Climate and average weather in Balkanabat

In Balkanabat, the summers are sweltering, dry, and clear and the winters are cool and partly cloudy.

Best: late September to early November

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Balkanabat typically varies from 1°C to 38°C, and is rarely below -5°C or above 42°C. July is the hottest month of the year, while January is the coldest.

Based on the travel score, the best times of year to visit Balkanabat for warm-weather activities are from early April to early May and late September to early November.

Hottest
Jul
38°
Coldest
Jan
Wettest
Mar
22 mm
Driest
Aug
3 mm
Rain / yr
124 mm
29 wet days
Daylight
9.2–14.8 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
11 m
39.5°N
Clearest
Aug
12% cloud

Balkanabat is city in Turkmenistan.

Founded
1933

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

Balkanabat 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 September to early November.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

Daily average highs and lows in Balkanabat, 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 May 20 to September 17, with daily high temperatures above 31°C. The hottest month of the year in Balkanabat is July, with an average high of 38°C and low of 27°C.

The cool season lasts 3.6 months, from November 17 to March 5, with daily high temperatures below 14°C. The coldest month of the year in Balkanabat is January, with an average low of 1°C and high of 8°C.

Days typically run about 10°C warmer than nights, with the widest day–night swing (around 12°C) in June.

10°20°30°40°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan81
Feb102
Mar166
Apr2312
May3018
Jun3524
Jul3827
Aug3726
Sep3120
Oct2312
Nov156
Dec92

How hot and cold Balkanabat 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 hottest afternoons, once humidity is folded in, Balkanabat feels like about 38°C (around July 27). About 110 days a year carry some heat stress, peaking in July.

On the coldest nights, wind chill pulls the feels-like down to about -3°C (around January 25), with roughly 95 freezing days a year (feels-like at or below 0°C), worst in January.

10°20°30°40°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdangerous heat
Feels-like high (°C)Air high (°C)Feels-like low (°C)Air low (°C)
Jan88-31
Feb1010-22
Mar161636
Apr23231212
May30301818
Jun35352424
Jul38382727
Aug37372626
Sep31312020
Oct23231212
Nov151536
Dec99-22

Average hourly temperature in Balkanabat

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 38°C, and coldest before dawn in January, near C.

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

Balkanabat 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 / 92.40.49.51.7
Feb10° / 112.90.810.42.8
Mar16° / 224.40.211.75.7
Apr23° / 12°204.40137.7
May30° / 18°113014.16.2
Jun35° / 24°61.5014.73.0
Jul38° / 27°60.8014.51.5
Aug37° / 26°30.8013.62.0
Sep31° / 20°51.2012.35.9
Oct23° / 12°122.30118.5
Nov15° / 132.90.19.85.3
Dec / 82.20.39.32.3

Chance of rain

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

Balkanabat gets about 124 mm of precipitation a year. On a typical day the chance of rain is mostly dry, but that rises and falls sharply with the seasons.

The wetter season lasts 4.0 months, from around Jan 22 to May 22, peaking in April at about 16% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Jul 25.

March is the wettest month by volume, with 22 mm over about 4 wet days; August is the driest, with 3 mm.

0%10%20%30%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwetterdriermostly drysome rainApr 24 · 16%Jul 25 · 2%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan82
Feb103
Mar144
Apr144
May103
Jun52
Jul31
Aug31
Sep41
Oct72
Nov103
Dec82

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Balkanabat collects about 124 mm of rain across 29 wet days — roughly 10 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. March is the wettest month with 22 mm, while August is the driest at just 3 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 44% of the year’s total, and some of the cold-season precipitation falls as snow.

02550JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec911222011663512138
Rainfall (mm)Rain daysSnow days
Jan920
Feb1131
Mar2240
Apr2040
May1130
Jun620
Jul610
Aug310
Sep510
Oct1220
Nov1330
Dec820

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Balkanabat, 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 17 and lasts for 5.5 months, ending around October 31. The clearest month is August, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 96% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around November 1 and lasts for 6.5 months, ending around May 16. The cloudiest month is January, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 43% 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 28 · 96%Jan 28 · 55%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastcloudierclearercloudier
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan5743
Feb5842
Mar5743
Apr6040
May7426
Jun9010
Jul937
Aug964
Sep937
Oct8317
Nov6931
Dec6337

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 14, brings about 14 h 48 min of light; the shortest, around December 13, only 9 h 12 min — a swing of roughly 5 h 36 min.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan9.58:476:17
Feb10.48:236:51
Mar11.77:427:23
Apr13.06:527:54
May14.16:148:24
Jun14.76:008:46
Jul14.56:128:44
Aug13.66:408:14
Sep12.37:097:25
Oct11.07:396:36
Nov9.88:146:01
Dec9.38:425:55

Sunny days

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

Balkanabat averages about 19 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 12 and 28 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 5.4 months, from around May 18 to Oct 28. The sunniest month is August, with roughly 27 sunny days (brilliant).

The greyest month is January, down near 12 sunny days — about 55% fewer than the August peak.

051015202530JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgreyersunniergreyergloomymixedbrightbrilliantAug 2828 daysJan 1812 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan13Mixed
Feb12Mixed
Mar13Mixed
Apr13Mixed
May19Bright
Jun24Brilliant
Jul26Brilliant
Aug28Brilliant
Sep26Brilliant
Oct22Bright
Nov17Bright
Dec15Mixed

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

The more humid part of the year lasts 3.3 months, from around June 4 to September 12. The muggiest month is July, when the air feels humid, muggy or worse about 34% of the time.

The most comfortable stretch runs from around September 13 to June 3, 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 8 · 100%Jul 15 · 62%muggyhumidcomfortabledrycomfortablehumidcomfortable
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)Humid (%)Muggy (%)Oppressive (%)
Jan1000000
Feb1000000
Mar1000000
Apr982000
May8513200
Jun63231140
Jul481816144
Aug67121092
Sep8410420
Oct954100
Nov1000000
Dec1000000

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 Balkanabat is steady company: average speeds sit near 13 km/hlight breeze — in every month of the year, with no meaningful windy or calm season.

05101520JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDeccalmlight breezeSep 6 · 14 km/hJan 17 · 12 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan12light breeze
Feb13light breeze
Mar13light breeze
Apr13light breeze
May12light breeze
Jun13light breeze
Jul13light breeze
Aug14light breeze
Sep14light breeze
Oct13light breeze
Nov13light breeze
Dec13light breeze

Hazard calendar for Balkanabat

In seasonPeak

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

Balkanabat sees seasonal dust haze (April–July), heaviest in July.

Dust
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec

Best time to visit Balkanabat

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

Around late October, Balkanabat 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 times of year to visit Balkanabat for general outdoor tourist activities run from late March to mid May and again from late September to early November, with a peak score in the second week of October.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationOct 11 · 8.8

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
Jan1.8poor
Feb2.8poor
Mar5.7good
Apr7.7ideal
May6.2good
Jun3.1poor
Jul1.5poor
Aug2.0poor
Sep5.9good
Oct8.4ideal
Nov5.3fair
Dec2.3poor

The beach/pool score favors clear, rainless days with daytime highs between 24°C and 34°C. Based on this score, the best times of year to visit Balkanabat for hot-weather activities run from late April to mid June and again from late August to mid October, with a peak score in the last week of September.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationSep 22 · 8.9

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 Balkanabat, 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 38°C), the essentials are light clothes and sun protection. In the cold season around January (highs near 8°C), pack a warm layer.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In July, Balkanabat sees daytime highs around 38°C and nights near 27°C. Pack light clothes and sun protection.

UV index (midday) in Balkanabat 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 Balkanabat peaks around July 15 at about 9 (very high) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near December 18 at about 2 (low).

The index reaches 3 or more — the level where the WHO recommends sun protection — in 9 months of the year.

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecModerateHighVery highHighModerateLowJul 15UV 9Dec 18UV 2
UV index (midday)Level
Jan2Moderate
Feb3Moderate
Mar4Moderate
Apr6High
May7Very high
Jun8Very high
Jul9Very high
Aug8Very high
Sep6High
Oct5Moderate
Nov3Moderate
Dec2Low

Average hourly UV index in Balkanabat

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
Mar3.50
Apr60
May7.53.5
Jun84.5
Jul8.55.5
Aug7.54
Sep61.5
Oct40
Nov00
Dec00

Air quality in Balkanabat 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 Balkanabat is worst in September — around 48 µg/m³ PM2.5 (poor), about 2.1× the cleanest month (January, 23 µg/m³).

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

0204060JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecModeratePoorModeratePoorSep 2348 µg/m³Jan 1924 µg/m³
PM2.5 (µg/m³)Level
Jan23Moderate
Feb28Moderate
Mar38Poor
Apr33Moderate
May31Moderate
Jun28Moderate
Jul29Moderate
Aug36Poor
Sep48Poor
Oct48Poor
Nov44Poor
Dec34Moderate
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free dayReliably frost-free (≥90%)

Balkanabat is mild enough that a frost-free day stays more likely than not even in midwinter. Nights are reliably above freezing from about March 10 to November 17 (253 days); outside that window a hard frost is an occasional risk.

0%25%50%75%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecreliably frost-freeMar 1090%Nov 1790%
Frost-free chance (%)Frost nights
Jan5631
Feb6428
Mar938
Apr1000
May1000
Jun1000
Jul1000
Aug1000
Sep1000
Oct1000
Nov9013
Dec6731

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. Balkanabat banks about 3,356 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around July.

01,0002,0003,000JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°C·days)
Jan0
Feb0
Mar37
Apr220
May434
Jun584
Jul687
Aug661
Sep463
Oct240
Nov29
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.

Balkanabat receives about 4.8 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — bright — with a clear seasonal swing between 2.1 and 7.2 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 6.1 months, from around Mar 21 to Sep 23. The brightest month is June, averaging about 7.2 kWh/m² (intense).

The dimmest month is December, down near 2.1 kWh/m² — roughly 71% less than the June peak.

012345678JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmerbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightintenseJun 187.2 kWhDec 192.1 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan2.4Moderate
Feb3.4Moderate
Mar4.6Bright
Apr5.7Bright
May6.6Intense
Jun7.2Intense
Jul7.1Intense
Aug6.6Intense
Sep5.2Bright
Oct3.8Moderate
Nov2.6Moderate
Dec2.1Moderate

Where is Balkanabat?

Balkanabat sits at 39.5°N, 54.4°E, 11 m above sea level, in Turkmenistan. The nearest listed city is Jebel, 18 km away.

BereketTürkmenbaşyGyzylarbatMagtymgulyKalālehGonbad-e Kāvūs

Topography around Balkanabat

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Balkanabat has significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 541 m around an average of 32 m above sea level; within 16 km, very significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 1,584 m; within 80 km, very significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 1,915 m.

The land around Balkanabat is covered by artificial surfaces (49%) and bare terrain (31%) within 3 km, bare terrain (63%) and grassland (22%) within 16 km, and bare terrain (81%) within 80 km.

3 km
541 m
16 km
1,584 m
80 km
1,915 m
shrubsgrasslandartificial surfacesbare terrainwater
Nearby: Jebel 18 km · Gumdag 39 km · Bereket 103 km · Türkmenbaşy 133 km · Gyzylarbat 175 km · Magtymguly 204 km · Kalāleh 257 km · Gonbad-e Kāvūs 261 km

Turkmenistan travel facts

Travel advisory
Level 1
Exercise Normal Precautions
Power plugs
Type B / C / F
220 V · 50 Hz
Prices
≈ 0% of US
price level, 2025
GDP per capita
$6,540
2025
Happiness
5.5 / 10
World Happiness, 2021
Safe drinking water
95%
of population, 2024
Homicide rate
1
per 100k, 2015
Road deaths
13.5
per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group
Upper middle
World Bank
English
Low
EF EPI 456
Religion
Muslim 93%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 Balkanabat (39.5108°, 54.3671°, elevation 11 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).