Climate and average weather in Skellefteå

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

Best: late June to late August

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Skellefteå typically varies from -10°C to 18°C, and is rarely below -20°C or above 23°C. July is the hottest month of the year, while February is the coldest.

Based on the travel score, the best time of year to visit Skellefteå for warm-weather activities is from late June to late August.

Hottest
Jul
18°
Coldest
Feb
-10°
Wettest
Jul
73 mm
Driest
Feb
29 mm
Rain / yr
602 mm
115 wet days
Daylight
3.1–20.9 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
34 m
64.8°N
Clearest
May
64% cloud

Skellefteå is urban area in Skellefteå Municipality, Sweden.

Air quality
Good
PM10 18.5 µg/m³ · 2019

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

Skellefteå 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 June to late August.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

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

The hot season lasts 3.4 months, from June 3 to September 14, with daily high temperatures above 13°C. The hottest month of the year in Skellefteå is July, with an average high of 18°C and low of 13°C.

The cool season lasts 3.2 months, from December 10 to March 15, with daily high temperatures below -1°C. The coldest month of the year in Skellefteå is February, with an average low of -10°C and high of -5°C.

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

-20°-10°10°20°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan-4-9
Feb-5-10
Mar-1-7
Apr4-2
May104
Jun149
Jul1813
Aug1712
Sep128
Oct62
Nov1-2
Dec-1-6

How hot and cold Skellefteå 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 -17°C (around February 3), with roughly 217 freezing days a year (feels-like at or below 0°C) 117 of them bitterly cold — worst in February.

-20°-10°10°20°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Feels-like high (°C)Air high (°C)Feels-like low (°C)Air low (°C)
Jan-4-4-16-9
Feb-5-5-16-10
Mar-1-1-13-7
Apr44-7-2
May101004
Jun141479
Jul18181313
Aug17171212
Sep121258
Oct66-22
Nov11-7-2
Dec-2-1-12-6

Average hourly temperature in Skellefteå

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 18°C, and coldest before dawn in February, near -10°C.

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

Skellefteå 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-4° / -9°419.910.44.60.0
Feb-5° / -10°2978.47.80.0
Mar-1° / -7°327.48.111.20.0
Apr / -2°327.14.814.70.2
May10° / 418.60.718.12.2
Jun14° / 589.6020.64.2
Jul18° / 13°7312019.55.6
Aug17° / 12°6911016.25.3
Sep12° / 589.3012.73.3
Oct / 6310.92.79.20.6
Nov / -2°5511.685.80.0
Dec-2° / -6°5110.810.23.40.0

Chance of rain

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

Skellefteå gets about 602 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 7.2 months, from around Jun 14 to Jan 17, peaking in July at about 40% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Feb 20.

July is the wettest month by volume, with 73 mm over about 12 wet days; February is the driest, with 29 mm. Some of the cold-season precipitation falls as snow.

0%10%20%30%40%50%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdrierwettermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetJul 12 · 40%Feb 20 · 23%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan3210
Feb257
Mar247
Apr247
May279
Jun3210
Jul3812
Aug3511
Sep329
Oct3511
Nov3812
Dec3511

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Skellefteå collects about 602 mm of rain across 115 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 29 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 34% of the year’s total, and some of the cold-season precipitation falls as snow.

0255075100JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec412932324158736958635551
Rainfall (mm)Rain daysSnow days
Jan411010
Feb2978
Mar3278
Apr3275
May4191
Jun58100
Jul73120
Aug69110
Sep5890
Oct63113
Nov55128
Dec511110

Snow in Skellefteå

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.

Skellefteå averages about 53 snowy days a year. Snow season runs roughly Oct 3 to May 18 — about 7.5 months.

January is snowiest, with roughly 10 days of snow and an estimated 42 cm of snowfall. Over the year that adds up to an estimated 216 cm of snow.

051015JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecsnow seasonsnow seasonJan 1
Snow daysSnowfall (cm)
Jan1042
Feb831
Mar830
Apr523
May13
Jun00
Jul00
Aug00
Sep00
Oct310
Nov833
Dec1044

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Skellefteå, the average share of the sky covered by clouds shows moderate seasonal variation over the course of the year.

The clearer part of the year begins around February 26 and lasts for 6.9 months, ending around September 24. The clearest month is April, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 41% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around September 25 and lasts for 5.1 months, ending around February 25. The cloudiest month is December, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 80% 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 27 · 45%Nov 28 · 19%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastcloudierclearercloudier
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan2278
Feb3070
Mar3961
Apr4159
May4159
Jun4060
Jul4159
Aug3961
Sep3565
Oct3268
Nov2278
Dec2080

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 20 h 54 min of light; the shortest, around December 18, only 3 h 06 min — a swing of roughly 17 h 48 min.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan4.69:292:02
Feb7.87:553:46
Mar11.26:115:21
Apr14.74:156:58
May18.12:298:36
Jun20.61:1310:00
Jul19.51:549:29
Aug16.23:347:46
Sep12.75:115:50
Oct9.26:443:58
Nov5.88:302:13
Dec3.49:571:08

Sunny days

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

Skellefteå averages about 6 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 4 and 9 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 3.8 months, from around Feb 13 to Jun 7. The sunniest month is March, with roughly 8 sunny days (mixed).

The greyest month is December, down near 4 sunny days — about 53% fewer than the March peak.

051015JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgreyersunniergreyergloomymixedMar 199 daysDec 84 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan4Gloomy
Feb6Gloomy
Mar8Mixed
Apr7Gloomy
May7Gloomy
Jun6Gloomy
Jul7Gloomy
Aug6Gloomy
Sep6Gloomy
Oct7Gloomy
Nov5Gloomy
Dec4Gloomy

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 Skellefteå, the air stays dry or comfortable essentially all year. Even in July, the muggiest month, it feels humid or worse only about 4% of the time — humidity is not something you need to plan around here.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDeccomfortabledry
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)Humid (%)
Jan10000
Feb10000
Mar10000
Apr10000
May10000
Jun9820
Jul74223
Aug75223
Sep9820
Oct10000
Nov10000
Dec10000

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 Skellefteå is typically light breeze, near 14 km/h, and varies little with the seasons.

The windier part of the year lasts 6.1 months, from around Sep 19 to Mar 24. The windiest month is December, averaging about 16 km/h (light breeze).

The calmer part of the year runs from around Mar 25 to Sep 18, with July the calmest month at about 12 km/h.

05101520JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwindiercalmerwindiercalmlight breezeDec 26 · 16 km/hJul 24 · 12 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan16light breeze
Feb15light breeze
Mar14light breeze
Apr13light breeze
May12light breeze
Jun12light breeze
Jul12calm
Aug12light breeze
Sep14light breeze
Oct15light breeze
Nov16light breeze
Dec16light breeze

Best time to visit Skellefteå

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

Around mid August, Skellefteå is still near the tail of its best-weather window — great conditions with the peak-season crowds already thinning.

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 Skellefteå for general outdoor tourist activities is from late June to late August, with a peak score in the last week of July.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationJul 31 · 5.9

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
Apr0.2poor
May2.2poor
Jun4.2fair
Jul5.5good
Aug5.3fair
Sep3.3poor
Oct0.6poor
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 Skellefteå 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 28 · 2.3

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 Skellefteå, 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 18°C), the essentials are rain gear and sun protection. In the cold season around February (highs near -5°C), pack a warm layer and a heavy coat.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In July, Skellefteå sees daytime highs around 18°C and nights near 13°C. Worth packing: rain gear and sun protection. About 12 days see rain.

Sea temperature near Skellefteå

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 24 km away) is warmest in August at about 15°C and coldest in February near 0°C.

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

0°5°10°15°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbracingcool
Sea temperature (°C)Comfort
Jan1Bracing
Feb0Bracing
Mar0Bracing
Apr1Bracing
May3Bracing
Jun8Bracing
Jul14Bracing
Aug15Bracing
Sep12Bracing
Oct8Bracing
Nov5Bracing
Dec3Bracing

UV index (midday) in Skellefteå 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 Skellefteå peaks around July 15 at about 5 (moderate) — a little sun protection helps at midday. It bottoms out near December 17 at about 0 (low).

The index reaches 3 or more — the level where the WHO recommends sun protection — in 4 months of the year.

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecLowModerateLowJul 15UV 5Dec 17UV 0
UV index (midday)Level
Jan0Low
Feb0Low
Mar1Low
Apr2Moderate
May4Moderate
Jun4Moderate
Jul5Moderate
Aug3Moderate
Sep2Low
Oct1Low
Nov0Low
Dec0Low

Average hourly UV index in Skellefteå

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 July the burn window is concentrated in the middle of the day: about 6.5 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
Apr00
May40
Jun50
Jul6.50
Aug30
Sep00
Oct00
Nov00
Dec00
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

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

The growing season in Skellefteå typically lasts about 182 days, from around April 29 to October 27 — the span where a frost-free day is more likely than not. It is reliably frost-free from May 15 to October 7.

0%25%50%75%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgrowing seasonApr 310%Apr 2950%May 1590%Oct 790%Oct 2750%Jan 210%
Frost-free chance (%)Frost nights
Jan731
Feb828
Mar931
Apr2530
May8714
Jun1000
Jul1000
Aug1000
Sep990
Oct7224
Nov3030
Dec1531

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. Skellefteå banks about 369 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around July.

0100200300400JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°C·days)
Jan0
Feb0
Mar0
Apr0
May0
Jun48
Jul162
Aug138
Sep20
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.

Skellefteå receives about 2.5 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — moderate — with a clear seasonal swing between 0.0 and 5.6 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 5.6 months, from around Mar 22 to Sep 8. The brightest month is June, averaging about 5.6 kWh/m² (bright).

The dimmest month is December, down near 0.0 kWh/m² — roughly 99% less than the June peak.

01234567JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmerbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightintenseJun 85.6 kWhDec 200.0 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan0.1Dim
Feb0.7Dim
Mar2.1Moderate
Apr4.0Bright
May5.2Bright
Jun5.6Bright
Jul5.1Bright
Aug3.8Moderate
Sep2.2Moderate
Oct0.9Dim
Nov0.2Dim
Dec0.0Dim

Where is Skellefteå?

Skellefteå sits at 64.8°N, 21.0°E, 34 m above sea level, in Sweden. The nearest listed city is Piteå, 68 km away.

UmeåLuleåBodenKokkolaJakobstadRaaheKorsholm

Topography around Skellefteå

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Skellefteå has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 138 m around an average of 42 m above sea level; within 16 km, only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 224 m; within 80 km, significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 515 m.

The land around Skellefteå is covered by trees (58%) and artificial surfaces (20%) within 3 km, trees (65%) within 16 km, and trees (62%) and water (28%) within 80 km.

3 km
138 m
16 km
224 m
80 km
515 m
treesgrasslandcroplandartificial surfaceswaterwetland
Nearby: Piteå 68 km · Umeå 108 km · Luleå 108 km · Boden 124 km · Kokkola 146 km · Jakobstad 147 km · Raahe 168 km · Korsholm 185 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 Skellefteå (64.7507°, 20.9528°, elevation 34 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).