Climate and average weather in Watsa

In Watsa, the weather is hot, wet, and partly cloudy and remarkably steady, with daytime highs holding near hot levels all year. The wettest stretch peaks around October.

Best: late November to late December

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Watsa typically varies from 18°C to 32°C, and is rarely below 17°C or above 35°C. February is the hottest month of the year, while July is the coldest.

Based on the travel score, the best times of year to visit Watsa for warm-weather activities are from early January to late January and late November to late December.

Hottest
Feb
32°
Coldest
Jul
18°
Wettest
Oct
280 mm
Driest
Jan
20 mm
Rain / yr
1979 mm
242 wet days
Daylight
11.8–12.2 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
1,018 m
3.0°N
Clearest
Jan
60% cloud

Watsa is place in Haut-Uele, Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Air quality: WHO Ambient Air Quality Database. Density & description: Wikidata (CC0), GeoNames.

Watsa weather by month, at a glance

The whole year in one picture — sky, rain, humidity, temperature and travel score. Click any band to jump to its full chart.

Each stripe is one measure across the whole year, stacked so a single day reads top to bottom. The sky band runs overcast grey on top down to clear blue at the base — more blue means sunnier — followed by the rainfall curve, the humidity band, a temperature strip that tints each stretch of the year by how warm its average high is, and the travel-score line at the foot. Scan straight down any date to read that day across every measure at once; the score climbs highest around late November to late December.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

Daily average highs and lows in Watsa, from 1991–2020 of climate data. The shaded bands show the range most days fall in — 10th to 90th percentile.

Temperatures in Watsa stay fairly even through the year, without a distinct hot or cool season. The warmest month is February, with an average high of 32°C and low of 20°C; the coolest is July, with an average low of 18°C and high of 26°C.

Days typically run about 9°C warmer than nights, with the widest day–night swing (around 12°C) in February.

15°20°25°30°35°40°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan3120
Feb3220
Mar3120
Apr2920
May2820
Jun2719
Jul2618
Aug2719
Sep2719
Oct2719
Nov2819
Dec3019

How hot and cold Watsa really feels

Feels-like highFeels-like lowactual air temp

The felt-temperature range through the year — heat index on the day's high (summer humidity), wind chill on the night's low (winter wind). The dashed lines are the plain thermometer; the gap is how much hotter or colder it really feels.

On the hottest afternoons, once humidity is folded in, Watsa feels like about 32°C (around February 6). About 32 days a year carry some heat stress, peaking in February.

15°20°25°30°35°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Feels-like high (°C)Air high (°C)Feels-like low (°C)Air low (°C)
Jan31312020
Feb32322020
Mar32312020
Apr30292020
May29282020
Jun27271919
Jul26261818
Aug27271819
Sep29271919
Oct28271919
Nov29281919
Dec30301919

Average hourly temperature in Watsa

A compact picture of the whole year, hour by hour: each column is a day, each row an hour, and the color is the modeled average temperature. Darker overlays mark night, lighter ones the civil-twilight hours around sunrise and sunset.

Read left to right for the day of the year and top to bottom for the hour of the day; the color is the modeled temperature, cool blues through to hot reds on the same scale as the other charts. A vertical slice is a single day's swing — coolest just before dawn, warmest in the mid-afternoon — while a horizontal slice follows one hour across the seasons. The darker overlay marks night and the lighter one the twilight around sunrise and sunset. Colors run warmest on February afternoons, near 32°C, and coldest before dawn in July, near 18°C.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec12 AM2 AM4 AM6 AM8 AM10 AM12 PM2 PM4 PM6 PM8 PM10 PM12 AM

Watsa weather by month

Every month at a glance. Click a month for its detailed page.

MonthHigh / Low (°C)Rainfall (mm)Wet daysDaylight (hours)Travel score
Jan31° / 20°203.811.84.9
Feb32° / 20°466.911.94.1
Mar31° / 20°12916.5123.8
Apr29° / 20°20823.812.13.6
May28° / 20°21326.512.13.8
Jun27° / 19°1922612.23.9
Jul26° / 18°2062712.24.0
Aug27° / 19°2262812.13.8
Sep27° / 19°22727.7123.7
Oct27° / 19°28028.611.93.6
Nov28° / 19°19321.111.94.4
Dec30° / 19°406.611.85.5

Chance of rain

How likely it is to rain on a typical day, and how that shifts across the wetter and drier seasons.

Watsa gets about 1979 mm of precipitation a year. On a typical day the chance of rain is very wet, but that rises and falls sharply with the seasons.

The wetter season lasts 7.7 months, from around Mar 29 to Nov 18, peaking in September at about 93% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Jan 3.

October is the wettest month by volume, with 280 mm over about 29 wet days; January is the driest, with 20 mm.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdrierwetterdriermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetSep 17 · 93%Jan 3 · 9%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan124
Feb257
Mar5417
Apr7924
May8527
Jun8726
Jul8727
Aug9128
Sep9228
Oct9229
Nov7021
Dec227

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Watsa collects about 1979 mm of rain across 242 wet days — roughly 165 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. October is the wettest month with 280 mm, while January is the driest at just 20 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 37% of the year’s total.

050100150200250300JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec204612920821319220622622728019340
Rainfall (mm)Rain days
Jan204
Feb467
Mar12917
Apr20824
May21327
Jun19226
Jul20627
Aug22628
Sep22728
Oct28029
Nov19321
Dec407

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

How often the daytime sky is clear, partly cloudy or overcast.

In Watsa, the average share of the sky covered by clouds shows significant seasonal variation over the course of the year.

The clearer part of the year begins around November 19 and lasts for 3.8 months, ending around March 14. The clearest month is January, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 48% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around June 9 and lasts for 5.4 months, ending around November 18. The cloudiest month is October, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 88% of the time.

0%100%10%90%20%80%30%70%40%60%50%50%60%40%70%30%80%20%90%10%100%0%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecDec 26 · 52%Oct 17 · 10%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastclearercloudierclearer
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan4852
Feb4159
Mar2773
Apr1783
May2476
Jun2674
Jul2476
Aug2080
Sep1882
Oct1288
Nov2575
Dec4753

Daylight, sunrise and sunset

DaylightNight

Hours of daylight through the year, with sunrise and sunset times.

The gold band is daylight — sunrise runs along its lower edge, sunset along the upper — so it widens toward summer and pinches toward winter, with night the dark area above and below. Close to the equator, Watsa barely changes through the year: days stay near 12 h 12 min of light in every season.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan11.86:166:06
Feb11.96:196:13
Mar12.06:126:11
Apr12.16:006:04
May12.15:546:02
Jun12.25:576:07
Jul12.26:036:12
Aug12.16:036:09
Sep12.05:565:57
Oct11.95:495:45
Nov11.95:515:43
Dec11.86:035:53

Sunny days

How many genuinely sunny days each month brings — days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — banded into plain-language zones.

Watsa averages about 3 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 1 and 10 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 4.0 months, from around Nov 19 to Mar 19. The sunniest month is December, with roughly 8 sunny days (mixed).

The greyest month is October, down near 1 sunny days — about 92% fewer than the December peak.

051015JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecsunniergreyersunniergloomymixedDec 2910 daysOct 101 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan9Mixed
Feb6Gloomy
Mar4Gloomy
Apr2Gloomy
May3Gloomy
Jun2Gloomy
Jul2Gloomy
Aug1Gloomy
Sep1Gloomy
Oct1Gloomy
Nov3Gloomy
Dec8Mixed

Humidity comfort

DryComfortableHumidMuggyOppressiveMiserable

Share of days at each humidity comfort level, based on the dew point — the measure that tracks how muggy it actually feels.

Humidity comfort is graded by the dew point — the temperature at which the air would be fully saturated — because it tracks how muggy it actually feels far better than relative humidity does. A low dew point feels dry and crisp; a high one feels sticky and oppressive no matter the reading on a humidity gauge.

In Watsa, how humid it feels changes dramatically over the year.

The more humid part of the year lasts 8.9 months, from around March 11 to December 6. The muggiest month is April, when the air feels humid, muggy or worse about 100% of the time.

The most comfortable stretch runs from around December 7 to March 10, and January is the most comfortable month — the air is dry or comfortable 55% of the time.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecJan 16 · 57%Apr 16 · 0%oppressivehumidmuggycomfortabledrycomfortablehumidcomfortable
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)Humid (%)Muggy (%)Oppressive (%)
Jan292632130
Feb251929270
Mar3621691
Apr003907
May000946
Jun000982
Jul002980
Aug002980
Sep0001000
Oct001990
Nov0212860
Dec71941330

Wind

Average wind speed through the year, banded into plain-language speed zones so a number reads as 'breezy' or 'calm' without knowing the scale.

This is the average sustained wind speed at the standard 10 metres above open ground — the steady flow a weather station reports, not the sharper gusts that come and go, which can run half again as fast. It's the number that says whether a place is generally breezy or calm.

Across the year, average wind speed in Watsa is typically calm, near 6 km/h, and varies little with the seasons.

The windier part of the year lasts 4.9 months, from around Nov 21 to Apr 19. The windiest month is February, averaging about 8 km/h (calm).

The calmer part of the year runs from around Apr 20 to Nov 20, with June the calmest month at about 5 km/h.

051015JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwindiercalmerwindiercalmlight breezeFeb 15 · 8 km/hJun 29 · 4 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan7calm
Feb8calm
Mar7calm
Apr6calm
May5calm
Jun5calm
Jul4calm
Aug5calm
Sep5calm
Oct5calm
Nov6calm
Dec7calm

Best time to visit Watsa

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

To characterize how pleasant the weather is in Watsa throughout the year, we compute two travel scores — one for general sightseeing, one for beach and pool weather.

Around late November, Watsa is still near the start of its best-weather window — great conditions with the peak-season crowds not yet at full swing.

Inferred from the travel-score curve; month-by-month visitor numbers are a planned addition.

The travel score favors clear, rainless days with daytime highs between 18°C and 28°C. Based on this score, the best time of year to visit Watsa for general outdoor tourist activities is from late November to late January, with a peak score in the third week of December.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationDec 18 · 5.7

The travel score (filled area), and its constituents: the temperature score (red line), the cloud cover score (blue line), and the precipitation score (green line).

Travel score (0–10)Rating
Jan4.9fair
Feb4.1fair
Mar3.8fair
Apr3.6fair
May3.8fair
Jun3.9fair
Jul4.0fair
Aug3.8fair
Sep3.6fair
Oct3.6fair
Nov4.4fair
Dec5.5fair

The beach/pool score favors clear, rainless days with daytime highs between 24°C and 34°C. Based on this score, the best time of year to visit Watsa for hot-weather activities is from late November to late February, with a peak score in the last week of December.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationDec 27 · 7.8

The beach/pool score (filled area), and its constituents: the temperature score (red line), the cloud cover score (blue line), and the precipitation score (green line).

What to pack for Watsa, by month

EssentialRecommendedOptional

Month by month, what's worth putting in the bag — from the temperature range, rain chance, sun and wind. Tap a month for a quick packing note.

Watsa packs about the same all year — highs hold near 32°C. Across the year the things worth having are light clothes, sun protection and rain gear.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In February, Watsa sees daytime highs around 32°C and nights near 20°C. Pack light clothes. Worth having: sun protection. About 7 days see rain.

UV index (midday) in Watsa by month

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Clear-sky midday UV index through the year, shaded by the WHO exposure levels — how much sun protection each month calls for.

Under clear skies, the midday UV index in Watsa peaks around March 22 at about 14 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near December 15 at about 10 (extreme).

The index reaches 3 or more — the level where the WHO recommends sun protection — every month of the year.

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecExtremeMar 22UV 14Dec 15UV 10
UV index (midday)Level
Jan11Extreme
Feb12Extreme
Mar14Extreme
Apr14Extreme
May12Extreme
Jun10Extreme
Jul10Extreme
Aug12Extreme
Sep13Extreme
Oct13Extreme
Nov11Extreme
Dec10Extreme

Average hourly UV index in Watsa

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Modeled clear-sky UV for every hour of every day — when in the day sun protection actually matters.

The whole year hour by hour: each column is a day, each row an hour, and the color is the modeled clear-sky UV index — the midday peak scaled down as the sun sits lower in the sky. Darker overlays mark night, lighter ones the civil-twilight hours around sunrise and sunset.

UV falls off far faster than brightness as the sun drops, so even in March the burn window is concentrated in the middle of the day: about 8 hours a day reach index 3 (protection recommended), and 6.5 hours reach 6 or more. Mornings and late afternoons stay comparatively gentle year round.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec12 AM2 AM4 AM6 AM8 AM10 AM12 PM2 PM4 PM6 PM8 PM10 PM12 AM
UV ≥ 3 (h/day)UV ≥ 6 (h/day)
Jan7.55.5
Feb86
Mar86.5
Apr86.5
May86
Jun7.55.5
Jul7.55
Aug86
Sep86
Oct86
Nov7.55.5
Dec7.55

Air quality in Watsa by month

GoodModeratePoorUnhealthyVery unhealthy

Average fine-particle pollution (PM2.5) through the year — so you can see which months the air is worst, not just the yearly average.

Air quality in Watsa is worst in February — around 107 µg/m³ PM2.5 (unhealthy), about 12.0× the cleanest month (October, 9 µg/m³).

Modeled monthly averages (CAMS reanalysis, 2015–2024).

0306090120JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecUnhealthyModerateGoodModerateGoodModerateFeb 12102 µg/m³Oct 119 µg/m³
PM2.5 (µg/m³)Level
Jan78Unhealthy
Feb107Unhealthy
Mar43Poor
Apr12Good
May9Good
Jun16Moderate
Jul18Moderate
Aug13Moderate
Sep10Good
Oct9Good
Nov14Moderate
Dec42Poor
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free dayFrost-free year round

Watsa is frost-free year round — even the coldest nights rarely reach freezing, so there is no start or end to the growing season.

0%25%50%75%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecfrost-free year round
Frost-free chance (%)Frost nights
Jan1000
Feb1000
Mar1000
Apr1000
May1000
Jun1000
Jul1000
Aug1000
Sep1000
Oct1000
Nov1000
Dec1000

Growing degree days

Degree days (base 10°C)Frost-free shaded

Growing degree days tally heat above 10°C: each day adds however many degrees its average temperature runs over that threshold, and cold days add nothing. Watsa banks about 5,073 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around February.

02,0004,000JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°C·days)
Jan479
Feb451
Mar482
Apr433
May427
Jun388
Jul386
Aug391
Sep388
Oct402
Nov403
Dec445

Solar energy

Average daily shortwave solar energy reaching the ground, banded into brightness zones so the number means something at a glance.

Solar energy is how much sunlight actually reaches the ground each day, measured in kilowatt-hours per square metre (kWh/m²) — the combined effect of how long the sun is up, how high it climbs, and how much cloud gets in the way. It's the raw fuel a solar panel has to work with: for scale, 1 kWh/m² a day is dim and wintry, while 7+ is desert-bright.

Watsa receives about 5.4 kWh/m² a day of solar energy — bright — and it stays remarkably steady, holding between 4.9 and 6.0 kWh/m² all year. For solar panels, output here is a flat line, not a seasonal wave.

01234567JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmoderatebrightintenseFeb 116.0 kWhJun 224.9 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan5.8Bright
Feb6.0Bright
Mar5.8Bright
Apr5.5Bright
May5.4Bright
Jun5.0Bright
Jul5.0Bright
Aug5.2Bright
Sep5.4Bright
Oct5.1Bright
Nov5.3Bright
Dec5.6Bright

Where is Watsa?

Watsa sits at 3.0°N, 29.5°E, 1,018 m above sea level, in Democratic Republic of the Congo. The nearest listed city is Mangbwalu, 134 km away.

MangbwaluAruAruaKobokoDjuguYeiPaidhaBunia

Topography around Watsa

How much the land rises and falls, and what covers it, within 3, 16 and 80 km of Watsa.

Within 3 km, the terrain around Watsa has significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 271 m around an average of 970 m above sea level; within 16 km, significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 434 m; within 80 km, large variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 777 m.

The land around Watsa is covered by trees (69%) and grassland (21%) within 3 km, trees (78%) within 16 km, and trees (73%) within 80 km.

3 km
271 m
16 km
434 m
80 km
777 m
treesshrubsgrasslandartificial surfaces
Nearby: Mangbwalu 134 km · Aru 146 km · Arua 153 km · Koboko 164 km · Djugu 164 km · Yei 173 km · Paidha 175 km · Bunia 183 km

Democratic Republic of the Congo travel facts

Travel advisory
Level 4
Do Not Travel
Power plugs
Type C / E
220 V · 50 Hz
Prices
≈ 42% of US
price level, 2025
GDP per capita
$807
2025
Happiness
3.8 / 10
World Happiness, 2025
Safe drinking water
12%
of population, 2024
Road deaths
34.9
per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group
Low
World Bank
English
Very low
EF EPI 400

Sources: World Bank, US State Department, World Happiness Report, WHO/UNICEF, EF EPI, CIA World Factbook.

Data sources

Temperature, precipitation, cloud, humidity, wind and solar figures are a 1991–2020 climatology for Watsa (3.0372°, 29.5355°, elevation 1,018 m), computed from hourly ERA5 reanalysis — contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information. Sun figures are astronomical calculations, not observations. City data © GeoNames, CC BY 4.0. Map outlines from Natural Earth (public domain); interactive map © Google. UV index is derived from CAMS (Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service) clear-sky UV data — contains modified Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service information. Monthly air-quality (PM2.5) seasonality is from the CAMS EAC4 reanalysis (Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service), scaled to the WHO annual mean where available. Topography is sampled from the Copernicus DEM GLO-90 elevation model (© ESA/Airbus) and ESA WorldCover 2021 land cover (CC BY 4.0).