Climate averages 1991–2020
Niigata weather
in December.
A cold, very wet month: the 10th warmest and the 11th driest of the year.
Long-term climate patterns, not a forecast for a particular trip.
December is a cold month in Niigata: daytime highs average 7.5°C and nights cool to about 2.7°C. By daytime temperature it is the 10th warmest of the 12 months.
Expect about 195 mm of rain on roughly 25 days, which makes December a very wet month (the 11th driest of the 12 months). Daylight, from sunrise to sunset, lasts about 9 h 35 min on an average December day.
The nearest other city in this atlas is Shibata (26 km away). In December its highs average 6.4°C, 1.1°C cooler than Niigata, with 233 mm of rain.
Among the 303 cities listed in Japan, Niigata ranks joint 249th of 303 for the warmest December highs and 287th of 303 for the driest December (rainfall, lowest first). The mean December high of those 303 cities is 9.5°C; Niigata is 2.0°C cooler than that mean.
From December to January, average highs fall by 3.2°C to 4.2°C, and monthly rainfall falls from 195 mm to 178 mm.
The annual picture
December in context
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
Niigata climate table
| Month | Average highHigh / low | Average low | Rainfall mm/month | Rain days ≥1 mm/day | Daylight hours/dayDaylight h/day |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 4.2°C0.0°C | 0.0°C | 178 | 26.6 | 9.910 h |
| February | 4.7°C-0.6°C | -0.6°C | 115 | 21.3 | 10.811 h |
| March | 8.6°C1.8°C | 1.8°C | 110 | 18.6 | 11.912 h |
| April | 14.1°C6.0°C | 6.0°C | 90 | 12.6 | 13.213 h |
| May | 19.4°C11.4°C | 11.4°C | 99 | 11.8 | 14.214 h |
| June | 23.1°C16.5°C | 16.5°C | 123 | 11.2 | 14.715 h |
| July | 26.6°C21.2°C | 21.2°C | 226 | 15.2 | 14.515 h |
| August | 28.3°C22.7°C | 22.7°C | 159 | 12.9 | 13.614 h |
| September | 24.7°C19.2°C | 19.2°C | 146 | 14.2 | 12.512 h |
| October | 19.1°C13.1°C | 13.1°C | 155 | 15.8 | 11.211 h |
| November | 13.2°C7.5°C | 7.5°C | 164 | 19.7 | 10.210 h |
| December, selected | 7.5°C2.7°C | 2.7°C | 195 | 25.4 | 9.610 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
December in nearby cities
- Shibata in DecemberJapan · 26 kmHigh 6.4°C · Low 0.7°C · 233 mm rain
- Tsubame in DecemberJapan · 30 kmHigh 7.3°C · Low 1.7°C · 182 mm rain
- Sanjō in DecemberJapan · 35 kmHigh 7.1°C · Low 0.6°C · 202 mm rain
- Nagaoka in DecemberJapan · 55 kmHigh 7.0°C · Low 0.2°C · 181 mm rain
- Kashiwazaki in DecemberJapan · 75 kmHigh 7.4°C · Low 0.8°C · 208 mm rain
- Aizu-Wakamatsu in DecemberJapan · 93 kmHigh 5.2°C · Low -0.8°C · 93 mm rain
- Yonezawa in DecemberJapan · 94 kmHigh 4.7°C · Low -1.6°C · 181 mm rain
- Jōetsu in DecemberJapan · 112 kmHigh 7.4°C · Low 1.2°C · 247 mm rain
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 limitsHow these numbers are made (what the highs, lows and rain days mean, the sources and the model cell used for Niigata) is explained once on the Niigata year overview and on the Sources, method and limits page.