Which month has the most going on?

It depends on your target. May and September have the most going on. The weather tool below shows conditions for any month.

How exact are these months?

They are a guide. Flowering and bird passage shift each year, so ask the park office before you go.

Kazakhstan nature calendar: month by month guide

Something is happening in Kazakhstan’s wild places every month: seals pup on Caspian ice in winter, tulips open in the south in spring and larches turn gold in the Altai in autumn. The table lists a main event for each month, its source and where to go. Treat the months as a guide, as dates move every year.

The twelve months

Month	What happens	Where	Source
January	Seal pups on the ice (late in the month)	Northern Caspian, not approachable	Our place page
February	Seal pups; snow leopards lower in winter	Caspian, Ile-Alatau	Our place page
March	First tulips, apricot blossom, marmots wake	Aksu-Zhabagly, Shymkent, Korgalzhyn	The Astana Times, Tengrinews, Kazpravda
April	Tulips, saiga count, apple blossom begins	Altyn-Emel, Ile-Alatau	The Astana Times, Kazinform, Tengrinews
May	Poppies, saiga calving, bird passage	Poppy fields, Akzhaiyk	Zakon.kz, Tengrinews
June	Tulip season ends	Mountains, north	The Astana Times
July	Sunflowers begin; marmots go to sleep (late)	North, East Kazakhstan	Tengrinews, Kazpravda
August	Sunflowers finish	North Kazakhstan	Tengrinews
September	Autumn bird passage, golden ash grove	Akzhaiyk, Charyn	Our place pages
October	Golden forests, flamingos through Mangystau (early)	Kolsai, Markakol	Informburo, We Project, The Astana Times
November	Lake Zaysan starts to freeze	Zaysan	Our place page
December	Winter season in the mountains	Where to go in winter	Our place page

“Our place page” means the source is cited on the linked page.

Check the weather for your month

The tool below shows climate norms by region and well-rated places for the month you pick. It covers weather and places, not wildlife events, so use it with the table above.

Temperature refers to one reference point per region, and conditions vary within it. The season rating comes from each place's page and shows how suitable it is for a trip, not what the weather will be.

Normals by region: day / night, °C
Month	NorthKokshetau	CentreKaraganda	SouthAlmaty	WestAktau	EastOskemen	MountainsShymbulak
January	−12 / −19	−11 / −18	0 / −8	3 / −3	−10 / −20	−8 / −13
February	−10 / −17	−9 / −17	3 / −6	4 / −3	−7 / −19	−6 / −12
March	−1 / −10	−1 / −9	10 / 1	10 / 2	2 / −10	0 / −7
April	12 / 1	13 / 2	17 / 7	17 / 8	16 / 2	5 / −2
May	20 / 6	20 / 7	22 / 11	25 / 16	21 / 6	10 / 1
June	24 / 12	25 / 13	26 / 15	31 / 21	27 / 13	14 / 5
July	24 / 14	26 / 14	29 / 17	33 / 23	28 / 15	17 / 8
August	24 / 12	25 / 12	28 / 16	32 / 22	27 / 12	16 / 7
September	17 / 6	18 / 6	23 / 12	26 / 16	21 / 6	12 / 3
October	8 / 0	9 / −1	16 / 5	18 / 9	12 / 1	5 / −4
November	−3 / −9	−3 / −10	7 / −2	9 / 2	0 / −9	−3 / −10
December	−9 / −16	−8 / −16	1 / −6	4 / −1	−6 / −16	−6 / −12

Source: Open-Meteo, ERA5 reanalysis, 2011–2020.

For the full picture, read when to go to Kazakhstan.

Almaty Region in spring: field of wild poppies with mountains on the horizon — Poppies in early May: a short season of about two weeks. Никита Михайловский · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0

Planning tips

Allow a week of margin rather than aiming for mid-month. For a strict reserve, arrange your visit well ahead: see nature reserves. For specific targets, go to the topic page: saiga, flamingos, tulips.

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