Saint Petersburg climate
Saint Petersburg (St.-Petersburg, Russia) has a warm-summer humid continental climate (Köppen Dfb). The average temperature over the year is 5 °C40 °F, and about 800 mm31 in of precipitation falls in an average year.
Temperature by month
Precipitation by month
Saint Petersburg climate table
| Month | High °C°F | Low °C°F | Mean °C°F | Precip. mmin | Frost days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | −620 | −1111 | −916 | 491.9 | 30 |
| Feb | −523 | −1112 | −817 | 411.6 | 28 |
| Mar | 032 | −621 | −326 | 441.7 | 29 |
| Apr | 846 | 032 | 439 | 522.0 | 16 |
| May | 1560 | 744 | 1152 | 702.7 | 2 |
| Jun | 1966 | 1152 | 1559 | 903.6 | 0 |
| Jul | 2272 | 1558 | 1865 | 983.9 | 0 |
| Aug | 2069 | 1355 | 1762 | 983.8 | 0 |
| Sep | 1559 | 847 | 1253 | 632.5 | 0 |
| Oct | 745 | 236 | 540 | 722.9 | 9 |
| Nov | 133 | −327 | −130 | 662.6 | 20 |
| Dec | −425 | −818 | −622 | 582.3 | 29 |
| Year | 2272 | −1111 | 540 | 80031 | 163 |
“Year” row: highest monthly high, lowest monthly low, annual mean and annual total. Frost days are for the whole grid cell.
| Month | Humid. | Cloud | Solar | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 98% | 84% | 0.3 | 6:41 |
| Feb | 98% | 81% | 0.9 | 9:02 |
| Mar | 94% | 71% | 2.3 | 11:34 |
| Apr | 84% | 66% | 3.7 | 14:27 |
| May | 78% | 63% | 5.1 | 17:06 |
| Jun | 78% | 67% | 5.4 | 18:47 |
| Jul | 81% | 65% | 5.1 | 18:03 |
| Aug | 83% | 64% | 4.0 | 15:36 |
| Sep | 86% | 70% | 2.5 | 12:44 |
| Oct | 92% | 80% | 1.0 | 9:58 |
| Nov | 96% | 87% | 0.3 | 7:23 |
| Dec | 98% | 88% | 0.2 | 5:56 |
Humid. = average relative humidity at 2 m; cloud = average cloud amount; solar = average daily solar energy reaching the ground in kWh/m² (all-sky); daylight in hours:minutes, calculated for the 15th of each month.
What the climate of Saint Petersburg is like
The warmest month is July, with an average high of 22 °C72 °F and a low of 15 °C58 °F. The coldest is January, when highs average −6 °C20 °F and lows −11 °C11 °F. Seasons are strongly marked: the warmest month is on average 27.4 °C49.4 °F warmer than the coldest.
Annual precipitation is moderate at about 800 mm31 in. The wettest three-month stretch is June–August, which brings 36% of the annual total. The wettest month is July (98 mm3.9 in), the driest is February (41 mm1.6 in).
Relative humidity ranges from 78% in May to 98% in February. The clearest skies (lowest average cloud amount, 63%) are typical of May. Average wind speed near the ground ranges from 3 km/h (2 mph) in July to 5 km/h (3 mph) in March. Daylight lasts from about 5.9 hours in December to 18.8 hours in June.
A lasting snow cover is typical in November–March, when the average snow depth in the reanalysis exceeds 10 cm (deepest in February, about 30 cm).
Best time to visit Saint Petersburg
Based on these averages, the most comfortable months for sightseeing and outdoor activities are June–August: average highs of 19 °C66 °F to 22 °C72 °F with 90 mm3.6 in to 98 mm3.9 in of precipitation per month.
The most challenging month is January, which is cold, with average highs of −6 °C20 °F.
Comfort score: months are ranked by how close they come to an average high of 21–28 °C (70–82 °F), lows above 5 °C (41 °F), little precipitation and moderate humidity. The best-ranked months of each place are recommended, even where none meets all of these. These are general rules of thumb applied to long-term averages.
Saint Petersburg weather by month
- January−6 °C20 °F / −11 °C11 °F
- February−5 °C23 °F / −11 °C12 °F
- March0 °C32 °F / −6 °C21 °F
- April8 °C46 °F / 0 °C32 °F
- May15 °C60 °F / 7 °C44 °F
- June19 °C66 °F / 11 °C52 °F
- July22 °C72 °F / 15 °C58 °F
- August20 °C69 °F / 13 °C55 °F
- September15 °C59 °F / 8 °C47 °F
- October7 °C45 °F / 2 °C36 °F
- November1 °C33 °F / −3 °C27 °F
- December−4 °C25 °F / −8 °C18 °F
What to pack for Saint Petersburg
- Winter (December–February) — highs −620 to −4 °C25 °F, lows −1111 to −8 °C18 °F, about 49 mm1.9 in of precipitation a month. Pack heavy insulated clothing, thermal base layers, a warm hat, mittens and insulated boots.
- Spring (March–May) — highs 032 to 15 °C60 °F, lows −621 to 7 °C44 °F, about 55 mm2.2 in of precipitation a month. Pack a warm coat, layers and closed shoes.
- Summer (June–August) — highs 1966 to 22 °C72 °F, lows 1152 to 15 °C58 °F, about 95 mm3.8 in of precipitation a month. Pack light layers — T-shirts plus a light sweater or jacket and an umbrella or light rain jacket.
- Autumn (September–November) — highs 133 to 15 °C59 °F, lows −327 to 8 °C47 °F, about 67 mm2.6 in of precipitation a month. Pack a warm coat, layers and closed shoes.
How Saint Petersburg compares
Of the 169 places in Russia covered by World Climates, Saint Petersburg is the 69th warmest by annual mean temperature and the 21st wettest by annual precipitation. See all of them on the Russia climate page.
Places in other countries with the most similar temperature and rainfall pattern: Lahti (Finland, Dfb), Jyväskylä (Finland, Dfb) and Tampere (Finland, Dfb).
The same NASA POWER grid cell also contains Kolpino (pop. 138,979). Their long-term averages in this dataset are essentially the same as for Saint Petersburg, so they do not have separate pages.
Nearby places
- Velikiy Novgorod 167 km · 5 °C41 °F · 876 mm34 in
- Pskov 262 km · 5 °C42 °F · 863 mm34 in
- Lahti 280 km · 4 °C40 °F · 746 mm29 in
- Vantaa 295 km · 5 °C42 °F · 733 mm29 in
- Helsinki 300 km · 6 °C43 °F · 712 mm28 in
- Petrozavodsk 300 km · 3 °C37 °F · 792 mm31 in
- Espoo 315 km · 6 °C43 °F · 727 mm29 in
- Tallinn 317 km · 6 °C43 °F · 685 mm27 in
Frequently asked questions
What is the warmest month in Saint Petersburg?
July is the warmest month in Saint Petersburg, with an average high of 22 °C (72 °F) and an average low of 15 °C (58 °F).
What is the coldest month in Saint Petersburg?
January is the coldest month, with an average high of -6 °C (20 °F) and an average low of -11 °C (11 °F).
When does it rain the most in Saint Petersburg?
July is the wettest month with about 98 mm (3.9 in) of precipitation; February is the driest with about 41 mm (1.6 in).
What is the best time to visit Saint Petersburg?
Judging by long-term averages, the most comfortable months are June–August.
About this data
All figures are 25-year averages (January 2001 – December 2025) from the NASA POWER project. Temperature, humidity, wind and precipitation come from the MERRA-2 reanalysis (precipitation is the bias-corrected MERRA-2 product), cloud and solar values from CERES satellite data. They describe a grid cell of roughly 50–70 km, not a single weather station, so they can differ from airport records — most of all on coasts, in mountains and for rainfall. Average highs and lows are the monthly mean temperature plus/minus half of the average daily temperature range. Counts of rainy days are not part of this dataset.