Greenland 
In numbers.
Jun–Aug
Best months
15m
Elevation
The water at Qorlortorsuaq, month by month
It roars from May to August.
The fullest months: from May to August, with the snowmelt. The thinnest: from December to March. Below −4 °C on average (from November to March): the falls can partly freeze.
- 21%Jan
- 14%Feb
- 22%Mar
- 40%Apr
- 91%May
- 100%Jun
- 88%Jul
- 79%Aug
- 61%Sep
- 36%Oct
- 35%Nov
- 15%Dec
Best months to go, with plenty of water and pleasant days: from June to August.
Estimate from rain, snowmelt and evaporation month by month (NASA POWER, 1991–2020) around the falls. Dams upstream can change the real flow.
Place in Greenland, Kingdom of Denmark
Qorlortorsuaq is a waterfall in Greenland.
Getting there.
- Qaqortoq Airport (JJU)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 45 km in a straight line
- From June to Augustbest months to go (estimate)
Plan your visit
Stay, explore and get there
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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 11 m in 1.5 km. Here the river runs about 58 m below the lower rim of its valley.
What is around.
- —viewpoints
- —waymarked walking routes
- —car parks
- —swimming spots
- —picnic sites
- —toilets
- —information boards and visitor centres
- —bus stops within 1 km
- 1other named waterfalls within 4 kmQorlortorsuaq
- —caves
- —campsites
- —hotels, B&Bs and huts within 6 km
- —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 | -5 | -4 | -2 | 2 | 6 | 12 | 14 | 13 | 8 | 3 | -2 | -4 |
| Night °C | -12 | -11 | -11 | -5 | 1 | 6 | 8 | 7 | 2 | -4 | -7 | -10 |
| Rain & snow (mm) | 85 | 94 | 78 | 86 | 74 | 91 | 105 | 112 | 142 | 85 | 147 | 103 |
| Wet days | 16 | 14 | 13 | 14 | 14 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 16 | 12 | 15 | 15 |
| Sun h/day | 1.9 | 5.4 | 9.5 | 13.6 | 14.7 | 15.0 | 14.0 | 11.2 | 8.2 | 6.4 | 3.2 | 1.4 |
| Snow on the ground (cm) | 119 | 143 | 151 | 147 | 97 | 61 | 38 | 22 | 34 | 47 | 73 | 107 |
Long-term averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, with temperatures carried to the height of the falls (15 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 | 96% | 47% | 172% | 94% | 127% | 211% | 102% | 109% | 135% | 152% | 167% | 139% |
| 2021 | 112% | 23% | 149% | 57% | 81% | 176% | 135% | 110% | 62% | 20% | 228% | 101% |
| 2022 | 279% | 82% | 78% | 55% | 93% | 138% | 61% | 175% | 120% | 131% | 39% | 39% |
| 2023 | 97% | 119% | 16% | 30% | 197% | 95% | 59% | 53% | 64% | 67% | 111% | 142% |
| 2024 | 98% | 114% | 64% | 80% | 47% | 231% | 137% | 111% | 78% | 92% | 55% | 149% |
| 2025 | 78% | 85% | 117% | 111% | 98% | 81% | 83% | 69% | 69% | 103% | 45% | 84% |
130% wetter than usual 70% drier than usual
About these numbers
| Names, height, width, river | Wikidata (Q2714832) · 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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