Weather in Kyoto, in 5 minutes to understand

Hello, world !

This is shinta_in_japan.
Today’s topic is ‘Weather in Kyoto’.

In this article, I would like to introduce climate of Kyoto, with itemized style. You might learn weather in Kyoto with 5 minutes of reading.

Have fun !

Weather Conditions

There are many historical places in Kyoto. To visit these places, weather condition is very important. For your good planning, I have summarized number of days in each weather conditions, in average, based on statistics of past 30 years by JMA, as of 2020.

• Sunny day (sunshine ratio more than 40%)
  • 189.0 days in a year

• Rainy day (Rain more than 1mm)
  • 104.0 days in a year

• Snowing day
  • 46.3 days in a year (Nov-Apr)

• Snowfall Record
  • In a day : 32 cm (1954/1/26)
  • Total : 41 cm (1955/1/26)

• Rainy Season
  • Start : Around 7th. June
  • End : Around 21st. July

• Typhoon (approaching to 300 km)
  • 3.2 times in a year (Jun-Oct)

**JMA = Governmental office, Japan Meteorological Agency

Temperature

Kyoto city is located in basin, surrounded by mountains. Summer is very hot and winter is very cold. For your easy understanding, I would like to summarize temperature in Kyoto, based on statistics of JMA, as follows.

• High temperature
  • Above 30℃ : 71.3 days in a year (May-Oct)
  • Above 35℃ : 15.4 days in a year (Jun-Sep)

• Low temperature
  • Below 0℃ : 22.9 days in a year (Dec-Mar)

• Record (Day High)
  • + 39.8℃ (2018/7/19)
  • – 0.2℃ (1895/2/21)

• Record (Day Low)
  • + 28.9℃ (2019/8/13)
  • – 11.9℃ (1891/1/16)

• Monthly average
  • High : + 8.9℃ (Jan) / + 33.3℃ (Aug)
  • Low : + 1.2 ℃ (Jan) / + 24.3 ℃ (Aug)
  • Ave : + 4.6 ℃ (Jan) / + 28.2 ℃ (Aug)

Daytime

Kyoto is located at lat 35°01’ N at long 135E. To enjoy various activities outside in Kyoto, length of daytime is very important factor. For the convenience of visitors, I would like to summarize it as follows:

• Summer Solstice
  • Sunrise : around 04:43
  • Sunset : around 19:14
  • Daytime : around 14h30min

• Winter Solstice
  • Sunrise : around 07:01
  • Sunset : around 16:49
  • Daytime : around 9h45min

• Spring equinox
  • Sunrise : around 06:01
  • Sunset : around 18:09

• Autumn equinox
  • Sunrise : around 05:45
  • Sunset : around 17:45

** Data by National Astronomical Observatory of Japan

Biological information

Kyoto is a city with rich culture and beautiful scenery in each season. Following biological data is based on observation by JMA. Please refer it as benchmarks to find season in Kyoto.

• Sakura (Winter >> Spring)
  • Opening
    • Average : 28th. March
    • Earliest : 18th. March (2002)
    • Latest : 9th. April (1984)
  • Full blossom
    • Average : 5th.April
    • Earliest : 28th. March (2018)
    • Latest : 17th. April (1965)

• Cicada shrills (Rainy season >> Summer)
  • First shrills of brown cicada
    • Average : 17th. July
    • Earliest : 3rd. July (1998)
    • Latest : 13th. August (1954)

• Japanese silver grass (Summer >> Autumn)
  • Opening
    • Average : 30th. August
    • Earliest : 21st. July (1998)
    • Latest : 3rd. October (2010)

• Ginkgo tree (Autumn >> Winter)
  • Fallen leaves
    • Average : 6th. December
    • Earliest : 20th. November (1968)
    • Latest : 18th. December (1982)

Postscript

That’s all today.
How was the content today ?

I actually lived in Kyoto, more than 5 years. I feel that summer is severely hot and winter is very cold. Weather conditions in Kyoto is different in each season. I hope this article could assist you to learn climate in Kyoto.

In the end, thank you very much for your reading and see you again !