Johnstown has some of the coldest winter nights among Irish towns
In July the day’s top temperature is typically 19.7°C. Summers stay cool: July afternoons here are cooler than in 67% of Irish towns. Compared with 1981–2010, the average now sits 0.3°C higher. For walks and days out, the stretch from June to September brings highs of 17–20°C.
Met Éireann 1991–2020 averages for the town’s own square kilometre.
A year in Johnstown at a glance
Each month’s typical high and low, in °C.
What stands out about Johnstown’s climate
Compared with Irish towns, with its place among towns and neighbourhoods of 2,500+ in County Kilkenny beside it.
What a year in Johnstown feels like
Typical highs and lows by season and by month, from Met Éireann’s 1991–2020 averages.
About 939 mm of rain a year
October is the wettest month and May the driest. 2nd wettest of 4 towns and neighbourhoods of 2,500+ in County Kilkenny. The wettest month brings about 1.6 times the rain of the driest.
Rain by month
Millimetres
Living with Johnstown’s climate
What the averages mean for a garden, a free afternoon and a bad-weather day.
Highs of 17–27°C with lows of 8°C or more: Jun, Jul, Aug and Sep.
Parks & trails →Averages smooth over storms, floods and heatwaves; Johnstown’s hazards page covers the risks.
Flood & hazards →Met Éireann’s nearest station: Gurteen
Gurteen is 44 km north-west of Johnstown, the nearest of the 25 synoptic stations where Met Éireann records the weather around the clock. The station stands 75 m above sea level; Johnstown’s centre, 139 m.
| Month | High | Low | Rain | Air frosts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 7.9°C | 2.0°C | 87 mm | 7.3 |
| February | 8.5°C | 1.9°C | 74 mm | 7.6 |
| March | 10.2°C | 1.9°C | 73 mm | 8.3 |
| April | 13.1°C | 3.7°C | 54 mm | 3.3 |
| May | 15.8°C | 6.4°C | 60 mm | 0.6 |
| June | 18.3°C | 9.0°C | 74 mm | 0.0 |
| July | 19.4°C | 11.1°C | 78 mm | 0.0 |
| August | 18.6°C | 10.7°C | 90 mm | 0.0 |
| September | 16.8°C | 8.8°C | 70 mm | 0.1 |
| October | 13.7°C | 6.4°C | 91 mm | 1.2 |
| November | 10.0°C | 3.6°C | 106 mm | 4.9 |
| December | 8.2°C | 2.2°C | 98 mm | 8.0 |
| Year | 13.4°C | 5.6°C | 954 mm | 41 |
The table is Gurteen’s own record, averaged over 2008–2020 from its daily readings (ours, not a Met Éireann table). The rest of the page is Met Éireann’s 1 km grid at Johnstown itself: past 40 km, the station’s frosts and sunshine don’t stand for the town.
How Johnstown compares
Against the 321 Irish towns and city neighbourhoods of 2,500 or more, each read from Met Éireann’s grid at its own centre, and its place among towns and neighbourhoods of 2,500+ in County Kilkenny.
Warmer than it used to be
Johnstown’s 1991–2020 average is 0.3°C warmer than 1981–2010’s. The biggest change is in February (+0.4°C).
A year’s rain is 939 mm, up 1% from 927 mm.
Change by month
The two periods share 1991–2010, so the gap is a decade’s step, not the change between two separate 30-year periods.
Johnstown and its neighbours
Ballyragget has the warmest July afternoons (20.2°C, 0.5°C warmer). Choose a measure to recolour the map; tap a town for its climate.
The towns next door, side by side
The nearest towns of 1,000+ within 19 km: a hill, a valley or the sea can make a real difference over a short distance.
| Town | July high | January low | Rain a year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Johnstown | 19.7°C | 1.8°C | 939 mm |
| Urlingford 4.1 km | 19.8°C about the same | 1.9°C about the same | 943 mm |
| Rathdowney 12 km | 19.9°C about the same | 2.0°C about the same | 913 mm |
| Ballyragget 16 km | 20.2°C 0.5°C warmer | 2.2°C about the same | 917 mm |
Each town’s colour is Met Éireann’s 1 km grid at its own centre, so towns a few kilometres apart can differ.
Johnstown weather by month
Average daily high and low, mean temperature and rain, 1991–2020, for the town itself (Met Éireann’s 1 km grid).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Rain |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 8.0°C | 1.8°C | 4.9°C | 89 mm |
| February | 8.6°C | 1.7°C | 5.2°C | 72 mm |
| March | 10.5°C | 2.7°C | 6.6°C | 68 mm |
| April | 13.0°C | 4.1°C | 8.6°C | 63 mm |
| May | 15.8°C | 6.5°C | 11.2°C | 62 mm |
| June | 18.3°C | 9.2°C | 13.8°C | 70 mm |
| July | 19.7°C | 11.1°C | 15.4°C | 68 mm |
| August | 19.4°C | 10.9°C | 15.2°C | 79 mm |
| September | 17.3°C | 8.9°C | 13.1°C | 74 mm |
| October | 13.7°C | 6.3°C | 10.0°C | 100 mm |
| November | 10.3°C | 3.6°C | 7.0°C | 97 mm |
| December | 8.3°C | 2.1°C | 5.2°C | 98 mm |
| Year | 13.6°C | 5.7°C | 9.7°C | 939 mm |
Where Johnstown’s numbers come from
Averages over 30 years, not a forecast.
- Temperature and rain: Met Éireann’s 1991–2020 averages on its 1 km grid (Climatological Notes 22 and 23), read at the grid point nearest Johnstown’s population centre (0.2 km away).
- Weather station: the nearest of Met Éireann’s 25 synoptic stations, Gurteen, 44 km north-west, from Met Éireann’s station list.
- Frosts and degree days: Gurteen’s daily readings, 2008–2020, in the station table only: past 40 km they don’t stand for the town.
- Then and now: Met Éireann’s 1981–2010 averages on the same 1 km grid, at the same point.
- Altitudes: the town’s ground from the Copernicus GLO-30 surface model (a few metres high in built-up places), the station’s from Met Éireann.
- Comparisons: every Irish town and city neighbourhood of 2,500 or more, read the same way; the five city totals are left out.
- Not on this page: sunshine, frost days, warm days, snow and wind. Met Éireann publishes no 1991–2020 grid for them, only tables for its stations, so no town has a figure of its own.
Met Éireann 30-year averages · Met Éireann open data. Under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0).
Questions about Johnstown’s climate
How warm does Johnstown get in summer?
July is the warmest month, with average highs of 19.7°C.
How cold does Johnstown get in winter?
The coldest nights come in February, averaging 1.7°C. Met Éireann counts frosts only at its weather stations, so there is no frost count for the town itself.
How much rain does Johnstown get?
About 939 mm a year, more than 50% of Irish towns. October is the wettest month (100 mm) and May the driest (62 mm).
How sunny is it?
Met Éireann publishes its 1991–2020 sunshine averages for its weather stations only, not on the 1 km grid this page reads, so there is no sunshine figure for Johnstown itself. Its nearest synoptic station is Gurteen.
Are these figures for Johnstown itself?
Yes: they are Met Éireann’s 1991–2020 averages on its 1 km grid, read at Johnstown’s population centre. The nearest of its synoptic weather stations, Gurteen, is 44 km north-west.
Where do these figures come from?
Met Éireann’s 1991–2020 climate averages, published as maps of Ireland in 1 km squares (Climatological Notes 22 and 23); the page reads the square at Johnstown’s population centre. They are 30-year averages, not a forecast.
Copyright Met Éireann. Source: www.met.ie. This data is published under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence. Met Éireann does not accept any liability whatsoever for any error or omission in the data, their availability, or for any loss or damage arising from their use. This material has been modified from the original: TownRatings reads the 1 km grid at each town’s population centre. Today’s forecast for Johnstown →
Contains Central Statistics Office (CSO) data, Census 2022, and Tailte Éireann boundaries (CSO Urban Areas, Small Areas, local electoral areas, constituencies), under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0).