Lake · Finland
Kallavesi
Lake of North Savo region, Finland
- Area
- 1,134km²
- Max depth
- 90m
- Average depth
- 7.8m
- Elevation
- 69m a.s.l.
- Shoreline
- 2,912km
- Volume
- 8.9km³
Kallavesi is a lake in Finland. It covers 1,134 km². On average it is 7.8 m deep, and 90 m at its deepest point. Its surface lies 69 m above sea level.
Plan your visit
Stay, sail and get there
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The water
How warm is Kallavesi?
The water is warmest in July, around 18 °C at the surface, and coldest in January, around 0 °C. It rarely averages 20 °C, but it stays above 17 °C from July to August: brisk, refreshing swimming.
The lake usually freezes over for about 152 days a year, from around 22 November to 22 April.
On the shore, afternoons reach 21 °C on average in July and -8 °C in January. The driest month is March (43 mm of rain), the wettest July (108 mm).
Average surface temperature measured by the Landsat 8 satellite between 2013 and 2021 at the point furthest from the shore (116 readings). Shallow bays and beaches are often warmer.
From above
The whole lake from space
Month by month
The year at the lake, month by month
Not a forecast: these are averages over many years. Water is the 2013–2021 average; air, rain, sun and wind are the 1991–2020 average.
Water: 2013–2021 averageClimate: 1991–2020 average
| Month | Water°C | Water high°C | Air high°C | Air low°C | Rainmm | Rainy daysdays | Sunh/day | Windkm/h |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | Ice | — | -8 | -14 | 53 | 13 | 0.7 | 12 |
| February | Ice | — | -7 | -13 | 44 | 11 | 2.2 | 12 |
| March | Ice | — | -2 | -8 | 43 | 12 | 5.5 | 13 |
| April | Ice | — | 5 | -1 | 51 | 12 | 6.7 | 12 |
| May | 6 | 10 | 14 | 6 | 75 | 13 | 8.0 | 12 |
| June | 14 | 17 | 18 | 11 | 100 | 16 | 8.6 | 11 |
| July | 18 | 18 | 21 | 15 | 108 | 17 | 8.0 | 10 |
| August | 18 | 18 | 19 | 13 | 91 | 16 | 6.5 | 10 |
| September | 14 | 16 | 13 | 8 | 80 | 14 | 3.6 | 11 |
| October | 8 | 12 | 5 | 1 | 73 | 14 | 1.1 | 11 |
| November | 2 | 5 | -1 | -5 | 70 | 14 | 0.0 | 11 |
| December | Ice | — | -5 | -10 | 65 | 15 | 0.1 | 12 |
Water: LakeTEMP (Landsat 8, 2013–2021). Air, rain, sun and wind: NASA POWER, 1991–2020 averages. A rainy day has at least 1 mm of rain. Sunshine hours are derived from measured solar radiation.
Size & depth
How big, how deep
- On average, water stays in the lake for about 18 months before flowing out.
- Its catchment drains 18,721 km² of land.
- About 186 m³ of water flow out every second, on average.
- Its shoreline is 24.4 times longer than a circle of the same area: plenty of bays and inlets.
Around the shore
What's around Kallavesi
Counted within 1.5 km of the shoreline in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit.
- 102beaches and swimming spots
Ahmonlammen uimaranta, Karjalanharjunniemen uimapaikka, Koina uimapaikka, Soidinranta, Pienihiekka and 97 more
- 5campsites
Ruokoniemen leirikeskus, Matkailukeskus Rauhalahti, Camping Karvio, Mansikkaharju lomakeskus
- 1boat hire and water-sport clubs
Kuopion Seikkailukeskus - Saanan sivutoimipiste
- 132marinas and slipways
Muuruveden venesataman veneluiska, Sotkan helmi, Leppävirran veneluiska, Kermankeidas, Vehmersalmen veneluiska and 127 more
- 3ferry piers
- 13viewpoints
Taivaanpankon näköalapaikka, Vanuvuoren näkötorni and 11 more
- 38hotels, B&Bs and chalets
Jahtihovi, Sport & Spa Hotel Vesileppis, Lapland Hotels Kuopio, Scandic Atlas, Hotelli Sandels and 33 more
- —fishing spots
- 155restaurants and cafés
Towns on the shore
- Kuopio125,462 people
- Siilinjärvi21,383 people
- Varkaus19,603 people
- Leppävirta8,974 people
- Juankoski5,514 people
- Maaninka3,638 people
- Heinävesi2,909 people
- Vehmersalmi1,889 people
Nearest airport with scheduled flights: Kuopio Airport (KUO), 44 km in a straight line.
Car hire at JOE airport (Joensuu)Discover Cars · Affiliate linkOpenStreetMap is built by volunteers: when a number is low, it may just mean nobody has mapped it yet.
Recent years
How each month compared
Afternoon high on the shore. The first row is the reference, the 1991–2020 average in °C; the years below show the difference from it: warmer in orange, cooler in blue.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1991–2020 average | -8.5 | -7.0 | -2.0 | 5.3 | 13.7 | 18.0 | 21.3 | 19.0 | 13.4 | 5.1 | -1.1 | -5.4 |
| 2020 | +7.6 | +5.2 | +3.3 | −1.3 | −2.4 | +3.0 | −2.2 | ±0.0 | +0.9 | +2.2 | +2.7 | +1.5 |
| 2021 | −1.8 | −4.1 | −0.5 | +0.6 | −0.7 | +4.7 | +2.8 | −1.3 | −3.0 | +1.9 | +0.2 | −3.9 |
| 2022 | +1.8 | +3.0 | +0.5 | −2.3 | −1.5 | +1.5 | +0.2 | +2.4 | −2.2 | +1.9 | −0.8 | −0.7 |
| 2023 | +3.7 | +2.4 | −0.8 | −1.7 | +0.1 | +1.5 | −1.9 | +1.4 | +3.2 | −1.7 | −4.3 | −4.1 |
| 2024 | −2.3 | +0.5 | +1.2 | −2.8 | +2.0 | +2.9 | +1.2 | +1.7 | +4.0 | +2.5 | +2.0 | +1.4 |
| 2025 | +3.1 | +2.0 | +3.2 | +1.2 | −1.5 | −0.6 | +2.5 | −0.5 | +2.5 | +1.7 | +2.7 | +3.1 |
+1 warmer than usual −1 cooler than usual
About these numbers
| Outline, area, depth, volume | HydroLAKES v1.0 (Messager et al. 2016) · CC BY 4.0 |
|---|---|
| Water temperature and ice | LakeTEMP v1 (Korver et al. 2024), Landsat 8 2013–2021 · CC BY 4.0 |
| Air, rain, sun, wind | NASA POWER, 1991–2020 · public domain |
| Names and description | Wikidata (Q890532) · CC0 |
| Around the shore | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Images | EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons |
Every figure is an average or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.
