Climate and average weather in Karlshamn

In Karlshamn, the summers are mild, showery, and partly cloudy and the winters are cold, snowy, and mostly cloudy.

Best: late May to mid September

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Karlshamn typically varies from -2°C to 20°C, and is rarely below -9°C or above 25°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 Karlshamn for warm-weather activities is from late May to mid September.

Hottest
Jul
20°
Coldest
Jan
-1°
Wettest
Jul
76 mm
Driest
Apr
37 mm
Rain / yr
683 mm
130 wet days
Daylight
6.6–17.4 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
14 m
56.2°N
Clearest
May
58% cloud

Karlshamn is urban area in Karlshamn Municipality, Sweden.

Air quality
Good
PM10 18 µg/m³ · 2019
Founded
1664

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

Karlshamn 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 May to mid September.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

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

The hot season lasts 3.6 months, from May 30 to September 15, with daily high temperatures above 16°C. The hottest month of the year in Karlshamn is July, with an average high of 20°C and low of 13°C.

The cool season lasts 3.9 months, from November 22 to March 21, with daily high temperatures below 5°C. The coldest month of the year in Karlshamn is January, with an average low of -1°C and high of 2°C.

Days typically run about 5°C warmer than nights, with the widest day–night swing (around 7°C) in May.

-10°10°20°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan2-1
Feb2-2
Mar50
Apr93
May147
Jun1811
Jul2013
Aug2013
Sep1610
Oct116
Nov63
Dec30

How hot and cold Karlshamn 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 -8°C (around January 28), with roughly 166 freezing days a year (feels-like at or below 0°C), worst in January.

-10°10°20°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Feels-like high (°C)Air high (°C)Feels-like low (°C)Air low (°C)
Jan22-7-1
Feb22-7-2
Mar55-50
Apr99-13
May141447
Jun18181011
Jul20201313
Aug20201313
Sep1616910
Oct111136
Nov66-13
Dec33-50

Average hourly temperature in Karlshamn

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 20°C, and coldest before dawn in January, near -1°C.

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

Karlshamn 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 / -1°5411.35.47.30.0
Feb / -2°459.75.79.10.0
Mar / -0°399.13.411.40.2
Apr / 378.50.813.82.0
May14° / 509.90164.1
Jun18° / 11°6711.4017.25.4
Jul20° / 13°7611.8016.86.0
Aug20° / 13°6912.1014.95.9
Sep16° / 10°5910.2012.54.8
Oct11° / 6511.30.310.12.5
Nov / 6112.51.47.90.6
Dec / 6012.24.16.70.0

Chance of rain

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

Karlshamn gets about 683 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 3.0 months, from around Oct 17 to Jan 15, peaking in November at about 44% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Apr 20.

July is the wettest month by volume, with 76 mm over about 12 wet days; April is the driest, with 37 mm. Some of the cold-season precipitation falls as snow.

0%10%20%30%40%50%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdrierwettermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetNov 10 · 44%Apr 20 · 27%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan3611
Feb3510
Mar309
Apr289
May3210
Jun3811
Jul3812
Aug3812
Sep3510
Oct3711
Nov4213
Dec3912

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Karlshamn collects about 683 mm of rain across 130 wet days — roughly 57 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. July is the wettest month with 76 mm, while April is the driest at just 37 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 31% of the year’s total, and some of the cold-season precipitation falls as snow.

0255075100JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec544539375067766959656160
Rainfall (mm)Rain daysSnow days
Jan54115
Feb45106
Mar3993
Apr3791
May50100
Jun67110
Jul76120
Aug69120
Sep59100
Oct65110
Nov61131
Dec60124

Snow in Karlshamn

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.

Karlshamn averages about 21 snowy days a year. Snow season runs roughly Oct 25 to Apr 23 — about 6 months.

February is snowiest, with roughly 6 days of snow and an estimated 24 cm of snowfall. Over the year that adds up to an estimated 79 cm of snow.

02468JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecsnow seasonsnow seasonFeb 19
Snow daysSnowfall (cm)
Jan520
Feb624
Mar311
Apr14
May00
Jun00
Jul00
Aug00
Sep00
Oct01
Nov14
Dec414

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Karlshamn, 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 6.3 months, ending around September 26. The clearest month is May, 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 27 and lasts for 5.7 months, ending around March 18. The cloudiest month is December, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 83% 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%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecMay 6 · 49%Dec 3 · 14%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastcloudierclearercloudier
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan2179
Feb2476
Mar3268
Apr4357
May4753
Jun4555
Jul4555
Aug4258
Sep3862
Oct3070
Nov2080
Dec1783

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 18, brings about 17 h 24 min of light; the shortest, around December 18, only 6 h 36 min — a swing of roughly 10 h 48 min.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan7.38:323:48
Feb9.17:404:50
Mar11.46:285:53
Apr13.85:046:57
May16.03:557:58
Jun17.23:218:41
Jul16.83:428:31
Aug14.94:387:31
Sep12.55:416:09
Oct10.16:434:48
Nov7.97:503:42
Dec6.78:373:17

Sunny days

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

Karlshamn 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 9 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 5.4 months, from around Mar 12 to Aug 21. The sunniest month is May, with roughly 9 sunny days (mixed).

The greyest month is December, down near 3 sunny days — about 67% fewer than the May peak.

051015JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgreyersunniergreyergloomymixedMay 109 daysDec 72 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan4Gloomy
Feb4Gloomy
Mar6Gloomy
Apr8Gloomy
May9Mixed
Jun7Gloomy
Jul7Gloomy
Aug7Gloomy
Sep6Gloomy
Oct5Gloomy
Nov3Gloomy
Dec3Gloomy

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 Karlshamn, the air stays dry or comfortable essentially all year. Even in July, the muggiest month, it feels humid or worse only about 12% of the time — humidity is not something you need to plan around here.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecMay 11 · 100%Jul 31 · 82%humidcomfortabledrycomfortablehumidcomfortable
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)Humid (%)Muggy (%)
Jan100000
Feb100000
Mar100000
Apr100000
May99100
Jun871120
Jul5137111
Aug4442130
Sep821610
Oct98200
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 Karlshamn is typically light breeze, near 16 km/h, and varies moderately with the seasons.

The windier part of the year lasts 6.3 months, from around Sep 14 to Mar 25. The windiest month is January, averaging about 18 km/h (light breeze).

The calmer part of the year runs from around Mar 26 to Sep 13, with July the calmest month at about 14 km/h.

0510152025JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwindiercalmerwindiercalmlight breezebreezyJan 7 · 19 km/hJul 28 · 13 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan18light breeze
Feb18light breeze
Mar17light breeze
Apr15light breeze
May14light breeze
Jun14light breeze
Jul14light breeze
Aug14light breeze
Sep16light breeze
Oct17light breeze
Nov17light breeze
Dec18light breeze

Best time to visit Karlshamn

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

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

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationJul 29 · 6.2

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
Mar0.2poor
Apr2.0poor
May4.1fair
Jun5.4fair
Jul6.0good
Aug5.9good
Sep4.8fair
Oct2.5poor
Nov0.6poor
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 Karlshamn for hot-weather activities is from mid July to mid August, with a peak score in the last week of July.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationJul 31 · 3.6

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 Karlshamn, 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 20°C), the essentials are rain gear and sun protection. In the cold season around January (highs near 2°C), pack a warm layer, a heavy coat and rain gear.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In July, Karlshamn sees daytime highs around 20°C and nights near 13°C. Worth packing: rain gear and sun protection. About 12 days see rain.

Sea temperature near Karlshamn

Average ocean temperature at the nearest coast, month by month, banded into swim-comfort zones — the other half of the beach question.

The sea offshore is warmest in August at about 18°C and coldest in February near 3°C.

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

0°5°10°15°20°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbracingcoolrefreshing
Sea temperature (°C)Comfort
Jan4Bracing
Feb3Bracing
Mar3Bracing
Apr5Bracing
May9Bracing
Jun13Bracing
Jul17Cool
Aug18Cool
Sep15Cool
Oct12Bracing
Nov8Bracing
Dec6Bracing

UV index (midday) in Karlshamn 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 Karlshamn peaks around June 20 at about 5 (high) — a little sun protection helps at midday. It bottoms out near December 20 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 20UV 5Dec 20UV 0
UV index (midday)Level
Jan0Low
Feb1Low
Mar2Moderate
Apr3Moderate
May5Moderate
Jun5High
Jul5High
Aug4Moderate
Sep3Moderate
Oct1Low
Nov1Low
Dec0Low

Average hourly UV index in Karlshamn

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 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
Apr30
May60
Jun70
Jul6.50
Aug50
Sep20
Oct00
Nov00
Dec00
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

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

The growing season in Karlshamn typically lasts about 267 days, from around March 25 to December 16 — the span where a frost-free day is more likely than not. It is reliably frost-free from April 23 to November 4.

0%25%50%75%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgrowing seasonMar 2550%Apr 2390%Nov 490%Dec 1650%
Frost-free chance (%)Frost nights
Jan3731
Feb3228
Mar4531
Apr8123
May990
Jun1000
Jul1000
Aug1000
Sep1000
Oct960
Nov8129
Dec5231

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. Karlshamn banks about 639 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around July.

0200400600800JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°C·days)
Jan0
Feb0
Mar0
Apr0
May23
Jun121
Jul202
Aug199
Sep91
Oct3
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.

Karlshamn receives about 2.9 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — moderate — with a clear seasonal swing between 0.3 and 5.8 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 5.7 months, from around Mar 23 to Sep 13. 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 65.8 kWhDec 170.3 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan0.5Dim
Feb1.1Dim
Mar2.5Moderate
Apr4.2Bright
May5.4Bright
Jun5.7Bright
Jul5.3Bright
Aug4.3Bright
Sep2.8Moderate
Oct1.4Dim
Nov0.6Dim
Dec0.3Dim

Where is Karlshamn?

Karlshamn sits at 56.2°N, 14.9°E, 14 m above sea level, in Sweden. The nearest listed city is Karlskrona, 45 km away.

LjungbyEslövYstadKalmar

Topography around Karlshamn

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Karlshamn has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 83 m around an average of 17 m above sea level; within 16 km, only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 153 m; within 80 km, significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 281 m.

The land around Karlshamn is covered by trees (53%) within 3 km, trees (45%) and water (40%) within 16 km, and trees (53%) and water (35%) within 80 km.

3 km
83 m
16 km
153 m
80 km
281 m
treesgrasslandcroplandartificial surfaceswater
Nearby: Karlskrona 45 km · Kristianstad 47 km · Hässleholm 68 km · Växjö 79 km · Ljungby 93 km · Eslöv 104 km · Ystad 105 km · Kalmar 107 km

Sweden travel facts

Travel advisory
Level 2
Exercise Increased Caution
Power plugs
Type C / F
230 V · 50 Hz
Prices
≈ 87% of US
price level, 2025
GDP per capita
$63,133
2025
Happiness
7.3 / 10
World Happiness, 2025
Safe drinking water
100%
of population, 2024
Homicide rate
1.1
per 100k, 2023
Road deaths
3.1
per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group
High
World Bank
English
Very high
EF EPI 609
Religion
Church of Sweden 54%none or unspecified 37%other 9%

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 Karlshamn (56.1706°, 14.8619°, elevation 14 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).