Climate and average weather in Yüksekova

In Yüksekova, the summers are warm, dry, and clear and the winters are very cold, snowy, and partly cloudy.

Best: early June to early October

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Yüksekova typically varies from -11°C to 26°C, and is rarely below -19°C or above 30°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 Yüksekova for warm-weather activities is from early June to early October.

Hottest
Aug
26°
Coldest
Jan
-11°
Wettest
Mar
143 mm
Driest
Aug
5 mm
Rain / yr
832 mm
99 wet days
Daylight
9.4–14.6 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
1,874 m
37.6°N
Clearest
Aug
14% cloud

Yüksekova 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 early June to early October.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

Daily average highs and lows in Yüksekova, 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 June 4 to September 27, with daily high temperatures above 19°C. The hottest month of the year in Yüksekova is August, with an average high of 26°C and low of 11°C.

The cool season lasts 3.6 months, from November 29 to March 19, with daily high temperatures below 3°C. The coldest month of the year in Yüksekova is January, with an average low of -11°C and high of -3°C.

Days typically run about 11°C warmer than nights, with the widest day–night swing (around 15°C) in August.

-20°-10°10°20°30°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan-3-11
Feb-1-8
Mar3-4
Apr8-1
May154
Jun229
Jul2612
Aug2611
Sep228
Oct153
Nov6-4
Dec0-9

How hot and cold Yüksekova 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 -15°C (around January 15), with roughly 196 freezing days a year (feels-like at or below 0°C) 84 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)
Jan-3-3-14-11
Feb-1-1-11-8
Mar33-7-4
Apr88-3-1
May151524
Jun222289
Jul26261212
Aug26261111
Sep222268
Oct151513
Nov66-6-4
Dec00-12-9

Average hourly temperature in Yüksekova

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 26°C, and coldest before dawn in January, near -11°C.

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

Yüksekova 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-3° / -11°11510.611.79.70.0
Feb-1° / -9°11810.811.810.60.0
Mar / -4°14313.513.411.70.0
Apr / -1°11113.6712.91.1
May15° / 7214.60.9144.4
Jun22° / 164.5014.58.1
Jul26° / 12°91.9014.38.9
Aug26° / 11°51.4013.48.9
Sep22° / 72.2012.38.7
Oct15° / 4471115.2
Nov / -4°838.96.9100.8
Dec-0° / -10°11010.110.59.50.0

Chance of rain

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

Yüksekova gets about 832 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 7.3 months, from around Oct 23 to May 31, peaking in May at about 53% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Aug 4.

March is the wettest month by volume, with 143 mm over about 14 wet days; August is the driest, with 5 mm. Some of the cold-season precipitation falls as snow.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwetterdrierwettermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetMay 6 · 53%Aug 4 · 3%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan3411
Feb3911
Mar4314
Apr4614
May4515
Jun165
Jul62
Aug51
Sep82
Oct227
Nov309
Dec3210

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Yüksekova collects about 832 mm of rain across 99 wet days — roughly 69 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. March is the wettest month with 143 mm, while August is the driest at just 5 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 45% of the year’s total, and some of the cold-season precipitation falls as snow.

0255075100125150175JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec11511814311172169574483110
Rainfall (mm)Rain daysSnow days
Jan1151112
Feb1181112
Mar1431413
Apr111147
May72151
Jun1650
Jul920
Aug510
Sep720
Oct4471
Nov8397
Dec1101011

Snow in Yüksekova

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.

Yüksekova averages about 63 snowy days a year. Snow season runs roughly Oct 15 to May 18 — about 7.1 months.

March is snowiest, with roughly 13 days of snow and an estimated 140 cm of snowfall. Over the year that adds up to an estimated 584 cm of snow.

051015JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecsnow seasonsnow seasonMar 19
Snow daysSnowfall (cm)
Jan1288
Feb12133
Mar13140
Apr752
May12
Jun00
Jul00
Aug00
Sep00
Oct14
Nov754
Dec11113

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Yüksekova, 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 19 and lasts for 5.1 months, ending around October 21. The clearest month is August, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 99% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around October 22 and lasts for 6.9 months, ending around May 18. The cloudiest month is March, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 57% 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 11 · 99%Mar 17 · 42%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastcloudierclearercloudier
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan4753
Feb4357
Mar4357
Apr4852
May6535
Jun946
Jul973
Aug991
Sep964
Oct7525
Nov5545
Dec4951

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 13, brings about 14 h 36 min of light; the shortest, around January 1, only 9 h 24 min — a swing of roughly 5 h 12 min.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan9.76:224:02
Feb10.66:014:34
Mar11.75:215:04
Apr12.94:345:32
May14.03:596:00
Jun14.53:466:20
Jul14.33:586:19
Aug13.44:235:51
Sep12.34:505:04
Oct11.05:174:18
Nov10.05:503:46
Dec9.56:163:42

Sunny days

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

Yüksekova averages about 17 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 9 and 28 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 4.7 months, from around May 28 to Oct 17. The sunniest month is August, with roughly 27 sunny days (brilliant).

The greyest month is March, down near 10 sunny days — about 65% fewer than the August peak.

051015202530JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgreyersunniergreyergloomymixedbrightbrilliantAug 1528 daysMar 209 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan11Mixed
Feb10Mixed
Mar10Mixed
Apr9Mixed
May13Mixed
Jun23Brilliant
Jul27Brilliant
Aug28Brilliant
Sep26Brilliant
Oct18Bright
Nov12Mixed
Dec12Mixed

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

051015JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDeccalmlight breezeJun 8 · 7 km/hDec 30 · 5 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan5calm
Feb5calm
Mar5calm
Apr6calm
May7calm
Jun7calm
Jul7calm
Aug7calm
Sep7calm
Oct6calm
Nov5calm
Dec5calm

Hazard calendar for Yüksekova

In seasonPeak

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

Yüksekova's rainy season runs November–May, 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 Yüksekova

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

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

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationSep 4 · 9.2

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
Mar0.0poor
Apr1.2poor
May4.4fair
Jun8.0ideal
Jul8.8ideal
Aug8.9ideal
Sep8.6ideal
Oct5.1fair
Nov0.8poor
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 Yüksekova for hot-weather activities is from late June to mid September, with a peak score in the first week of August.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationAug 7 · 8.7

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 Yüksekova, 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 26°C), the essentials are light clothes and sun protection. In the cold season around January (highs near -3°C), pack a warm layer, a heavy coat and rain gear.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In August, Yüksekova sees daytime highs around 26°C and nights near 11°C. Pack sun protection. Worth having: light clothes.

UV index (midday) in Yüksekova 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 Yüksekova peaks around June 22 at about 11 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near January 10 at about 3 (moderate).

The index reaches 3 or more — the level where the WHO recommends sun protection — in 11 months of the year.

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecModerateHighVery highExtremeVery highHighModerateJun 22UV 11Jan 10UV 3
UV index (midday)Level
Jan3Moderate
Feb4Moderate
Mar5Moderate
Apr7High
May9Very high
Jun11Extreme
Jul11Extreme
Aug11Extreme
Sep8Very high
Oct6High
Nov3Moderate
Dec3Moderate

Average hourly UV index in Yüksekova

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 9 hours a day reach index 3 (protection recommended), and 6.5 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
Feb40
Mar50
Apr73
May85.5
Jun96.5
Jul8.56.5
Aug86
Sep74.5
Oct5.50
Nov2.50
Dec0.50

Air quality in Yüksekova 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 Yüksekova is worst in May — around 28 µg/m³ PM2.5 (moderate), about 2.0× the cleanest month (January, 14 µg/m³).

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

010203040JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecModerateMay 1128 µg/m³Jan 1915 µg/m³
PM2.5 (µg/m³)Level
Jan14Moderate
Feb17Moderate
Mar23Moderate
Apr27Moderate
May28Moderate
Jun22Moderate
Jul22Moderate
Aug22Moderate
Sep21Moderate
Oct21Moderate
Nov16Moderate
Dec20Moderate
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

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

The growing season in Yüksekova typically lasts about 191 days, from around April 23 to October 30 — the span where a frost-free day is more likely than not. It is reliably frost-free from May 16 to October 5.

0%25%50%75%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgrowing seasonMar 810%Apr 2350%May 1690%Oct 590%Oct 3050%Dec 110%
Frost-free chance (%)Frost nights
Jan131
Feb428
Mar1331
Apr3930
May8815
Jun1000
Jul1000
Aug1000
Sep990
Oct7626
Nov2330
Dec531

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. Yüksekova banks about 857 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around August.

02004006008001,000JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°C·days)
Jan0
Feb0
Mar0
Apr0
May18
Jun151
Jul270
Aug271
Sep140
Oct8
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.

Yüksekova receives about 5.3 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — bright — with a clear seasonal swing between 2.5 and 7.9 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 6.2 months, from around Mar 22 to Sep 27. The brightest month is June, averaging about 7.8 kWh/m² (intense).

The dimmest month is December, down near 2.5 kWh/m² — roughly 68% less than the June peak.

0123456789JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmerbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightintenseJun 297.9 kWhDec 152.5 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan2.8Moderate
Feb3.9Moderate
Mar5.1Bright
Apr6.2Intense
May6.9Intense
Jun7.9Intense
Jul7.8Intense
Aug7.3Intense
Sep6.0Bright
Oct4.2Bright
Nov3.0Moderate
Dec2.5Moderate

Where is Yüksekova?

Yüksekova sits at 37.6°N, 44.3°E, 1,874 m above sea level, in Turkey. The nearest listed city is Şemdinli, 39 km away.

‘Aqrah'ĀkraSoran

Topography around Yüksekova

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Yüksekova has significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 433 m around an average of 1,919 m above sea level; within 16 km, very significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 1,642 m; within 80 km, extreme variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 3,575 m.

The land around Yüksekova is covered by grassland (46%) and cropland (24%) within 3 km, grassland (71%) and cropland (23%) within 16 km, and grassland (82%) within 80 km.

3 km
433 m
16 km
1,642 m
80 km
3,575 m
treesgrasslandcroplandartificial surfacesbare terrain
Nearby: Şemdinli 39 km · Hakkâri 48 km · Orūmīyeh 70 km · Salmās 81 km · Oshnavīyeh 93 km · ‘Aqrah 97 km · 'Ākra 100 km · Soran 105 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 Yüksekova (37.5736°, 44.2872°, elevation 1,874 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).