237
Apr278
May289
Jun3510
Jul5617
Aug5216
Sep298
Oct196
Nov237
Dec175

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Hwacheon collects about 1234 mm of rain across 103 wet days — roughly 103 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. July is the wettest month with 316 mm, while January is the driest at just 22 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 58% of the year’s total, and some of the cold-season precipitation falls as snow.

050100150200250300350JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec22274374100123316273126554826
Rainfall (mm)Rain daysSnow days
Jan2244
Feb2754
Mar4373
Apr7481
May10090
Jun123100
Jul316170
Aug273160
Sep12680
Oct5560
Nov4871
Dec2654

Snow in Hwacheon

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.

Hwacheon averages about 16 snowy days a year. Snow season runs roughly Nov 7 to Apr 13 — about 5.2 months.

February is snowiest, with roughly 4 days of snow and an estimated 18 cm of snowfall. Over the year that adds up to an estimated 62 cm of snow.

0246JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecsnow seasonsnow seasonFeb 27
Snow daysSnowfall (cm)
Jan416
Feb418
Mar310
Apr12
May00
Jun00
Jul00
Aug00
Sep00
Oct00
Nov14
Dec413

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Hwacheon, 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 September 21 and lasts for 7.2 months, ending around April 27. The clearest month is October, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 64% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around April 28 and lasts for 4.8 months, ending around September 20. The cloudiest month is July, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 72% 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%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecOct 22 · 68%Jul 18 · 26%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastclearercloudierclearer
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan6139
Feb5842
Mar5446
Apr5248
May5050
Jun4159
Jul2872
Aug3664
Sep4852
Oct6436
Nov6040
Dec6337

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 22, brings about 14 h 42 min of light; the shortest, around December 21, only 9 h 18 min — a swing of roughly 5 h 24 min.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan9.77:505:27
Feb10.57:286:00
Mar11.76:486:30
Apr13.06:006:59
May14.05:247:27
Jun14.65:107:48
Jul14.45:237:47
Aug13.55:497:18
Sep12.36:166:31
Oct11.06:445:44
Nov9.97:175:11
Dec9.47:445:06

Sunny days

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

Hwacheon averages about 11 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 4 and 16 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 5.8 months, from around Sep 25 to Mar 20. The sunniest month is October, with roughly 14 sunny days (mixed).

The greyest month is July, down near 4 sunny days — about 71% fewer than the October peak.

05101520JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecsunniergreyersunniergloomymixedbrightOct 2516 daysJul 204 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan15Mixed
Feb12Mixed
Mar12Mixed
Apr11Mixed
May11Mixed
Jun8Gloomy
Jul4Gloomy
Aug6Gloomy
Sep10Mixed
Oct15Mixed
Nov14Mixed
Dec15Mixed

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

The more humid part of the year lasts 3.4 months, from around June 9 to September 20. The muggiest month is July, when the air feels humid, muggy or worse about 95% of the time.

The most comfortable stretch runs from around September 21 to June 8, 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 10 · 100%Jul 30 · 1%oppressivemuggyhumiddrycomfortablecomfortablehumidcomfortable
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)Humid (%)Muggy (%)Oppressive (%)Miserable (%)
Jan10000000
Feb10000000
Mar10000000
Apr9910000
May83142000
Jun2034321220
Jul142239341
Aug152032411
Sep3229251130
Oct9081000
Nov10000000
Dec10000000

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 Hwacheon is steady company: average speeds sit near 7 km/hcalm — in every month of the year, with no meaningful windy or calm season.

051015JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDeccalmlight breezeMar 13 · 8 km/hJun 16 · 6 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan7calm
Feb8calm
Mar8calm
Apr8calm
May7calm
Jun6calm
Jul7calm
Aug6calm
Sep6calm
Oct6calm
Nov7calm
Dec7calm

Hazard calendar for Hwacheon

In seasonPeak

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

Hwacheon's rainy season runs July–August, 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 Hwacheon

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

Around late April, Hwacheon 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 times of year to visit Hwacheon for general outdoor tourist activities run from late April to late June and again from late August to late October, with a peak score in the last week of May.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationMay 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
Mar2.2poor
Apr5.3fair
May6.8good
Jun6.6good
Jul5.2fair
Aug5.3fair
Sep6.9good
Oct6.4good
Nov2.4poor
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 Hwacheon for hot-weather activities is from late May to late September, with a peak score in the first week of June.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationJun 7 · 6.2

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 Hwacheon, 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 28°C), the essentials are light clothes and rain gear. In the cold season around January (highs near 1°C), pack a warm layer and a heavy coat.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In August, Hwacheon sees daytime highs around 28°C and nights near 20°C. Pack light clothes and rain gear. About 16 days see rain.

UV index (midday) in Hwacheon 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 Hwacheon peaks around August 17 at about 9 (very high) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near December 22 at about 2 (low).

The index reaches 3 or more — the level where the WHO recommends sun protection — in 9 months of the year.

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecModerateHighVery highModerateAug 17UV 9Dec 22UV 2
UV index (midday)Level
Jan2Low
Feb3Moderate
Mar4Moderate
Apr6High
May6High
Jun7Very high
Jul7Very high
Aug9Very high
Sep8Very high
Oct5Moderate
Nov3Moderate
Dec2Low

Average hourly UV index in Hwacheon

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 August the burn window is concentrated in the middle of the day: about 7.5 hours a day reach index 3 (protection recommended), and 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
Mar40
Apr6.50
May6.50
Jun7.53.5
Jul7.54
Aug7.55
Sep6.53.5
Oct50
Nov00
Dec00

Air quality in Hwacheon 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 Hwacheon is worst in March — around 67 µg/m³ PM2.5 (unhealthy), about 1.8× the cleanest month (August, 37 µg/m³).

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

020406080JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecUnhealthyPoorPoorMar 1967 µg/m³Aug 1237 µg/m³
PM2.5 (µg/m³)Level
Jan61Unhealthy
Feb59Unhealthy
Mar67Unhealthy
Apr63Unhealthy
May53Poor
Jun46Poor
Jul38Poor
Aug37Poor
Sep40Poor
Oct52Poor
Nov56Unhealthy
Dec51Poor
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

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

The growing season in Hwacheon typically lasts about 244 days, from around March 21 to November 19 — the span where a frost-free day is more likely than not. It is reliably frost-free from April 14 to October 29.

0%25%50%75%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgrowing seasonFeb 1710%Mar 2150%Apr 1490%Oct 2990%Nov 1950%Dec 2110%
Frost-free chance (%)Frost nights
Jan531
Feb928
Mar4131
Apr8912
May1000
Jun1000
Jul1000
Aug1000
Sep1000
Oct974
Nov5830
Dec1431

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. Hwacheon banks about 1,748 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around August.

05001,0001,5002,000JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°C·days)
Jan0
Feb0
Mar0
Apr31
May186
Jun314
Jul417
Aug429
Sep279
Oct92
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.

Hwacheon receives about 4.0 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — moderate — with a clear seasonal swing between 2.3 and 5.9 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 6.8 months, from around Mar 1 to Sep 24. The brightest month is May, averaging about 5.7 kWh/m² (bright).

The dimmest month is December, down near 2.3 kWh/m² — roughly 59% less than the May peak.

01234567JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmerbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightintenseMay 315.9 kWhDec 82.3 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan2.7Moderate
Feb3.6Moderate
Mar4.5Bright
Apr5.3Bright
May5.7Bright
Jun5.5Bright
Jul4.1Bright
Aug4.1Bright
Sep4.1Bright
Oct3.6Moderate
Nov2.5Moderate
Dec2.3Moderate

Where is Hwacheon?

Hwacheon sits at 38.1°N, 127.7°E, 115 m above sea level, in South Korea. The nearest listed city is Yanggu, 25 km away.

GapyeongCheorwonHongch’ŏnHwadoYangjuHoeyang

Topography around Hwacheon

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Hwacheon has significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 494 m around an average of 210 m above sea level; within 16 km, large variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 1,108 m; within 80 km, very significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 1,646 m.

The land around Hwacheon is covered by trees (68%) within 3 km, trees (88%) within 16 km, and trees (79%) within 80 km.

3 km
494 m
16 km
1,108 m
80 km
1,646 m
treesgrasslandcroplandartificial surfacesbare terrainwater
Nearby: Yanggu 25 km · Chuncheon 26 km · Gapyeong 35 km · Cheorwon 44 km · Hongch’ŏn 49 km · Hwado 61 km · Yangju 64 km · Hoeyang 68 km

South Korea travel facts

Travel advisory
Level 1
Exercise Normal Precautions
Power plugs
Type C / F
220 V · 60 Hz
Prices
≈ 57% of US
price level, 2025
GDP per capita
$36,227
2025
Happiness
6.0 / 10
World Happiness, 2025
Safe drinking water
99%
of population, 2024
Homicide rate
0.5
per 100k, 2023
Road deaths
8.6
per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group
High
World Bank
English
Moderate
EF EPI 522
Religion
none 60%Protestant 17%Buddhist 16%Catholic 6%

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 Hwacheon (38.1071°, 127.7063°, elevation 115 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).