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Sapporo, the largest city of Hokkaido, sits on a plain in the southwest of Japan's northernmost main island, ringed by mountains at approximately 43.06°N, 141.35°E. Its northerly position gives it a humid continental climate (Köppen Dfa/Dfb) — with warm summers and long, very cold, extraordinarily snowy winters — quite unlike the humid subtropical rest of Japan.
Summer, from June to August, is warm and pleasantly dry rather than sweltering, with August the warmest month — averaging around 22°C — and far less oppressive than Tokyo or Osaka, with lower humidity and no baiu rainy season. This makes Sapporo a popular summer escape from the muggy heat of southern Japan, though September is its rainiest month.
Winter, from December to March, is long and very cold, driven by frigid Siberian winds crossing the Sea of Japan. These winds pick up moisture and dump prodigious snow on Hokkaido: Sapporo receives around five metres of snowfall in an average winter, among the heaviest of any large city on earth, and the deep, reliable snowpack is the backdrop to its celebrated Snow Festival.
Sapporo receives around 1,100–1,200 mm of precipitation a year, with September the rainiest month; but its defining statistic is snow, with roughly five metres falling each winter as Siberian air crosses the Sea of Japan and rises over Hokkaido's mountains. Live rainfall, humidity, and pressure readings for the city are shown in the panels above.
Sapporo is one of the snowiest large cities in the world, buried each winter by cold Siberian winds that gather moisture crossing the Sea of Japan — the same 'sea-effect' snow that supplies Hokkaido's legendary powder. Its cool, dry summers make it a refuge from the sweltering humidity that grips the rest of Japan in August.
To follow any single measurement in Sapporo more closely, use our live instruments: the online barometer for atmospheric pressure, the thermometer for temperature, the hygrometer for humidity, the anemometer for wind speed, the wind vane for wind direction, and the rain gauge for rainfall.