Climate and average weather in Nukus

In Nukus, the summers are sweltering, dry, and clear and the winters are very cold, snowy, and partly cloudy.

Best: early September to late October

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Nukus typically varies from -7°C to 35°C, and is rarely below -17°C or above 40°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 Nukus for warm-weather activities are from mid April to mid May and early September to late October.

Hottest
Jul
35°
Coldest
Jan
-7°
Wettest
Apr
18 mm
Driest
Aug
2 mm
Rain / yr
107 mm
27 wet days
Daylight
8.9–15.1 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
67 m
42.5°N
Clearest
Aug
12% cloud

Nukus is capital of the Republic of Karakalpakstan, Uzbekistan.

Density
1,505/km²
people per km²
Founded
1860

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

Nukus 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 September to late October.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

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

The hot season lasts 4.4 months, from May 8 to September 17, with daily high temperatures above 26°C. The hottest month of the year in Nukus is July, with an average high of 35°C and low of 21°C.

The cool season lasts 3.3 months, from November 20 to February 27, with daily high temperatures below 7°C. The coldest month of the year in Nukus is January, with an average low of -7°C and high of 1°C.

Days typically run about 12°C warmer than nights, with the widest day–night swing (around 14°C) in August.

-20°-10°10°20°30°40°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan1-7
Feb4-6
Mar121
Apr219
May2815
Jun3319
Jul3521
Aug3319
Sep2713
Oct196
Nov9-1
Dec2-5

How hot and cold Nukus 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, Nukus feels like about 35°C (around July 11). About 78 days a year carry some heat stress, peaking in July.

On the coldest nights, wind chill pulls the feels-like down to about -12°C (around January 20), with roughly 146 freezing days a year (feels-like at or below 0°C) 70 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)
Jan11-12-7
Feb44-11-6
Mar1212-31
Apr212179
May28281515
Jun33331919
Jul35352121
Aug33331919
Sep27271313
Oct191936
Nov99-5-1
Dec22-10-5

Average hourly temperature in Nukus

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 35°C, and coldest before dawn in January, near -7°C.

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

Nukus 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 / -7°92.31.69.20.0
Feb / -6°92.10.910.30.2
Mar12° / 173.90.611.63.8
Apr21° / 184.1013.17.5
May28° / 15°143.6014.47.1
Jun33° / 19°51.50154.4
Jul35° / 21°20.9014.83.4
Aug33° / 19°20.3013.74.8
Sep27° / 13°40.8012.38.4
Oct19° / 720.110.87.5
Nov / -1°102.70.39.62.2
Dec / -5°92.71.28.90.0

Chance of rain

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

Nukus gets about 107 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 3.2 months, from around Feb 22 to May 30, peaking in April at about 15% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Aug 10.

April is the wettest month by volume, with 18 mm over about 4 wet days; August is the driest, with 2 mm. Some of the cold-season precipitation falls as snow.

0%10%20%30%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdrierwetterdriermostly drysome rainApr 23 · 15%Aug 10 · 1%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan82
Feb82
Mar124
Apr144
May114
Jun52
Jul31
Aug10
Sep31
Oct62
Nov93
Dec83

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Nukus collects about 107 mm of rain across 27 wet days — roughly 9 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. April is the wettest month with 18 mm, while August is the driest at just 2 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 46% of the year’s total, and some of the cold-season precipitation falls as snow.

025JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec9917181452247109
Rainfall (mm)Rain daysSnow days
Jan922
Feb921
Mar1741
Apr1840
May1440
Jun520
Jul210
Aug200
Sep410
Oct720
Nov1030
Dec931

Snow in Nukus

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.

Nukus averages about 5 snowy days a year. Snow season runs roughly Nov 24 to Mar 21 — about 3.9 months.

January is snowiest, with roughly 1.6 days of snow and an estimated 5 cm of snowfall. Over the year that adds up to an estimated 19 cm of snow.

01234JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecsnow seasonJan 18
Snow daysSnowfall (cm)
Jan25
Feb14
Mar13
Apr00
May00
Jun00
Jul00
Aug00
Sep00
Oct00
Nov02
Dec14

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Nukus, 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 16 and lasts for 5.4 months, ending around October 25. 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 October 26 and lasts for 6.6 months, ending around May 15. The cloudiest month is January, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 58% 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 9 · 97%Jan 14 · 40%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastcloudierclearercloudier
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan4258
Feb4951
Mar5248
Apr5842
May7030
Jun8713
Jul955
Aug964
Sep9010
Oct7525
Nov5644
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 12, brings about 15 h 06 min of light; the shortest, around January 1, only 8 h 54 min — a swing of roughly 6 h 12 min.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan9.28:345:47
Feb10.38:086:25
Mar11.67:227:01
Apr13.16:277:36
May14.45:468:10
Jun15.05:298:35
Jul14.85:428:32
Aug13.76:137:58
Sep12.36:477:04
Oct10.87:226:11
Nov9.68:015:33
Dec8.98:315:25

Sunny days

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

Nukus averages about 17 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 8 and 27 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 5.2 months, from around May 21 to Oct 25. The sunniest month is August, with roughly 27 sunny days (brilliant).

The greyest month is January, down near 9 sunny days — about 67% fewer than the August peak.

051015202530JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgreyersunniergreyergloomymixedbrightbrilliantAug 927 daysJan 158 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan9Mixed
Feb10Mixed
Mar12Mixed
Apr13Mixed
May17Bright
Jun23Brilliant
Jul27Brilliant
Aug28Brilliant
Sep25Brilliant
Oct20Bright
Nov13Mixed
Dec11Mixed

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 Nukus, the air stays dry or comfortable essentially all year. Even in July, the muggiest month, it feels humid or worse only about 14% of the time — humidity is not something you need to plan around here.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecApr 18 · 100%Jul 21 · 85%humidcomfortabledrycomfortablehumidcomfortable
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)Humid (%)
Jan10000
Feb10000
Mar10000
Apr10000
May9280
Jun71254
Jul464114
Aug65287
Sep9641
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.

Wind in Nukus is steady company: average speeds sit near 11 km/hcalm — in every month of the year, with no meaningful windy or calm season.

05101520JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDeccalmlight breezeMar 23 · 13 km/hOct 29 · 11 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan11calm
Feb12calm
Mar13light breeze
Apr13light breeze
May12calm
Jun11calm
Jul11calm
Aug11calm
Sep11calm
Oct11calm
Nov11calm
Dec11calm

Hazard calendar for Nukus

In seasonPeak

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

Nukus sees seasonal dust haze (April–May), heaviest in May.

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

Best time to visit Nukus

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

Around mid October, Nukus 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 Nukus for general outdoor tourist activities run from mid April to mid May and again from early September to late October, with a peak score in the last week of September.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationSep 24 · 9.0

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
Mar3.8fair
Apr7.4good
May7.1good
Jun4.5fair
Jul3.5poor
Aug4.8fair
Sep8.3ideal
Oct7.5good
Nov2.3poor
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 times of year to visit Nukus for hot-weather activities run from early May to early July and again from late July to late September, with a peak score in the first week of September.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationSep 6 · 9.2

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 Nukus, 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 35°C), the essentials are light clothes and sun protection. In the cold season around January (highs near 1°C), pack a warm layer and a heavy coat.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In July, Nukus sees daytime highs around 35°C and nights near 21°C. Pack light clothes and sun protection.

UV index (midday) in Nukus 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 Nukus peaks around June 16 at about 9 (very high) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near December 18 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 highHighModerateLowJun 16UV 9Dec 18UV 1
UV index (midday)Level
Jan2Low
Feb3Moderate
Mar4Moderate
Apr5Moderate
May7Very high
Jun9Very high
Jul7High
Aug8Very high
Sep6High
Oct4Moderate
Nov2Low
Dec1Low

Average hourly UV index in Nukus

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 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
Apr5.50
May7.53.5
Jun8.55.5
Jul7.53.5
Aug7.54
Sep60
Oct30
Nov00
Dec00

Air quality in Nukus 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 Nukus is worst in March — around 48 µg/m³ PM2.5 (poor), about 2.2× the cleanest month (January, 22 µg/m³).

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

0204060JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecModeratePoorModeratePoorModerateMar 2148 µg/m³Jan 1423 µg/m³
PM2.5 (µg/m³)Level
Jan22Moderate
Feb31Moderate
Mar48Poor
Apr44Poor
May40Poor
Jun29Moderate
Jul28Moderate
Aug27Moderate
Sep40Poor
Oct38Poor
Nov37Poor
Dec27Moderate
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

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

The growing season in Nukus typically lasts about 243 days, from around March 14 to November 11 — the span where a frost-free day is more likely than not. It is reliably frost-free from April 5 to October 18.

0%25%50%75%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgrowing seasonMar 1450%Apr 590%Oct 1890%Nov 1150%
Frost-free chance (%)Frost nights
Jan1231
Feb1728
Mar5631
Apr964
May1000
Jun1000
Jul1000
Aug1000
Sep1000
Oct9013
Nov4430
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. Nukus banks about 2,390 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around July.

01,0002,000JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°C·days)
Jan0
Feb0
Mar1
Apr141
May349
Jun484
Jul556
Aug491
Sep294
Oct74
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.

Nukus receives about 4.6 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — bright — with a clear seasonal swing between 1.6 and 7.3 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 6.1 months, from around Mar 22 to Sep 24. The brightest month is July, averaging about 7.2 kWh/m² (intense).

The dimmest month is December, down near 1.7 kWh/m² — roughly 77% less than the July peak.

012345678JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmerbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightintenseJul 37.3 kWhDec 181.6 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan1.9Dim
Feb3.0Moderate
Mar4.3Bright
Apr5.6Bright
May6.4Intense
Jun7.1Intense
Jul7.3Intense
Aug6.6Intense
Sep5.1Bright
Oct3.4Moderate
Nov2.1Moderate
Dec1.6Dim

Where is Nukus?

Nukus sits at 42.5°N, 59.6°E, 67 m above sea level, in Uzbekistan. The nearest listed city is Xo‘jayli Shahri, 14 km away.

Topography around Nukus

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Nukus has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 18 m around an average of 76 m above sea level; within 16 km, only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 64 m; within 80 km, significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 393 m.

The land around Nukus is covered by artificial surfaces (86%) within 3 km, bare terrain (38%) and cropland (34%) within 16 km, and cropland (53%) and bare terrain (32%) within 80 km.

3 km
18 m
16 km
64 m
80 km
393 m
shrubscroplandartificial surfacesbare terrainwater
Nearby: Xo‘jayli Shahri 14 km · Boldumsaz 37 km · Köneürgenç 40 km · Gubadag 51 km · Manghit 53 km · Oýrat 62 km · Yylanly 70 km · Daşoguz 75 km

Uzbekistan travel facts

Travel advisory
Level 1
Exercise Normal Precautions
Power plugs
Type C / E / F
220 V · 50 Hz
Prices
≈ 29% of US
price level, 2025
GDP per capita
$3,968
2025
Happiness
6.3 / 10
World Happiness, 2025
Safe drinking water
82%
of population, 2024
Homicide rate
1.4
per 100k, 2021
Road deaths
11.7
per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group
Lower middle
World Bank
English
Very low
EF EPI 439
Religion
Muslim 88%Eastern Orthodox 9%other 3%

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 Nukus (42.4586°, 59.6058°, elevation 67 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).