Climate averages 1991–2020
Sofia weather
by month.
See how the year changes. August has the highest average daily maximum; September (tied with August) has the lowest average monthly rainfall.
Pleasant-weather months by our simple rule: AugustSeptember
Long-term climate patterns, not a forecast for a particular trip.
Across the year Sofia averages a daytime high of 15.3°C and a nighttime low of 6.3°C, with about 572 mm of rain on roughly 108 days. August is the warmest month (average high 26.4°C) and January the coolest (3.6°C). May is the wettest month with 70 mm; September (tied with August) is the driest with 35 mm.
Months with pleasant weather by a simple rule (average high between 18°C and 29°C, average low of at least 5°C and at most 8 rain days): August and September. This looks at temperature and rain only, not humidity, wind, sea temperature or crowds.
The annual picture
A year in Sofia
Monthly rainfall
Average total · mmAverages from hourly ERA5 reanalysis data. Actual weather varies from year to year. How these numbers are calculated
Every month, side by side
Sofia climate table
| Month | Average highHigh / low | Average low | Rainfall mm/month | Rain days ≥1 mm/day | Daylight hours/dayDaylight h/day |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 3.6°C-4.3°C | -4.3°C | 39 | 7.6 | 9.49 h |
| February | 5.8°C-3.0°C | -3.0°C | 39 | 7.5 | 10.511 h |
| March | 10.1°C0.7°C | 0.7°C | 54 | 10.5 | 11.912 h |
| April | 15.2°C5.2°C | 5.2°C | 58 | 11.4 | 13.413 h |
| May | 19.9°C10.3°C | 10.3°C | 70 | 13.5 | 14.615 h |
| June | 23.6°C14.3°C | 14.3°C | 62 | 11.6 | 15.315 h |
| July | 25.9°C16.4°C | 16.4°C | 51 | 9.6 | 15.015 h |
| August | 26.4°C16.6°C | 16.6°C | 35 | 7.2 | 13.914 h |
| September | 21.9°C12.3°C | 12.3°C | 35 | 6.5 | 12.513 h |
| October | 16.5°C7.3°C | 7.3°C | 46 | 6.9 | 11.111 h |
| November | 10.5°C2.1°C | 2.1°C | 36 | 6.7 | 9.810 h |
| December | 4.9°C-2.4°C | -2.4°C | 45 | 8.6 | 9.19 h |
Rainfall is the average of the 30 separate monthly totals. A rain day is a local calendar day with at least 1 mm of precipitation. Daylight is the calculated sunrise-to-sunset length, not measured sunshine.
Compare places
Nearby cities
- PernikBulgaria · 26 kmHigh 14.7°C · Low 5.1°C · 513 mm rain a year
- LeskovacSerbia · 117 kmHigh 17.0°C · Low 6.9°C · 620 mm rain a year
- PlovdivBulgaria · 132 kmHigh 17.3°C · Low 7.6°C · 513 mm rain a year
- PlevenBulgaria · 132 kmHigh 17.5°C · Low 8.0°C · 630 mm rain a year
- NišSerbia · 135 kmHigh 17.3°C · Low 7.4°C · 563 mm rain a year
- KumanovoNorth Macedonia · 146 kmHigh 17.9°C · Low 7.9°C · 520 mm rain a year
- SkopjeNorth Macedonia · 174 kmHigh 18.7°C · Low 8.3°C · 534 mm rain a year
- PristinaKosovo · 176 kmHigh 16.0°C · Low 6.8°C · 634 mm rain a year
Read the numbers correctly
Climate, not a promise.
These patterns help compare months. They cannot tell you the weather on a specific day of your trip.
Sources, method and limitsWhat do the high and low temperatures mean?
We average the daily maximum and daily minimum for each calendar month over 1991–2020. They are not record extremes, a forecast range or temperatures at a fixed time of day.
How is a rain day counted?
A local calendar day (standard time, UTC+2, no daylight saving) with at least 1 mm of total precipitation counts as one rain day. We count these for each year and month, then average across 30 years. The average does not predict which days will be wet.
Where do the numbers come from?
ERA5-Land (temperature) and ERA5 (precipitation) reanalysis from the Copernicus Climate Change Service, read from the Open-Meteo open-data archive. Temperature comes from the 0.1° model cell at 42.70°, 23.30° (2 km from the city centre), adjusted up by 0.7°C for the difference between the city's elevation (562 m) and the cell's (677 m). Rain comes from the 0.25° cell at 42.75°, 23.25°. These are model estimates, not weather-station readings; coast, hills and city streets can differ.
Does this page show sunshine, humidity or sea temperature?
No. The data used here contain air temperature and precipitation only. Daylight hours are calculated from the city's latitude (sunrise to sunset), not measured sunshine.