August Weather at Danmarkshavn Greenland

Daily high temperatures decrease by 7°F, from 43°F to 36°F, rarely falling below 31°F or exceeding 51°F.

Daily low temperatures decrease by 6°F, from 35°F to 29°F, rarely falling below 24°F or exceeding 41°F.

For reference, on July 21, the hottest day of the year, temperatures at Danmarkshavn typically range from 36°F to 44°F, while on February 21, the coldest day of the year, they range from -14°F to -3°F.

The figure below shows you a compact characterization of the hourly average temperatures for the quarter of the year centered on August. 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.

McMurdo Station, Antarctica (12,340 miles away) is the far-away foreign place with temperatures most similar to Danmarkshavn (view comparison).

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The month of August at Danmarkshavn experiences essentially constant cloud cover, with the percentage of time that the sky is overcast or mostly cloudy remaining about 52% throughout the month.

The clearest day of the month is August 13, with clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy conditions 49% of the time.

For reference, on January 24, the cloudiest day of the year, the chance of overcast or mostly cloudy conditions is 82%, while on June 11, the clearest day of the year, the chance of clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy skies is 54%.

A wet day is one with at least 0.04 inches of liquid or liquid-equivalent precipitation. At Danmarkshavn, the chance of a wet day over the course of August is essentially constant, remaining around 12% throughout.

For reference, the year's highest daily chance of a wet day is 18% on January 4, and its lowest chance is 4% on June 17.

Over the course of August at Danmarkshavn, the chance of a day with only rain decreases from 13% to 6%, the chance of a day with mixed snow and rain increases from 0% to 3%, and the chance of a day with only snow increases from 0% to 3%.

Rainfall

To 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 August at Danmarkshavn is essentially constant, remaining about 0.9 inches throughout, and rarely exceeding 2.4 inches or falling below -0.0 inches.

The highest average 31-day accumulation is 1.0 inches on August 11.

Snowfall

As with rainfall, we consider the snowfall accumulated over a sliding 31-day period centered around each day.

The average sliding 31-day snowfall during August at Danmarkshavn is rapidly increasing, starting the month at 0.1 inches, when it rarely exceeds 0.2 inches or falls below -0.0 inches, and ending the month at 3.8 inches, when it rarely exceeds 10.1 inches or falls below 0.3 inches.

Due to its extreme latitude, Danmarkshavn experiences polar day (also known as the midnight Sun) during the summer and polar night during the winter. These are periods of time in which the sun is continuously above or below the horizon for more than one day. The precise start and end dates of polar day and night vary from year to year and depend on the precise location and elevation of the observer, and the local topography.

In the summer at Danmarkshavn during 2024, the Sun is continuously above the horizon for 3.9 months, rising at 12:38 AM on April 22, and not setting again until 11:56 PM on August 19. As such, August begins the month in polar day, which ends before the month is out.

The shortest day of the month is August 31, with 17 hours, 47 minutes of daylight.

The earliest sunrise of the month at Danmarkshavn is 12:41 AM on August 20 and the latest sunrise is 2 hours, 36 minutes later at 3:18 AM on August 31.

The latest sunset is 11:56 PM on August 19 and the earliest sunset is 2 hours, 51 minutes earlier at 9:05 PM on August 31.

Daylight saving time is observed at Danmarkshavn during 2024, but it neither starts nor ends during August, so the entire month is in standard time.

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.

The figure below presents a compact representation of key lunar data for August 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.

We 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 at Danmarkshavn is essentially constant during August, remaining around 0% throughout.

This 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 at Danmarkshavn is rapidly increasing during August, increasing from 8.0 miles per hour to 10.5 miles per hour over the course of the month.

For reference, on January 5, the windiest day of the year, the daily average wind speed is 16.3 miles per hour, while on June 21, the calmest day of the year, the daily average wind speed is 7.5 miles per hour.

The hourly average wind direction at Danmarkshavn throughout August is predominantly from the north, with a peak proportion of 53% on August 31.

Danmarkshavn 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 at Danmarkshavn is essentially constant during August, remaining around 32°F throughout.

The highest average surface water temperature during August is 33°F on August 13.

Definitions 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).

Temperatures at Danmarkshavn are sufficiently cold year round that it is not entirely meaningful to discuss the growing season in these terms. We nevertheless include the chart below as an illustration of the distribution of temperatures experienced throughout the year.

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 at Danmarkshavn are essentially constant during August, remaining within 1°F of 4°F throughout.

This 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 at Danmarkshavn is very rapidly decreasing during August, falling by 2.4 kWh, from 5.0 kWh to 2.6 kWh, over the course of the month.

For the purposes of this report, the geographical coordinates of Danmarkshavn are 76.767 deg latitude, -18.667 deg longitude, and 95 ft elevation.

The topography within 2 miles of Danmarkshavn contains significant variations in elevation, with a maximum elevation change of 577 feet and an average elevation above sea level of 117 feet. Within 10 miles contains significant variations in elevation (1,339 feet). Within 50 miles contains very significant variations in elevation (3,314 feet).

The area within 2 miles of Danmarkshavn is covered by water (85%), within 10 miles by water (53%) and sparse vegetation (28%), and within 50 miles by water (68%) and snow and glaciers (18%).