Norway 
In numbers.
62m³/s
Average flow
estimate
Apr–May
Sep–Oct
Best months
130m
Elevation
The water at Kistefoss, month by month
It roars from April to November.
The fullest months: from April to November. Below −4 °C on average (from December to February): the falls can partly freeze.
- 80 m³/sJan
- 21 m³/sFeb
- 56 m³/sMar
- 149 m³/sApr
- 158 m³/sMay
- 102 m³/sJun
- 86 m³/sJul
- 121 m³/sAug
- 119 m³/sSep
- 129 m³/sOct
- 100 m³/sNov
- 78 m³/sDec
From about 21 m³/s in the lowest month to 158 m³/s in the highest. Best months to go, with plenty of water and pleasant days: from April to May and from September to October.
Estimate: the timing comes from rain, snowmelt and evaporation (NASA POWER, 1991–2020); the amounts from the river model of HydroATLAS (WaterGAP, 1971–2000). Dams upstream can change the real flow.
Kistefoss is a waterfall in Norway.
Getting there.
- Jevnakernearest town · 1.9 km in a straight line
- Parking 130 m awaynearest car park in OpenStreetMap, straight line
- Oslo-Gardermoen International Airport (OSL)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 40 km in a straight lineCar hire at OSL airport (Oslo)Discover Cars · Affiliate link↗
- From April to May and from September to Octoberbest months to go (estimate)
Plan your visit
Stay, explore and get there
Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.
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 16 m in 3.0 km. Here the river runs about 61 m below the lower rim of its valley.
What is around.
- —viewpoints
- 1waymarked walking routesGudbrandsdalsleden
- 28car parks
- —swimming spots
- 6picnic sites
- 2toilets
- 26information boards and visitor centres
- 9bus stops within 1 km
- 2other named waterfalls within 4 kmViulfoss, Bergerfoss
- —caves
- —campsites
- 1hotels, B&Bs and huts within 6 kmThorbjørnrud Hotel
- 3restaurants 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).
Towns nearby
- Jevnaker1.9 km in a straight line
- Hønefoss8.9 km in a straight line
- Roa15 km in a straight line
- Grua16 km in a straight line
- Vik17 km in a straight line
- Jaren22 km in a straight line
Weather
The weather, month by month.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afternoon °C | -3 | -2 | 2 | 9 | 15 | 19 | 21 | 20 | 15 | 8 | 2 | -2 |
| Night °C | -8 | -8 | -5 | 1 | 6 | 10 | 13 | 12 | 7 | 2 | -2 | -6 |
| Rain & snow (mm) | 78 | 60 | 56 | 61 | 92 | 96 | 112 | 122 | 96 | 104 | 94 | 78 |
| Wet days | 13 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 13 | 14 | 17 | 16 | 12 | 15 | 15 | 14 |
| Sun h/day | 0.6 | 2.4 | 5.2 | 6.6 | 7.3 | 8.6 | 7.6 | 6.2 | 4.7 | 2.4 | 0.8 | 0.4 |
| Snow on the ground (cm) | 25 | 32 | 27 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 14 | 21 |
Long-term averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, with temperatures carried to the height of the falls (130 m) at −6.5 °C per 1,000 m. Not a forecast.
Photos
Through visitors' eyes.
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 | 106% | 118% | 131% | 83% | 46% | 126% | 116% | 39% | 115% | 174% | 103% | 229% |
| 2021 | 94% | 64% | 88% | 44% | 132% | 75% | 120% | 23% | 88% | 135% | 79% | 46% |
| 2022 | 71% | 156% | 20% | 31% | 69% | 100% | 62% | 55% | 118% | 99% | 154% | 111% |
| 2023 | 158% | 96% | 141% | 206% | 29% | 72% | 156% | 225% | 120% | 45% | 98% | 92% |
| 2024 | 116% | 192% | 204% | 122% | 78% | 115% | 134% | 132% | 118% | 89% | 46% | 116% |
| 2025 | 149% | 67% | 51% | 64% | 60% | 95% | 118% | 76% | 155% | 135% | 130% | 130% |
130% wetter than usual 70% drier than usual
Compare with the waterfalls nearby.
Kistefoss
Norway
- —Height
- 62 m³/sAverage flow
- Apr–May, Sep–OctBest months
About these numbers
| Names, height, width, river | Wikidata (Q11980793) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| River flow and catchment | HydroATLAS / RiverATLAS v1.0 (Linke et al. 2019) · CC BY 4.0 |
| 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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