Climate and average weather in Chur

In Chur, the summers are mild, wet, and partly cloudy and the winters are very cold, snowy, and partly cloudy.

Best: mid June to early September

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Chur typically varies from -12°C to 17°C, and is rarely below -20°C or above 22°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 Chur for warm-weather activities is from mid June to early September.

Hottest
Jul
17°
Coldest
Jan
-12°
Wettest
Jun
164 mm
Driest
Feb
69 mm
Rain / yr
1406 mm
177 wet days
Daylight
8.3–15.7 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
601 m
46.8°N
Clearest
Jan
59% cloud

Chur is capital of the canton of Graubünden, Switzerland.

Air quality
Good
PM2.5 8.2 µg/m³ · 2020
Density
652/km²
people per km²

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

Chur 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 June to early September.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

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

The hot season lasts 3.8 months, from May 26 to September 19, with daily high temperatures above 12°C. The hottest month of the year in Chur is July, with an average high of 17°C and low of 7°C.

The cool season lasts 3.4 months, from November 22 to March 5, with daily high temperatures below 0°C. The coldest month of the year in Chur is January, with an average low of -12°C and high of -4°C.

Days typically run about 9°C warmer than nights year-round.

-20°-10°10°20°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan-4-12
Feb-2-11
Mar2-7
Apr6-3
May111
Jun155
Jul177
Aug166
Sep133
Oct80
Nov2-6
Dec-3-11

How hot and cold Chur 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 -12°C (around January 18), with roughly 204 freezing days a year (feels-like at or below 0°C) 80 of them bitterly cold — worst in January.

-10°10°20°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Feels-like high (°C)Air high (°C)Feels-like low (°C)Air low (°C)
Jan-4-4-12-12
Feb-2-2-11-11
Mar22-7-7
Apr66-5-3
May101111
Jun151555
Jul171777
Aug161666
Sep121333
Oct88-10
Nov22-7-6
Dec-3-3-11-11

Average hourly temperature in Chur

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 17°C, and coldest before dawn in January, near -12°C.

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

Chur 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° / -12°7812.113.58.80.0
Feb-2° / -11°6911.512.6100.0
Mar / -7°911414.611.60.0
Apr / -3°10715.212.513.30.3
May11° / 14018.8714.82.0
Jun15° / 16418.92.115.63.5
Jul17° / 15417.80.715.34.4
Aug16° / 16316.50.5144.5
Sep13° / 12013.73.212.43.1
Oct / -0°11112.16.410.61.3
Nov / -6°11913.5139.20.0
Dec-3° / -11°9113.113.98.40.0

Chance of rain

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

Chur gets about 1406 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 5.1 months, from around Apr 7 to Sep 7, peaking in June at about 68% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Oct 20.

June is the wettest month by volume, with 164 mm over about 19 wet days; February is the driest, with 69 mm. Some of the cold-season precipitation falls as snow.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdrierwetterdriermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetJun 5 · 68%Oct 20 · 36%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan3912
Feb4212
Mar4414
Apr5115
May6119
Jun6319
Jul5718
Aug5317
Sep4714
Oct3912
Nov4414
Dec4213

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Chur collects about 1406 mm of rain across 177 wet days — roughly 117 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. June is the wettest month with 164 mm, while February is the driest at just 69 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 34% of the year’s total, and some of the cold-season precipitation falls as snow.

0255075100125150175200JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec78699110714016415416312011111991
Rainfall (mm)Rain daysSnow days
Jan781214
Feb691213
Mar911415
Apr1071513
May140197
Jun164192
Jul154181
Aug163171
Sep120143
Oct111126
Nov1191413
Dec911314

Snow in Chur

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.

Chur averages about 100 snowy days a year. Snow season runs roughly Aug 20 to Jul 21 — about 11 months.

February is snowiest, with roughly 14 days of snow and an estimated 79 cm of snowfall. Over the year that adds up to an estimated 680 cm of snow.

05101520JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecsnow seasonsnow seasonFeb 28
Snow daysSnowfall (cm)
Jan1481
Feb1379
Mar1580
Apr1395
May743
Jun218
Jul17
Aug11
Sep323
Oct647
Nov13115
Dec1492

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Chur, 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 June 18 and lasts for 3.1 months, ending around September 19. The clearest month is August, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 46% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around April 2 and lasts for 2.5 months, ending around June 17. The cloudiest month is May, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 66% 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%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecAug 19 · 48%May 5 · 31%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastcloudierclearercloudier
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan4357
Feb4159
Mar4159
Apr3664
May3466
Jun3961
Jul4654
Aug4654
Sep4159
Oct4060
Nov3664
Dec4060

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 15 h 42 min of light; the shortest, around December 17, only 8 h 18 min — a swing of roughly 7 h 24 min.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan8.88:094:53
Feb10.07:375:36
Mar11.66:446:19
Apr13.35:427:02
May14.84:537:43
Jun15.64:338:11
Jul15.34:488:07
Aug14.05:257:27
Sep12.46:066:26
Oct10.66:485:26
Nov9.27:344:41
Dec8.48:084:29

Sunny days

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

Chur averages about 8 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 5 and 10 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 4.4 months, from around Nov 24 to Apr 5. The sunniest month is January, with roughly 10 sunny days (mixed).

The greyest month is May, down near 5 sunny days — about 46% fewer than the January peak.

051015JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecsunniergreyersunniergloomymixedJan 1410 daysMay 65 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan10Mixed
Feb9Mixed
Mar9Mixed
Apr7Gloomy
May5Gloomy
Jun6Gloomy
Jul8Gloomy
Aug8Mixed
Sep7Gloomy
Oct8Gloomy
Nov7Gloomy
Dec9Mixed

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 Chur, 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.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdry
Dry (%)
Jan100
Feb100
Mar100
Apr100
May100
Jun100
Jul100
Aug100
Sep100
Oct100
Nov100
Dec100

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 Chur is steady company: average speeds sit near 4 km/hcalm — in every month of the year, with no meaningful windy or calm season.

0510JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDeccalmApr 10 · 5 km/hAug 3 · 4 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan4calm
Feb4calm
Mar5calm
Apr5calm
May5calm
Jun4calm
Jul4calm
Aug4calm
Sep4calm
Oct5calm
Nov5calm
Dec5calm

Best time to visit Chur

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

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

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationJul 26 · 4.6

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
Apr0.4poor
May1.9poor
Jun3.5poor
Jul4.4fair
Aug4.4fair
Sep3.1poor
Oct1.3poor
Nov0.0poor
Dec0.0poor

The beach/pool score favors clear, rainless days with daytime highs between 24°C and 34°C. Chur rarely gets warm enough to lift this score — no time of year really suits hot-weather activities here.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDectemperaturecloudsprecipitation

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 Chur, 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 17°C), the essentials are a warm layer, rain gear and sun protection. In the cold season around January (highs near -4°C), pack a warm layer, a heavy coat and rain gear.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In July, Chur sees daytime highs around 17°C and nights near 7°C. Pack rain gear. Worth having: a warm layer and sun protection. About 18 days see rain.

UV index (midday) in Chur 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 Chur peaks around July 16 at about 9 (very high) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near December 22 at about 1 (low).

The index reaches 3 or more — the level where the WHO recommends sun protection — in 8 months of the year.

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecLowModerateHighVery highHighModerateLowJul 16UV 9Dec 22UV 1
UV index (midday)Level
Jan1Low
Feb3Moderate
Mar6High
Apr6High
May8Very high
Jun8Very high
Jul9Very high
Aug8Very high
Sep6High
Oct4Moderate
Nov2Low
Dec1Low

Average hourly UV index in Chur

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 8.5 hours a day reach index 3 (protection recommended), and 5.5 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
Mar5.50
Apr6.52
May84.5
Jun8.55
Jul8.55.5
Aug7.54
Sep60
Oct30
Nov00
Dec00
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

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

The growing season in Chur typically lasts about 164 days, from around May 4 to October 14 — the span where a frost-free day is more likely than not. It is reliably frost-free from June 7 to September 4.

0%25%50%75%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgrowing seasonMar 2710%May 450%Jun 790%Sep 490%Oct 1450%Nov 2410%
Frost-free chance (%)Frost nights
Jan231
Feb228
Mar831
Apr2230
May6731
Jun937
Jul990
Aug990
Sep8329
Oct4831
Nov1630
Dec431

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. Chur banks about 104 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around July.

050100150200JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°C·days)
Jan0
Feb0
Mar0
Apr0
May0
Jun10
Jul51
Aug43
Sep0
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.

Chur receives about 3.7 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — moderate — with a clear seasonal swing between 1.3 and 5.8 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 6.3 months, from around Mar 10 to Sep 16. The brightest month is June, averaging about 5.7 kWh/m² (bright).

The dimmest month is December, down near 1.3 kWh/m² — roughly 77% less than the June peak.

01234567JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmerbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightintenseJun 265.8 kWhDec 201.3 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan1.6Dim
Feb2.6Moderate
Mar4.0Bright
Apr5.3Bright
May5.6Bright
Jun5.7Bright
Jul5.6Bright
Aug4.8Bright
Sep3.8Moderate
Oct2.7Moderate
Nov1.7Dim
Dec1.3Dim

Where is Chur?

Chur sits at 46.8°N, 9.5°E, 601 m above sea level, in Switzerland. The nearest listed city is Davos, 24 km away.

DavosVaduzBludenzFeldkirchSt. MoritzHohenemsHerisauDornbirn

Topography around Chur

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Chur has very significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 1,304 m around an average of 879 m above sea level; within 16 km, extreme variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 2,677 m; within 80 km, extreme variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 3,742 m.

The land around Chur is covered by trees (65%) within 3 km, trees (49%) and grassland (39%) within 16 km, and grassland (43%) and trees (37%) within 80 km.

3 km
1,304 m
16 km
2,677 m
80 km
3,742 m
treesgrasslandcroplandartificial surfacesbare terrainsnow and icewatermoss and lichen
Nearby: Davos 24 km · Vaduz 32 km · Bludenz 40 km · Feldkirch 43 km · St. Moritz 46 km · Hohenems 58 km · Herisau 63 km · Dornbirn 65 km

Switzerland travel facts

Travel advisory
Level 1
Exercise Normal Precautions
Power plugs
Type C / J
230 V · 50 Hz
Prices
≈ 112% of US
price level, 2025
GDP per capita
$114,769
2025
Happiness
7.0 / 10
World Happiness, 2025
Safe drinking water
97%
of population, 2024
Homicide rate
0.6
per 100k, 2023
Road deaths
2.2
per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group
High
World Bank
English
High
EF EPI 564
Religion
Roman Catholic 34%none 29%Protestant 23%other Christian 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 Chur (46.8499°, 9.5329°, elevation 601 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).