Turkey · 41.01°N 28.98°E · monthly climate normals, judged against the Warm preset (mean 14–24 °C57–75 °F, dry or showers)
The best time to visit Istanbul is May to October, when mean temperatures run from 16 °C61 °F to 23 °C73 °F and rainfall runs 24–72 mm0.9–2.8 in a month.
Rain comes in the winter half of the year — December averages 112 mm4.4 in — while April to September is dry, with July down to 24 mm0.9 in. July is the hottest month at 23 °C73 °F and January the coldest at 6 °C43 °F.
Figures are 30-year monthly averages (WorldClim 2.1 monthly normals 1970–2000) for the 0.25° grid cell at 41.01, 28.98 — a climate guide, not a forecast.
Pick the weather you like and every month is judged against it — temperature above the month names, rain below.
Good time to go for a Warm holiday: May to October.
Open Istanbul on the interactive map ↗ the same verdict for every place on Earth, any month
Reading the chart. Gold is good: the month fits what you picked. Any other colour names the reason it doesn't — the temperature bar can be too cold or too hot, the rain bar too dry, too rainy or monsoon. A faded gold bar is a half that fits while the other half fails; a gold month name means both fit.
What the verdicts mean. Temperature is the monthly mean, judged against the preset's band (mean 14–24 °C57–75 °F for Warm). Rain is judged by each month's class within Istanbul's own year rather than raw millimetres: dry under 60 mm2.4 in, showers 60–100 mm2.4–3.9 in, rainy from 100 mm3.9 in and 35 % of the wettest month. Too rainy is a rainy-season month the preset doesn't allow. Monsoon is the heaviest kind of rainy season — 180 mm7.1 in or more (120 mm4.7 in near the yearly peak) in a climate whose wettest month is at least three times its driest — so every monsoon month is rainy season too; the label says which kind. Full rules on the method page.
| Month | Rain | Mean | Season | Warm verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 963.8 | 642 | showers | too cold |
| February | 642.5 | 643 | showers | too cold |
| March | 642.5 | 846 | showers | too cold |
| April | 481.9 | 1254 | dry | too cold |
| May | 401.6 | 1661 | dry | good |
| June | 321.3 | 2169 | dry | good |
| July | 240.9 | 2373 | dry | good |
| August | 321.3 | 2373 | dry | good |
| September | 401.6 | 2067 | dry | good |
| October | 722.8 | 1660 | showers | good |
| November | 883.5 | 1152 | showers | too cold |
| December | 1124.4 | 846 | rainy | too cold |
| Looking for | Rule | Months that fit |
|---|---|---|
| Warm | mean 14–24 °C57–75 °F, dry or showers | May to October |
| Tropical | mean 24–33 °C75–91 °F, anything but the monsoon | |
| Beach | mean 24–33 °C75–91 °F, dry or showers | |
| Cool | mean 0–14 °C32–57 °F, anything but the monsoon | November to April |
| Snow | mean below 0 °C32 °F, any rain |
Yes. Rain comes in the winter half of the year — December averages 112 mm4.4 in — while April to September is dry, with July down to 24 mm0.9 in.
July is the hottest month at 23 °C73 °F and January the coldest at 6 °C43 °F. Annual rainfall totals about 712 mm28 in.
The nearest destinations that do fit the Warm preset in the months Istanbul doesn't:
The interactive map colours the whole world by how it fits your picks in any month, and shows this chart for any place you tap.