Sofia climate — normals and trends
Sofia has a warm-summer humid continental climate, averaging 9.1 °C annually with 592 mm of rain per year.
Climate normals · ERA5
SofiaSofia-Capital
- coords
- 42.70°, 23.32°
- period
- 1940–2025 · 86 yrs
The normals for this period
The average of every indicator across the whole window: temperature, water, sky, wind and notable days.
Mean daily temperature
9.1°C
Average daily high
14.2°C
Average daily low
4.5°C
Annual rainfall
592mm
Sunshine / day
9.4h
Mean relative humidity
73%
Average peak wind
11.1km/h
Seasonal range
21.7°C
Frost days (< 0 °C)
111 d/yr
Hot days (≥ 30 °C)
8 d/yr
Rainy days (≥ 1 mm)
115 d/yr
Annual snowfall
89.1 cm
Average feels-like high
12.4 °C
Average feels-like low
2.2 °C
Average peak gust
30.1 km/h
Tropical nights (≥ 20 °C)
0 d/yr
Solar radiation
14.4 MJ/m²
Has the climate changed?
What the yearly averages say about warming here, and whether the slope is statistically solid.
+1.9 °C
since 1940
+0.2 °C per decade · r² = 0.50 · p = < 0.001
Trend fitted by linear regression (ordinary least squares) on annual means. A trend is shown only when it is statistically significant (p < 0.05).
Climate month by month
How an average year unfolds: when it rains, when it turns hot, when the sun is out.
A climograph overlays rainfall (bars) and temperature (line): the standard reading in climatology, where you can see at a glance whether the warm season is also the dry one.
Records for the period
The most extreme days ever measured here, then the year-by-year detail.
Hottest day
37.9 °C
24 July 2007
Coldest day
-30.2 °C
24 January 1942
Wettest day
51 mm
6 August 2007
Windiest day
31.8 km/h
5 April 2000
Strongest gust
94.3 km/h
28 March 1995
Hottest feels-like
37.7 °C
24 July 2007
Coldest feels-like
-34.6 °C
24 January 1942
Snowiest day
20.3 cm
16 April 1973
Sunniest day
15.0 h
25 June 1940
Normals computed over complete calendar years 1940–2025.
A specific year
Pick a year and compare it with the normal: warmer, drier, more extreme?
Across the whole year
Month by month
| High | vs. normal | Precipitation | vs. normal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 6.4 °C | +4.6 °C | 23 mm | -17 mm |
| Feb | 4.0 °C | -0.5 °C | 16 mm | -23 mm |
| Mar | 14.0 °C | +5.2 °C | 47 mm | -5 mm |
| Apr | 14.8 °C | +0.5 °C | 56 mm | -6 mm |
| May | 17.9 °C | -1.0 °C | 85 mm | +12 mm |
| Jun | 26.8 °C | +4.2 °C | 11 mm | -59 mm |
| Jul | 29.1 °C | +4.2 °C | 20 mm | -31 mm |
| Aug | 27.0 °C | +1.6 °C | 21 mm | -15 mm |
| Sep | 23.9 °C | +2.5 °C | 17 mm | -17 mm |
| Oct | 13.1 °C | -2.4 °C | 150 mm | +108 mm |
| Nov | 11.4 °C | +2.4 °C | 84 mm | +36 mm |
| Dec | 5.3 °C | +1.9 °C | 31 mm | -15 mm |
The year's extremes
What was the weather like that day?
The weather actually measured on a given date, anywhere in the covered window.
Climate at a glance
What these normals say about the place, in a few sentences, and the notions needed to read them.
Sofia (Bulgaria) has a warm-summer humid continental climate (Dfb) under the Köppen-Geiger classification. Its mean annual temperature is 9.1 °C and it receives 592 mm of precipitation per year.
These figures are normals computed over 86 complete calendar years, from 1940 to 2025, using ERA5 reanalysis data from the Copernicus programme.
The warmest month is July (19.3 °C on average) and the coldest is January (-2.4 °C). Rainfall peaks in May.
Sofia averages 111 frost days, 8 hot days (≥ 30 °C) and 115 rainy days per year.
Sofia has warmed by +1.9 °C between 1940 and 2025, or +0.23 °C per decade. This trend is statistically significant.
The number of frost days there went from about 124 to 98 per year over the period.
The hottest day of the period reached 37.9 °C (on 24 July 2007) and the coldest -30.2 °C (on 24 January 1942).
Data from ERA5 reanalysis (Copernicus Climate Change Service), redistributed under a CC-BY 4.0 licence. Normals are recomputed whenever the archive is updated.
Compare Sofia with another city
Pick a second city: its normals will be set against these, indicator by indicator.
Nearby cities
The climate around Sofia
Other cities — Bulgaria
Frequently asked questions
What is the climate of Sofia?
Sofia has a warm-summer humid continental climate (Köppen Dfb). Over 1940-2025, the average annual temperature is 9.1 °C and it receives 592 mm of precipitation per year.
What is the hottest day ever recorded in Sofia?
The hottest day measured in Sofia between 1940 and 2025 was 24 July 2007, reaching 37.9 °C.
What is the coldest day in Sofia?
The coldest day measured in Sofia between 1940 and 2025 was 24 January 1942, at -30.2 °C.
Does it snow in Sofia?
Yes. Sofia gets on average 89.1 cm of snow per year and has around 111 frost days.
Has the climate of Sofia warmed?
Yes: Sofia warmed by +1.9 °C between 1940 and 2025, a statistically significant trend.
What is the wettest day in Sofia?
The wettest day measured in Sofia between 1940 and 2025 was 6 August 2007, with 51 mm of rain in 24 hours.
What was the windiest day in Sofia?
The windiest day measured in Sofia between 1940 and 2025 was 5 April 2000, with winds reaching 31.8 km/h.
What is the warmest month in Sofia?
The warmest month in Sofia is July (19.3 °C on average); the coldest is January (-2.4 °C).
How much does it rain in Sofia?
Sofia receives on average 592 mm of precipitation per year, spread over about 115 rainy days.
Is it sunny in Sofia?
Sofia gets on average 9.4 hours of sunshine per day, roughly 3,431 hours per year over 1940-2025.
What is the biggest single-day snowfall in Sofia?
The heaviest 24-hour snowfall measured in Sofia between 1940 and 2025 was 16 April 1973, with 20.3 cm.
Are there tropical nights in Sofia?
Almost never: tropical nights (temperature staying above 20 °C) are virtually non-existent in Sofia.
What was the most extreme apparent temperature in Sofia?
In Sofia, between 1940 and 2025, the highest apparent temperature reached 37.7 °C on 24 July 2007, and the lowest was -34.6 °C on 24 January 1942.
These forecasts and records come from our own weather API. Developer documentation →