Climate and average weather in Bolu

In Bolu, the summers are warm, showery, and mostly clear and the winters are cold, snowy, and partly cloudy.

Best: mid June to early October

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Bolu typically varies from -4°C to 25°C, and is rarely below -12°C or above 29°C. August is the hottest month of the year, while January is the coldest.

Based on the travel score, the best time of year to visit Bolu for warm-weather activities is from mid June to early October.

Hottest
Aug
25°
Coldest
Jan
-4°
Wettest
May
110 mm
Driest
Jul
50 mm
Rain / yr
1019 mm
147 wet days
Daylight
9.1–14.9 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
733 m
40.7°N
Clearest
Aug
34% cloud

Bolu is central district and city in Bolu Province, Turkey.

Air quality
Elevated
PM2.5 24.4 µg/m³ · 2019
Density
6,840/km²
people per km²

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

Bolu 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 October.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

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

The hot season lasts 4.0 months, from June 2 to September 30, with daily high temperatures above 20°C. The hottest month of the year in Bolu is August, with an average high of 25°C and low of 14°C.

The cool season lasts 3.0 months, from December 3 to March 4, with daily high temperatures below 8°C. The coldest month of the year in Bolu is January, with an average low of -4°C and high of 4°C.

Days typically run about 9°C warmer than nights, with the widest day–night swing (around 11°C) in September.

-10°10°20°30°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan4-3
Feb5-3
Mar90
Apr144
May188
Jun2211
Jul2414
Aug2514
Sep2211
Oct177
Nov112
Dec6-1

How hot and cold Bolu 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 -7°C (around February 1), with roughly 137 freezing days a year (feels-like at or below 0°C), worst in February.

-10°10°20°30°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Feels-like high (°C)Air high (°C)Feels-like low (°C)Air low (°C)
Jan44-6-3
Feb55-6-3
Mar99-20
Apr141424
May181878
Jun22221111
Jul24241414
Aug25251414
Sep22221011
Oct171767
Nov111102
Dec66-4-1

Average hourly temperature in Bolu

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 25°C, and coldest before dawn in January, near -4°C.

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

Bolu 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°9113.9119.40.0
Feb / -3°8813.81010.40.2
Mar / -0°10714.98.511.71.6
Apr14° / 9914.42.513.13.5
May18° / 11015.90.114.25.2
Jun22° / 11°9613.3014.96.3
Jul24° / 14°508.6014.67.6
Aug25° / 14°528.3013.67.7
Sep22° / 11°668.8012.37.1
Oct17° / 9011.20.810.95.4
Nov11° / 7510.33.69.72.8
Dec / -2°9613.48.29.10.4

Chance of rain

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

Bolu gets about 1019 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 6.7 months, from around Nov 29 to Jun 20, peaking in May at about 53% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Aug 17.

May is the wettest month by volume, with 110 mm over about 16 wet days; July is the driest, with 50 mm. Some of the cold-season precipitation falls as snow.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwetterdrierwettermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetMay 28 · 53%Aug 17 · 26%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan4414
Feb4914
Mar4915
Apr4814
May5016
Jun4413
Jul309
Aug278
Sep299
Oct3511
Nov3510
Dec4413

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Bolu collects about 1019 mm of rain across 147 wet days — roughly 85 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. May is the wettest month with 110 mm, while July is the driest at just 50 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 31% of the year’s total, and some of the cold-season precipitation falls as snow.

0255075100125150JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec91881079911096505266907596
Rainfall (mm)Rain daysSnow days
Jan911411
Feb881410
Mar107159
Apr99143
May110160
Jun96130
Jul5090
Aug5280
Sep6690
Oct90111
Nov75104
Dec96138

Snow in Bolu

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.

Bolu averages about 45 snowy days a year. Snow season runs roughly Oct 13 to May 4 — about 6.7 months.

January is snowiest, with roughly 11 days of snow and an estimated 55 cm of snowfall. Over the year that adds up to an estimated 263 cm of snow.

051015JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecsnow seasonsnow seasonJan 31
Snow daysSnowfall (cm)
Jan1155
Feb1064
Mar953
Apr313
May00
Jun00
Jul00
Aug00
Sep00
Oct12
Nov419
Dec858

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Bolu, 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 May 26 and lasts for 4.6 months, ending around October 13. The clearest month is August, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 79% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around October 14 and lasts for 7.4 months, ending around May 25. The cloudiest month is February, 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 2 · 81%Feb 19 · 32%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastcloudierclearercloudier
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan3565
Feb3466
Mar3664
Apr4258
May5149
Jun6535
Jul7822
Aug7921
Sep6931
Oct5248
Nov4654
Dec3664

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 11, brings about 14 h 54 min of light; the shortest, around January 1, only 9 h 06 min — a swing of roughly 5 h 48 min.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan9.47:214:44
Feb10.46:575:20
Mar11.76:135:53
Apr13.15:216:26
May14.24:426:58
Jun14.94:277:21
Jul14.64:407:19
Aug13.65:096:47
Sep12.35:405:56
Oct10.96:125:05
Nov9.76:484:30
Dec9.17:174:23

Sunny days

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

Bolu averages about 11 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 6 and 19 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 4.2 months, from around Jun 7 to Oct 13. The sunniest month is July, with roughly 18 sunny days (bright).

The greyest month is March, down near 7 sunny days — about 62% fewer than the July peak.

0510152025JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgreyersunniergreyergloomymixedbrightbrilliantJul 2819 daysMar 56 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan7Gloomy
Feb6Gloomy
Mar7Gloomy
Apr8Gloomy
May10Mixed
Jun14Mixed
Jul19Bright
Aug19Bright
Sep15Bright
Oct12Mixed
Nov10Mixed
Dec8Gloomy

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

The more humid part of the year lasts 2.9 months, from around June 13 to September 9. The muggiest month is August, when the air feels humid, muggy or worse about 35% of the time.

The most comfortable stretch runs from around September 10 to June 12, 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 28 · 100%Aug 2 · 53%muggyhumidcomfortabledrycomfortablehumidcomfortable
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)Humid (%)Muggy (%)
Jan100000
Feb100000
Mar100000
Apr100000
May91900
Jun4743100
Jul2044315
Aug2342305
Sep692650
Oct96400
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.

Wind in Bolu is steady company: average speeds sit near 6 km/hcalm — in every month of the year, with no meaningful windy or calm season.

0510JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDeccalmFeb 3 · 7 km/hSep 27 · 5 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan7calm
Feb7calm
Mar6calm
Apr6calm
May5calm
Jun5calm
Jul6calm
Aug6calm
Sep5calm
Oct5calm
Nov6calm
Dec6calm

Best time to visit Bolu

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

Around late September, Bolu 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 Bolu for general outdoor tourist activities is from mid June to early October, with a peak score in the third week of August.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationAug 18 · 7.7

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
Feb0.3poor
Mar1.6poor
Apr3.5fair
May5.1fair
Jun6.3good
Jul7.5ideal
Aug7.6ideal
Sep7.1good
Oct5.4fair
Nov2.8poor
Dec0.4poor

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 Bolu for hot-weather activities is from late June to early September, with a peak score in the second week of August.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationAug 12 · 6.9

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 Bolu, 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 25°C), the essentials are light clothes, 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 August, Bolu sees daytime highs around 25°C and nights near 14°C. Pack sun protection. Worth having: light clothes and rain gear. About 8 days see rain.

Sea temperature near Bolu

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 47 km away) is warmest in August at about 25°C and coldest in February near 7°C.

It's comfortable for a long swim from Jun 11 to Oct 12 — about 4.1 months when the water holds above 20°C.

10°20°30°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbracingcoolrefreshingwarmtropicalcomfortable to swim
Sea temperature (°C)Comfort
Jan9Bracing
Feb7Bracing
Mar8Bracing
Apr11Bracing
May16Cool
Jun21Refreshing
Jul24Refreshing
Aug25Warm
Sep23Refreshing
Oct20Cool
Nov15Cool
Dec12Bracing

UV index (midday) in Bolu 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 Bolu peaks around August 10 at about 9 (very high) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near December 19 at about 2 (low).

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

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecModerateHighVery highHighModerateLowAug 10UV 9Dec 19UV 2
UV index (midday)Level
Jan2Low
Feb2Moderate
Mar3Moderate
Apr7High
May7Very high
Jun9Very high
Jul9Very high
Aug9Very high
Sep6High
Oct4Moderate
Nov2Moderate
Dec2Low

Average hourly UV index in Bolu

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 8 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
Mar2.50
Apr6.52.5
May7.53.5
Jun8.55
Jul8.55.5
Aug85
Sep61.5
Oct3.50
Nov00
Dec00

Air quality in Bolu 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 Bolu is worst in May — around 33 µg/m³ PM2.5 (moderate), about 1.7× the cleanest month (December, 19 µg/m³).

Seasonal pattern from CAMS reanalysis, scaled to Bolu's WHO annual average of 24.4 µg/m³.

010203040JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecModerateMay 933 µg/m³Dec 2319 µg/m³
PM2.5 (µg/m³)Level
Jan20Moderate
Feb23Moderate
Mar32Moderate
Apr33Moderate
May33Moderate
Jun26Moderate
Jul21Moderate
Aug21Moderate
Sep20Moderate
Oct22Moderate
Nov22Moderate
Dec19Moderate
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

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

The growing season in Bolu typically lasts about 257 days, from around March 20 to December 1 — the span where a frost-free day is more likely than not. It is reliably frost-free from April 23 to October 29.

0%25%50%75%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgrowing seasonMar 2050%Apr 2390%Oct 2990%Dec 150%
Frost-free chance (%)Frost nights
Jan2431
Feb2928
Mar4931
Apr8323
May990
Jun1000
Jul1000
Aug1000
Sep1000
Oct974
Nov7030
Dec3831

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. Bolu banks about 1,097 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around August.

02505007501,000JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°C·days)
Jan0
Feb0
Mar0
Apr1
May90
Jun193
Jul276
Aug291
Sep184
Oct62
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.

Bolu receives about 4.3 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — bright — with a clear seasonal swing between 1.7 and 6.9 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 6.1 months, from around Mar 24 to Sep 24. The brightest month is July, averaging about 6.8 kWh/m² (intense).

The dimmest month is December, down near 1.8 kWh/m² — roughly 74% less than the July peak.

012345678JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmerbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightintenseJul 36.9 kWhDec 201.7 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan2.0Moderate
Feb2.9Moderate
Mar4.0Bright
Apr5.2Bright
May6.1Intense
Jun6.7Intense
Jul6.9Intense
Aug6.2Intense
Sep4.8Bright
Oct3.3Moderate
Nov2.3Moderate
Dec1.7Dim

Where is Bolu?

Bolu sits at 40.7°N, 31.6°E, 733 m above sea level, in Turkey. The nearest listed city is Kaynaşlı, 24 km away.

Topography around Bolu

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Bolu has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 178 m around an average of 745 m above sea level; within 16 km, very significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 1,296 m; within 80 km, very significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 2,359 m.

The land around Bolu is covered by artificial surfaces (51%) and cropland (33%) within 3 km, trees (67%) within 16 km, and trees (63%) and grassland (21%) within 80 km.

3 km
178 m
16 km
1,296 m
80 km
2,359 m
treesgrasslandcroplandartificial surfacesbare terrainwater
Nearby: Kaynaşlı 24 km · Düzce 39 km · Gerede 50 km · Alaplı 53 km · Akçakoca 56 km · Devrek 61 km · Ereğli 63 km · Nallıhan 65 km

Turkey travel facts

Travel advisory
Level 2
Exercise Increased Caution
Power plugs
Type C / F
230 V · 50 Hz
Prices
≈ 41% of US
price level, 2025
GDP per capita
$18,599
2025
Happiness
5.3 / 10
World Happiness, 2025
Homicide rate
3.2
per 100k, 2023
Road deaths
6.7
per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group
Upper middle
World Bank
English
Low
EF EPI 488
Religion
Muslim 100%other 0%

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 Bolu (40.7358°, 31.6061°, elevation 733 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. 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).