Climate averages 1991–2020

Samch’ŏn weather
in January.

A cold month with very little precipitation: the coolest and the driest of the year.

Long-term climate patterns, not a forecast for a particular trip.

Average high 0.6°C Daytime mean, January
Average low -6.6°C Night-time mean, January
Precipitation 14 mm 3 days with ≥1 mm
Daylight 10 h Sunrise to sunset, per day
Every month in Samch’ŏn · average highYear overview

January is a cold month in Samch’ŏn: daytime highs average 0.6°C and nights cool to about -6.6°C. By daytime temperature it is the coolest month of the year.

Expect about 14 mm of precipitation on roughly 3 days, which makes January a month with very little precipitation (the driest month of the year). Daylight, from sunrise to sunset, lasts about 9 h 49 min on an average January day.

The nearest other city in this atlas is Sinch’ŏn-ŭp (14 km away). In January its highs average 0.5°C, about as warm as Samch’ŏn, with 14 mm of precipitation.

Among the 38 cities listed in North Korea, Samch’ŏn ranks joint 9th of 38 for the warmest January highs and joint 11th of 38 for the driest January (precipitation, lowest first). The mean January high of those 38 cities is -1.0°C; Samch’ŏn is 1.6°C warmer than that mean.

From January to February, average highs rise by 2.8°C to 3.4°C, and monthly precipitation rises from 14 mm to 19 mm.

The annual picture

January in context

30-year average
Average highAverage low°C
Average daily high and low temperatures by month The same values are available in the monthly table below. Lines show mean daily maxima and minima, not a forecast interval. -10-505101520253035 JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

Monthly precipitation

Average total · mm
Average monthly precipitation totalsEach bar is a mean monthly total over 1991–2020. Full numbers are in the table. JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec 2500

Averages from hourly ERA5 reanalysis data. Actual weather varies from year to year. How these numbers are calculated

Every month, side by side

Samch’ŏn climate table

1991–2020
Monthly climate averages for Samch’ŏn, 1991–2020
MonthAverage highHigh / lowAverage lowPrecipitation mm/monthWet days ≥1 mm/dayDaylight hours/dayDay­light h/day
January, selected 0.6°C-6.6°C-6.6°C143.39.810 h
February 3.4°C-5.0°C-5.0°C193.610.711 h
March 8.8°C-1.0°C-1.0°C254.411.912 h
April 15.7°C5.0°C5.0°C486.013.213 h
May 21.4°C10.9°C10.9°C837.114.214 h
June 26.0°C16.6°C16.6°C898.314.815 h
July 27.9°C21.1°C21.1°C23214.214.615 h
August 28.3°C21.4°C21.4°C20612.913.714 h
September 24.3°C15.9°C15.9°C877.012.512 h
October 18.0°C8.9°C8.9°C405.411.211 h
November 10.0°C1.9°C1.9°C437.010.110 h
December 3.0°C-4.2°C-4.2°C214.99.510 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

January in nearby cities

Distance from Samch’ŏn

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 limits

How these numbers are made (what the highs, lows and rain days mean, the sources and the model cell used for Samch’ŏn) is explained once on the Samch’ŏn year overview and on the Sources, method and limits page.