Climate averages 1991–2020
Otaru weather
in December.
A cold month with heavy precipitation: the 10th warmest and the 8th driest of the year.
Long-term climate patterns, not a forecast for a particular trip.
December is a cold month in Otaru: daytime highs average 0.3°C and nights cool to about -2.7°C. By daytime temperature it is the 10th warmest of the 12 months.
Expect about 125 mm of precipitation on roughly 22 days, which makes December a month with heavy precipitation (the 8th driest of the 12 months). Daylight, from sunrise to sunset, lasts about 9 h 03 min on an average December day.
The nearest other city in this atlas is Sapporo (31 km away). In December its highs average -0.3°C, 0.6°C cooler than Otaru, with 73 mm of precipitation.
Among the 303 cities listed in Japan, Otaru ranks joint 295th of 303 for the warmest December highs and 276th of 303 for the driest December (precipitation, lowest first). The mean December high of those 303 cities is 9.5°C; Otaru is 9.1°C cooler than that mean.
From December to January, average highs fall by 2.6°C to -2.3°C, and monthly precipitation falls from 125 mm to 98 mm.
The annual picture
December in context
Monthly precipitation
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
Otaru climate table
| Month | Average highHigh / low | Average low | Precipitation mm/month | Wet days ≥1 mm/day | Daylight hours/dayDaylight h/day |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | -2.3°C-5.8°C | -5.8°C | 98 | 20.8 | 9.49 h |
| February | -1.6°C-5.7°C | -5.7°C | 80 | 18.2 | 10.510 h |
| March | 1.8°C-3.0°C | -3.0°C | 76 | 15.0 | 11.912 h |
| April | 7.3°C1.4°C | 1.4°C | 66 | 11.2 | 13.413 h |
| May | 15.1°C7.0°C | 7.0°C | 84 | 11.7 | 14.615 h |
| June | 19.6°C12.2°C | 12.2°C | 76 | 10.6 | 15.315 h |
| July | 23.5°C17.0°C | 17.0°C | 127 | 12.8 | 15.015 h |
| August | 24.4°C18.8°C | 18.8°C | 163 | 14.1 | 14.014 h |
| September | 20.8°C15.3°C | 15.3°C | 149 | 13.9 | 12.513 h |
| October | 14.4°C9.0°C | 9.0°C | 117 | 14.9 | 11.111 h |
| November | 6.8°C2.3°C | 2.3°C | 129 | 18.6 | 9.810 h |
| December, selected | 0.3°C-2.7°C | -2.7°C | 125 | 21.9 | 9.19 h |
Precipitation (rain or snow, as water) is the average of the 30 separate monthly totals. A wet 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
- Sapporo in DecemberJapan · 31 kmHigh -0.3°C · Low -5.3°C · 73 mm precipitation
- Ebetsu in DecemberJapan · 45 kmHigh -0.9°C · Low -7.1°C · 62 mm precipitation
- Eniwa in DecemberJapan · 57 kmHigh -0.3°C · Low -6.5°C · 62 mm precipitation
- Iwamizawa in DecemberJapan · 61 kmHigh -0.8°C · Low -8.0°C · 69 mm precipitation
- Chitose in DecemberJapan · 67 kmHigh 0.5°C · Low -5.6°C · 54 mm precipitation
- Tomakomai in DecemberJapan · 79 kmHigh 0.7°C · Low -4.2°C · 63 mm precipitation
- Muroran in DecemberJapan · 97 kmHigh 0.3°C · Low -4.2°C · 69 mm precipitation
- Asahikawa in DecemberJapan · 128 kmHigh -3.0°C · Low -10.1°C · 83 mm precipitation
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 Otaru) is explained once on the Otaru year overview and on the Sources, method and limits page.