Iceland 
In numbers.
502m
Elevation
The water at Gljúfrasmiður, month by month
It roars from May to June.
The fullest months: from May to June, with the snowmelt. The thinnest: from January to March. Below −4 °C on average (from December to March): the falls can partly freeze.
- 20%Jan
- 14%Feb
- 20%Mar
- 51%Apr
- 100%May
- 87%Jun
- 61%Jul
- 44%Aug
- 38%Sep
- 42%Oct
- 38%Nov
- 29%Dec
Estimate from rain, snowmelt and evaporation month by month (NASA POWER, 1991–2020) around the falls. Dams upstream can change the real flow.
Waterfall of Iceland
Gljúfrasmiður is a waterfall in Iceland.
Getting there.
- Egilsstaðir Airport (EGS)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 85 km in a straight lineCar hire at EGS airport (Egilsstaðir)Discover Cars · Affiliate link↗
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Seen from the sky.
8 × 8 km of cloud-free satellite image, with what OpenStreetMap knows around the falls.
N
2 km
Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 8 × 8 km, north up. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.
The line follows the river as mapped in OpenStreetMap; heights from the 30 m Copernicus model, which smooths narrow drops — the published height of the falls is the one above.
Around the falls the river drops 21 m in 3.6 km.
What is around.
- 1viewpoints
- —waymarked walking routes
- —car parks
- —swimming spots
- —picnic sites
- —toilets
- —information boards and visitor centres
- —bus stops within 1 km
- —other named waterfalls within 4 km
- —caves
- 1campsitesHerðubreiðarlindir
- 1hotels, B&Bs and huts within 6 kmÞorsteinsskáli
- —restaurants and cafés within 3 km
Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit, up to 2 km around the falls (unless noted). A low number may just mean nobody has mapped it yet. © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).
Weather
The weather, month by month.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afternoon °C | -2 | -2 | -2 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1 | -1 | -2 |
| Night °C | -8 | -8 | -7 | -5 | -2 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 1 | -3 | -6 | -8 |
| Rain & snow (mm) | 79 | 66 | 71 | 63 | 67 | 57 | 83 | 80 | 90 | 95 | 95 | 90 |
| Wet days | 18 | 16 | 17 | 16 | 15 | 15 | 17 | 16 | 17 | 20 | 19 | 18 |
| Sun h/day | 0.7 | 2.2 | 5.7 | 9.6 | 10.9 | 11.3 | 7.8 | 6.3 | 4.4 | 2.9 | 1.2 | 0.4 |
| Snow on the ground (cm) | 69 | 84 | 92 | 76 | 32 | 8 | 3 | 4 | 11 | 18 | 33 | 51 |
Long-term averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, with temperatures carried to the height of the falls (502 m) at −6.5 °C per 1,000 m. Not a forecast.
Recent years
Wet years and dry years
Rain of each month as a share of the 1991–2020 average. A wet season above 100 % usually means a fuller waterfall.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 94% | 142% | 90% | 95% | 43% | 63% | 85% | 54% | 121% | 119% | 97% | 177% |
| 2021 | 136% | 86% | 125% | 48% | 60% | 128% | 46% | 38% | 131% | 189% | 112% | 59% |
| 2022 | 62% | 134% | 64% | 89% | 151% | 183% | 109% | 127% | 79% | 136% | 143% | 95% |
| 2023 | 103% | 50% | 116% | 64% | 57% | 81% | 118% | 54% | 116% | 118% | 81% | 56% |
| 2024 | 54% | 85% | 146% | 117% | 52% | 175% | 85% | 178% | 72% | 89% | 64% | 45% |
| 2025 | 134% | 79% | 54% | 100% | 56% | 261% | 57% | 65% | 127% | 67% | 51% | 79% |
130% wetter than usual 70% drier than usual
Compare with the waterfalls nearby.
Gljúfrasmiður
Iceland
- —Height
- —Average flow
- —Best months
About these numbers
| Names, height, width, river | Wikidata (Q20573644) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| Climate | NASA POWER, 1991–2020 |
| Relief, river profile, 3D model | Copernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA |
| Paths, viewpoints, parking | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Images | EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons |
Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.
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