Niigata weather by month & the best time to visit
🇯🇵 Japan · coastal city break · humid subtropical climate
The best time to visit Niigata is May — its sunniest month (Sunshine Score 71/100), with June and September close behind. Niigata averages about 1,480 hours of sunshine a year. Daytime highs around 21°C / 70°F and roughly 86 mm of rain in May.
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- Sun hours / year
- 1,480
- Sunniest month
- May
- Peak score
- 71/100
- Rain / year
- 1,646 mm
- Snow / year
- ≈1.8 m
- Midday UV at peak
- 6 (high)
- Sea at warmest
- 29°C / 84°F
- Population
- 798k
- Elevation
- Sea level
When is the best time to visit Niigata?
For sunshine, the best time to visit Niigata is May, then June and September. The dullest month is January (0/100, 150 mm of rain). The full month-by-month picture is in the table below.
How sunny is Niigata?
Niigata isn't a sunny place by world standards: about 1,480 hours of sunshine a year. 71 Sunshine Score points separate May (71) from January (0), so the month you pick matters. It ranks #73 of 79 destinations in Japan for annual sunshine, below the national median of 1,773 hours. The year's 1,646 mm of rain spreads fairly evenly across the months, with no pronounced dry season.
Sunshine Score by month
| Month | Score | Day high | Night low | Rain | UV | Sea |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 0 | 4° / 39°F | 0° / 32°F | 150 mm | 1 | 11° / 52°F |
| February | 0 | 5° / 41°F | 0° / 32°F | 94 mm | 2 | 10° / 50°F |
| March | 0 | 8° / 46°F | 2° / 36°F | 101 mm | 3 | 9° / 48°F |
| April | 41 | 15° / 59°F | 6° / 43°F | 92 mm | 4 | 13° / 55°F |
| May | 71 | 21° / 70°F | 12° / 54°F | 86 mm | 5 | 17° / 63°F |
| June | 66 | 25° / 77°F | 17° / 63°F | 115 mm | 6 | 22° / 72°F |
| July | 60 | 28° / 82°F | 21° / 70°F | 221 mm | 6 | 26° / 79°F |
| August | 60 | 30° / 86°F | 22° / 72°F | 153 mm | 6 | 29° / 84°F |
| September | 62 | 26° / 79°F | 19° / 66°F | 138 mm | 5 | 28° / 82°F |
| October | 60 | 20° / 68°F | 13° / 55°F | 153 mm | 3 | 23° / 73°F |
| November | 25 | 13° / 55°F | 7° / 45°F | 152 mm | 2 | 18° / 64°F |
| December | 0 | 7° / 45°F | 3° / 37°F | 191 mm | 1 | 13° / 55°F |
Sea temperature in Niigata by month
The sea off Niigata is warmest in August at around 29°C / 84°F, and coolest in March at 9°C / 48°F. The water sits at a comfortable 21°C or warmer roughly 5 months a year. Month-by-month sea-surface temperatures are in the Sea column of the table above.
See Niigata on the interactive sunshine globe →
Nearby places for sunshine
- Shonai Japan · 112 km · best in Jun · 1,396 h sun/yr
- Yamagata Japan · 121 km · best in May · 1,521 h sun/yr
- Sendai Japan · 159 km · best in May · 1,521 h sun/yr
- Akita Japan · 208 km · best in Jun · 1,394 h sun/yr
- Toyama Japan · 224 km · best in May · 1,590 h sun/yr
- Ibaraki Japan · 228 km · best in May · 1,948 h sun/yr
Nearest destinations
- Sado Japan · 62 km · 1,580 h sun/yr · best in Jun
- Fukushima Japan · 142 km · 1,749 h sun/yr · best in May
- Wajima Japan · 203 km · 1,676 h sun/yr · best in Jun
Head-to-head
How Niigata compares month by month: Niigata vs Sendai · Niigata vs Toyama · Niigata vs Ibaraki · Niigata vs Yamagata · all comparisons
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