Average Weather at Kirkenes Norway

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At Kirkenes, the summers are short, cool, and mostly cloudy and the winters are long, freezing, snowy, windy, and overcast. Over the course of the year, the temperature typically varies from 6°F to 61°F and is rarely below -14°F or above 74°F.

The warm season lasts for 2.7 months, from June 13 to September 5, with an average daily high temperature above 52°F. The hottest day of the year is July 24, with an average high of 61°F and low of 48°F.

The cold season lasts for 4.0 months, from November 20 to March 21, with an average daily high temperature below 27°F. The coldest day of the year is January 26, with an average low of 6°F and high of 19°F.

The figure below shows you a compact characterization of the entire year of hourly average temperatures. The horizontal axis is the day of the year, the vertical axis is the hour of the day, and the color is the average temperature for that hour and day.

At Kirkenes, the average percentage of the sky covered by clouds experiences significant seasonal variation over the course of the year.

The clearer part of the year at Kirkenes begins around April 11 and lasts for 5.5 months, ending around September 26. On July 6, the clearest day of the year, the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 43% of the time, and overcast or mostly cloudy 57% of the time.

The cloudier part of the year begins around September 26 and lasts for 6.5 months, ending around April 11. On January 6, the cloudiest day of the year, the sky is overcast or mostly cloudy 81% of the time, and clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 19% of the time.

A wet day is one with at least 0.04 inches of liquid or liquid-equivalent precipitation. The chance of wet days at Kirkenes varies throughout the year.

The wetter season lasts 5.7 months, from May 9 to October 31, with a greater than 23% chance of a given day being a wet day. The chance of a wet day peaks at 33% on July 4.

The drier season lasts 6.3 months, from October 31 to May 9. The smallest chance of a wet day is 12% on March 12.

Among wet days, we distinguish between those that experience rain alone, snow alone, or a mixture of the two. Based on this categorization, the most common form of precipitation at Kirkenes changes throughout the year.

Rain alone is the most common for 6.5 months, from April 16 to November 1. The highest chance of a day with rain alone is 33% on July 4.

Snow alone is the most common for 5.5 months, from November 1 to April 16. The highest chance of a day with snow alone is 15% on January 13.

Rainfall

To show variation within the months and not just the monthly totals, we show the rainfall accumulated over a sliding 31-day period centered around each day of the year. Kirkenes experiences significant seasonal variation in monthly rainfall.

The rainy period of the year lasts for 6.5 months, from April 21 to November 7, with a sliding 31-day rainfall of at least 0.5 inches. The most rain falls during the 31 days centered around July 15, with an average total accumulation of 2.7 inches.

The rainless period of the year lasts for 5.5 months, from November 7 to April 21. The least rain falls around February 13, with an average total accumulation of 0.0 inches.

Snowfall

We report snowfall in liquid-equivalent terms. The actual depth of new snowfall is typically between 5 and 10 times the liquid-equivalent amount, assuming the ground is frozen. Colder, drier snow tends to be on the higher end of that range and warmer, wetter snow on the lower end.

As with rainfall, we consider the snowfall accumulated over a sliding 31-day period centered around each day of the year. Kirkenes experiences some seasonal variation in monthly liquid-equivalent snowfall.

The snowy period of the year lasts for 7.6 months, from October 2 to May 22, with a sliding 31-day liquid-equivalent snowfall of at least 0.1 inches. The most snow falls during the 31 days centered around January 1, with an average total liquid-equivalent accumulation of 0.6 inches.

The snowless period of the year lasts for 4.4 months, from May 22 to October 2. The least snow falls around August 3, with an average total liquid-equivalent accumulation of 0.0 inches.

Due to its extreme latitude, Kirkenes 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 Kirkenes during 2017, the Sun is continuously above the horizon for 2.3 months, rising at 12:23 AM on May 17, and not setting again until 11:33 PM on July 26.

In the winter at Kirkenes during 2017, the Sun is continuously below the horizon for 1.6 months, setting at 11:09 AM on November 26, and not rising again until 10:54 AM on January 15.

Daylight saving time (DST) is observed at Kirkenes during 2017, starting in the spring on March 26, lasting 7.1 months, and ending in the fall on October 29.

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 perceived humidity level at Kirkenes, as measured by the percentage of time in which the humidity comfort level is muggy, oppressive, or miserable, does not vary significantly over the course of the year, remaining a virtually constant 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 Kirkenes experiences significant seasonal variation over the course of the year.

The windier part of the year lasts for 6.1 months, from October 31 to May 4, with average wind speeds of more than 4.8 miles per hour. The windiest day of the year is February 3, with an average hourly wind speed of 6.4 miles per hour.

The calmer time of year lasts for 5.9 months, from May 4 to October 31. The calmest day of the year is August 1, with an average hourly wind speed of 3.3 miles per hour.

The predominant average hourly wind direction at Kirkenes varies throughout the year.

The wind is most often from the west for 2.0 weeks, from April 29 to May 13; for 1.1 months, from October 2 to November 4; and for 1.4 weeks, from December 11 to December 21, with a peak percentage of 38% on December 13. The wind is most often from the east for 2.7 months, from May 13 to August 4, with a peak percentage of 35% on June 20. The wind is most often from the south for 1.9 months, from August 4 to October 2; for 1.2 months, from November 4 to December 11; and for 4.3 months, from December 21 to April 29, with a peak percentage of 40% on November 20.

Kirkenes 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 water temperature experiences some seasonal variation over the course of the year.

The time of year with warmer water lasts for 2.3 months, from July 7 to September 17, with an average temperature above 47°F. The day of the year with the warmest water is August 8, with an average temperature of 50°F.

The time of year with cooler water lasts for 4.6 months, from December 29 to May 16, with an average temperature below 39°F. The day of the year with the coolest water is March 29, with an average temperature of 36°F.

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 experiences extreme seasonal variation over the course of the year.

The brighter period of the year lasts for 2.7 months, from May 12 to August 2, with an average daily incident shortwave energy per square meter above 4.1 kWh. The brightest day of the year is June 24, with an average of 5.2 kWh.

The darker period of the year lasts for 5.4 months, from September 29 to March 10, with an average daily incident shortwave energy per square meter below 1.0 kWh. The darkest day of the year is December 12, with an average of 0.0 kWh.

For the purposes of this report, the geographical coordinates of Kirkenes are 69.726 deg latitude, 29.891 deg longitude, and 262 ft elevation.

The topography within 2 miles of Kirkenes contains significant variations in elevation, with a maximum elevation change of 692 feet and an average elevation above sea level of 219 feet. Within 10 miles contains significant variations in elevation (1,086 feet). Within 50 miles contains very significant variations in elevation (2,067 feet).

The area within 2 miles of Kirkenes is covered by sparse vegetation (47%), trees (25%), and water (16%), within 10 miles by sparse vegetation (40%) and water (22%), and within 50 miles by water (27%) and trees (24%).

This report illustrates the typical weather at Kirkenes, based on a statistical analysis of historical hourly weather reports and model reconstructions from January 1, 1980 to December 31, 2016.

Temperature and Dew Point

Kirkenes has a weather station that reported reliably enough during the analysis period that we have included it in our network. When available, historical temperature and dew point measurements are taken directly from this weather station. These records are obtained from NOAA's Integrated Surface Hourly data set, falling back on ICAO METAR records as required.

In the case of missing or erroneous measurements from this station, we fall back on records from nearby stations, adjusted according to typical seasonal and diurnal intra-station differences. For a given day of the year and hour of the day, the fallback station is selected to minimize the prediction error over the years for which there are measurements for both stations.

The stations on which we may fall back are Vadsø Airport, Ivalo Airport, and Murmansk Airport.

Other Data

All data relating to the Sun's position (e.g., sunrise and sunset) are computed using astronomical formulas from the book, Astronomical Tables of the Sun, Moon and Planets , 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 aiports and weather stations are provided by AskGeo.com .

Maps are © Esri, with data from National Geographic, Esri, DeLorme, NAVTEQ, UNEP-WCMC, USGS, NASA, ESA, METI, NRCAN, GEBCO, NOAA, and iPC.