April Weather in Sapporo JapanDaily high temperatures increase by 14°F, from 44°F to 58°F, rarely falling below 36°F or exceeding 68°F. Daily low temperatures increase by 10°F, from 29°F to 39°F, rarely falling below 20°F or exceeding 47°F. For reference, on August 6, the hottest day of the year, temperatures in Sapporo typically range from 65°F to 78°F, while on January 24, the coldest day of the year, they range from 10°F to 27°F. The figure below shows you a compact characterization of the hourly average temperatures for the quarter of the year centered on April. The horizontal axis is the day, the vertical axis is the hour of the day, and the color is the average temperature for that hour and day. Deseronto, Canada (5,965 miles away) and Frankfort, United States (6,106 miles) are the far-away foreign places with temperatures most similar to Sapporo (view comparison). CloudsThe month of April in Sapporo experiences gradually increasing cloud cover, with the percentage of time that the sky is overcast or mostly cloudy increasing from 50% to 54%. The lowest chance of overcast or mostly cloudy conditions is 50% on April 2. The clearest day of the month is April 2, with clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy conditions 50% of the time. For reference, on January 18, the cloudiest day of the year, the chance of overcast or mostly cloudy conditions is 77%, while on October 11, the clearest day of the year, the chance of clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy skies is 64%. PrecipitationA wet day is one with at least 0.04 inches of liquid or liquid-equivalent precipitation. In Sapporo, the chance of a wet day over the course of April is gradually increasing, starting the month at 23% and ending it at 26%. For reference, the year's highest daily chance of a wet day is 45% on November 6, and its lowest chance is 22% on March 26. Over the course of April in Sapporo, the chance of a day with only rain increases from 16% to 25%, the chance of a day with mixed snow and rain decreases from 5% to 0%, and the chance of a day with only snow decreases from 2% to 0%. RainfallTo show variation within the month and not just the monthly total, we show the rainfall accumulated over a sliding 31-day period centered around each day. The average sliding 31-day rainfall during April in Sapporo is increasing, starting the month at 1.3 inches, when it rarely exceeds 2.4 inches or falls below 0.4 inches, and ending the month at 2.2 inches, when it rarely exceeds 3.5 inches or falls below 0.9 inches. SnowfallAs with rainfall, we consider the snowfall accumulated over a sliding 31-day period centered around each day. The average sliding 31-day snowfall during April in Sapporo is decreasing, starting the month at 2.3 inches, when it rarely exceeds 5.8 inches or falls below 0.2 inches, and ending the month at 0.2 inches, when it rarely exceeds 0.5 inches or falls below -0.0 inches. SunOver the course of April in Sapporo, the length of the day is rapidly increasing. From the start to the end of the month, the length of the day increases by 1 hour, 21 minutes, implying an average daily increase of 2 minutes, 47 seconds, and weekly increase of 19 minutes, 28 seconds. The shortest day of the month is April 1, with 12 hours, 44 minutes of daylight and the longest day is April 30, with 14 hours, 5 minutes of daylight. The latest sunrise of the month in Sapporo is 5:16 AM on April 1 and the earliest sunrise is 47 minutes earlier at 4:29 AM on April 30. The earliest sunset is 6:00 PM on April 1 and the latest sunset is 34 minutes later at 6:34 PM on April 30. Daylight saving time is not observed in Sapporo during 2024. For reference, on June 20, the longest day of the year, the Sun rises at 3:55 AM and sets 15 hours, 22 minutes later, at 7:17 PM, while on December 21, the shortest day of the year, it rises at 7:02 AM and sets 9 hours, 0 minutes later, at 4:02 PM. The figure below presents a compact representation of the sun's elevation (the angle of the sun above the horizon) and azimuth (its compass bearing) for every hour of every day in the reporting period. The horizontal axis is the day of the year and the vertical axis is the hour of the day. For a given day and hour of that day, the background color indicates the azimuth of the sun at that moment. The black isolines are contours of constant solar elevation. MoonThe figure below presents a compact representation of key lunar data for April 2024. The horizontal axis is the day, the vertical axis is the hour of the day, and the colored areas indicate when the moon is above the horizon. The vertical gray bars (new Moons) and blue bars (full Moons) indicate key Moon phases. The label associated with each bar indicates the date and time that the phase is obtained, and the companion time labels indicate the rise and set times of the Moon for the nearest time interval in which the moon is above the horizon.
HumidityWe base the humidity comfort level on the dew point, as it determines whether perspiration will evaporate from the skin, thereby cooling the body. Lower dew points feel drier and higher dew points feel more humid. Unlike temperature, which typically varies significantly between night and day, dew point tends to change more slowly, so while the temperature may drop at night, a muggy day is typically followed by a muggy night. The chance that a given day will be muggy in Sapporo is essentially constant during April, remaining around 0% throughout. For reference, on August 6, the muggiest day of the year, there are muggy conditions 50% of the time, while on January 1, the least muggy day of the year, there are muggy conditions 0% of the time. WindThis section discusses the wide-area hourly average wind vector (speed and direction) at 10 meters above the ground. The wind experienced at any given location is highly dependent on local topography and other factors, and instantaneous wind speed and direction vary more widely than hourly averages. The average hourly wind speed in Sapporo is gradually decreasing during April, decreasing from 9.6 miles per hour to 8.9 miles per hour over the course of the month. For reference, on February 8, the windiest day of the year, the daily average wind speed is 10.6 miles per hour, while on July 5, the calmest day of the year, the daily average wind speed is 5.8 miles per hour. The wind direction in Sapporo during April is predominantly out of the west from April 1 to April 9 and the south from April 9 to April 30. Water TemperatureSapporo is located near a large body of water (e.g., ocean, sea, or large lake). This section reports on the wide-area average surface temperature of that water. The average surface water temperature in Sapporo is increasing during April, rising by 4°F, from 42°F to 46°F, over the course of the month. Growing SeasonDefinitions of the growing season vary throughout the world, but for the purposes of this report, we define it as the longest continuous period of non-freezing temperatures (≥ 32°F) in the year (the calendar year in the Northern Hemisphere, or from July 1 until June 30 in the Southern Hemisphere). The growing season in Sapporo typically lasts for 5.3 months (163 days), from around May 3 to around October 13, rarely starting before April 15 or after May 21, and rarely ending before September 27 or after October 29. The month of April in Sapporo is more likely than not fully outside of the growing season, with the chance that a given day is in the growing season rapidly increasing from 0% to 40% over the course of the month. Growing degree days are a measure of yearly heat accumulation used to predict plant and animal development, and defined as the integral of warmth above a base temperature, discarding any excess above a maximum temperature. In this report, we use a base of 50°F and a cap of 86°F. The average accumulated growing degree days in Sapporo are essentially constant during April, remaining within 17°F of 19°F throughout. Solar EnergyThis section discusses the total daily incident shortwave solar energy reaching the surface of the ground over a wide area, taking full account of seasonal variations in the length of the day, the elevation of the Sun above the horizon, and absorption by clouds and other atmospheric constituents. Shortwave radiation includes visible light and ultraviolet radiation. The average daily incident shortwave solar energy in Sapporo is gradually increasing during April, rising by 0.9 kWh, from 4.4 kWh to 5.4 kWh, over the course of the month. TopographyFor the purposes of this report, the geographical coordinates of Sapporo are 43.067 deg latitude, 141.350 deg longitude, and 85 ft elevation. The topography within 2 miles of Sapporo contains only modest variations in elevation, with a maximum elevation change of 148 feet and an average elevation above sea level of 68 feet. Within 10 miles contains only modest variations in elevation (3,606 feet). Within 50 miles also contains extreme variations in elevation (6,266 feet). The area within 2 miles of Sapporo is covered by grassland (72%), cropland (13%), and trees (10%), within 10 miles by trees (45%) and cropland (32%), and within 50 miles by trees (46%) and water (35%). Data SourcesThis report illustrates the typical weather in Sapporo, based on a statistical analysis of historical hourly weather reports and model reconstructions from January 1, 1980 to December 31, 2016. Temperature and Dew PointThere is only a single weather station, Chitose Air Base, in our network suitable to be used as a proxy for the historical temperature and dew point records of Sapporo. At a distance of 40 kilometers from Sapporo, closer than our threshold of 150 kilometers, this station is deemed sufficiently nearby to be relied upon as our primary source for temperature and dew point records. The station records are corrected for the elevation difference between the station and Sapporo according to the International Standard Atmosphere , and by the relative change present in the MERRA-2 satellite-era reanalysis between the two locations. Please note that the station records themselves may additionally have been back-filled using other nearby stations or the MERRA-2 reanalysis. Other DataAll data relating to the Sun's position (e.g., sunrise and sunset) are computed using astronomical formulas from the book, Astronomical Algorithms 2nd Edition , by Jean Meeus. All other weather data, including cloud cover, precipitation, wind speed and direction, and solar flux, come from NASA's MERRA-2 Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis . This reanalysis combines a variety of wide-area measurements in a state-of-the-art global meteorological model to reconstruct the hourly history of weather throughout the world on a 50-kilometer grid. Land Use data comes from the Global Land Cover SHARE database , published by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Elevation data comes from the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) , published by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Names, locations, and time zones of places and some airports come from the GeoNames Geographical Database . Time zones for airports and weather stations are provided by AskGeo.com . Maps are © OpenStreetMap contributors. DisclaimerThe information on this site is provided as is, without any assurances as to its accuracy or suitability for any purpose. Weather data is prone to errors, outages, and other defects. We assume no responsibility for any decisions made on the basis of the content presented on this site. We draw particular cautious attention to our reliance on the MERRA-2 model-based reconstructions for a number of important data series. While having the tremendous advantages of temporal and spatial completeness, these reconstructions: (1) are based on computer models that may have model-based errors, (2) are coarsely sampled on a 50 km grid and are therefore unable to reconstruct the local variations of many microclimates, and (3) have particular difficulty with the weather in some coastal areas, especially small islands. 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