Climate and average weather in Roseau

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

Best: early January to mid June

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Roseau typically varies from 24°C to 28°C, and is rarely below 23°C or above 28°C. September is the hottest month of the year, while February is the coldest.

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

Hottest
Sep
28°
Coldest
Feb
24°
Wettest
Oct
118 mm
Driest
Feb
19 mm
Rain / yr
744 mm
157 wet days
Daylight
11.1–12.9 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
11 m
15.3°N
Clearest
Feb
27% cloud

Roseau is capital of Dominica.

Density
3,069/km²
people per km²

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

Roseau 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 early January to mid June.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

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

Temperatures in Roseau stay fairly even through the year, without a distinct hot or cool season. The warmest month is September, with an average high of 28°C and low of 26°C; the coolest is February, with an average low of 24°C and high of 25°C.

Days typically run about 1°C warmer than nights year-round.

18°20°22°24°26°28°30°32°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan2624
Feb2524
Mar2524
Apr2625
May2725
Jun2726
Jul2726
Aug2826
Sep2826
Oct2826
Nov2726
Dec2625

Average hourly temperature in Roseau

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 September afternoons, near 28°C, and coldest before dawn in February, near 24°C.

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

Roseau 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
Jan26° / 24°321211.27.1
Feb25° / 24°19711.57.8
Mar25° / 24°196.911.97.8
Apr26° / 25°298.312.37.2
May27° / 25°4410.212.76.7
Jun27° / 26°4710.512.96.4
Jul27° / 26°7616.412.85.8
Aug28° / 26°9918.412.55.4
Sep28° / 26°11317.112.15.3
Oct28° / 26°11819.111.75.2
Nov27° / 26°10117.111.35.7
Dec26° / 25°4814.211.16.4

Chance of rain

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

Roseau gets about 744 mm of precipitation a year. On a typical day the chance of rain is often wet, but that rises and falls sharply with the seasons.

The wetter season lasts 6.3 months, from around Jul 3 to Jan 11, peaking in October at about 63% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Mar 22.

October is the wettest month by volume, with 118 mm over about 19 wet days; February is the driest, with 19 mm.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdrierwettermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetOct 4 · 63%Mar 22 · 22%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan3812
Feb257
Mar227
Apr288
May3210
Jun3711
Jul5216
Aug5918
Sep5817
Oct6119
Nov5717
Dec4614

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Roseau collects about 744 mm of rain across 157 wet days — roughly 62 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. October is the wettest month with 118 mm, while February is the driest at just 19 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 45% of the year’s total.

0255075100125150JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec321919294447769911311810148
Rainfall (mm)Rain days
Jan3212
Feb197
Mar197
Apr298
May4410
Jun4711
Jul7616
Aug9918
Sep11317
Oct11819
Nov10117
Dec4814

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Roseau, 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 18 and lasts for 5.0 months, ending around April 19. The clearest month is January, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 92% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around July 27 and lasts for 3.7 months, ending around November 17. The cloudiest month is September, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 49% 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%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecJan 23 · 94%Sep 25 · 47%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastclearercloudierclearer
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan928
Feb919
Mar8515
Apr7228
May6139
Jun5446
Jul6832
Aug6535
Sep5149
Oct5545
Nov7030
Dec8416

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. The longest day, around June 3, brings about 12 h 54 min of light; the shortest, around January 1, only 11 h 06 min — a swing of roughly 1 h 48 min.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan11.26:395:50
Feb11.56:356:05
Mar11.96:186:12
Apr12.35:556:16
May12.75:416:23
Jun12.95:396:33
Jul12.85:466:36
Aug12.55:546:25
Sep12.15:576:02
Oct11.76:015:40
Nov11.36:135:29
Dec11.16:295:35

Sunny days

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

Roseau averages about 17 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 10 and 26 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 4.9 months, from around Nov 18 to Apr 16. The sunniest month is January, with roughly 25 sunny days (brilliant).

The greyest month is September, down near 11 sunny days — about 57% fewer than the January peak.

051015202530JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecsunniergreyersunniergloomymixedbrightbrilliantJan 2126 daysSep 2010 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan26Brilliant
Feb23Brilliant
Mar23Bright
Apr17Bright
May14Mixed
Jun12Mixed
Jul16Bright
Aug15Mixed
Sep11Mixed
Oct12Mixed
Nov17Bright
Dec22Bright

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.

Roseau is humid all year round — on a typical day the air feels at least humid, and there is no real dry season to wait for.

The stickiest month is January, when it feels muggy, oppressive or miserable about 98% of the time. Even in January, the mildest month, the air is dry or comfortable only 0% of the time.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecmiserableoppressivemuggy
Humid (%)Muggy (%)Oppressive (%)Miserable (%)
Jan250480
Feb470260
Mar461350
Apr026730
May03933
Jun00928
Jul008812
Aug007426
Sep007228
Oct008317
Nov04915
Dec122770

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 Roseau is typically breezy, near 27 km/h, and varies moderately with the seasons.

The windier part of the year lasts 2.3 months, from around May 29 to Aug 7. The windiest month is June, averaging about 29 km/h (windy).

The calmer part of the year runs from around Aug 8 to Dec 2, with October the calmest month at about 23 km/h.

05101520253035JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDeccalmerwindiercalmercalmlight breezebreezywindyJun 27 · 30 km/hOct 9 · 22 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan30windy
Feb29windy
Mar27breezy
Apr26breezy
May26breezy
Jun29windy
Jul29breezy
Aug26breezy
Sep23breezy
Oct23breezy
Nov25breezy
Dec28breezy

Hazard calendar for Roseau

In seasonPeak

When the seasonal hazards worth planning around — the rainy season, tropical-cyclone risk and dust haze — are active through the year.

Roseau sits in the Atlantic hurricane belt; the season peaks August–October.

Roseau's rainy season runs July–November, when most of the year's rain falls.

Roseau sees seasonal dust haze (June–July), heaviest in June.

Atlantic hurricane
Rainy season
Dust
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec

Best time to visit Roseau

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

Around early June, Roseau is still near the tail of its best-weather window — great conditions with the peak-season crowds already thinning.

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 Roseau for general outdoor tourist activities is from early December to mid June, with a peak score in the last week of February.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationFeb 26 · 7.9

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
Jan7.1good
Feb7.8ideal
Mar7.8ideal
Apr7.2good
May6.7good
Jun6.3good
Jul5.8good
Aug5.4fair
Sep5.3fair
Oct5.2fair
Nov5.7good
Dec6.4good

The beach/pool score favors clear, rainless days with daytime highs between 24°C and 34°C. Based on this score, the best times of year to visit Roseau for hot-weather activities run from late August to early September and again from mid November to late July, with a peak score in the last week of February.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationFeb 28 · 7.2

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 Roseau, 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.

Roseau packs about the same all year — highs hold near 28°C. Across the year the things worth having are light clothes, rain gear, sun protection and a windbreaker.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In September, Roseau sees daytime highs around 28°C and nights near 26°C. Pack light clothes, rain gear and sun protection. Worth having: a windbreaker. About 17 days see rain.

Sea temperature near Roseau

Average ocean temperature at the nearest coast, month by month, banded into swim-comfort zones — the other half of the beach question.

The sea offshore is warmest in September at about 29°C and coldest in February near 27°C.

The water stays above 20°C all year — warm enough for a swim any month.

26°28°30°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwarmtropicalcomfortable to swim
Sea temperature (°C)Comfort
Jan27Warm
Feb27Warm
Mar27Warm
Apr27Warm
May28Warm
Jun28Warm
Jul28Tropical
Aug29Tropical
Sep29Tropical
Oct29Tropical
Nov29Tropical
Dec28Warm

UV index (midday) in Roseau 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 Roseau peaks around March 21 at about 13 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near December 13 at about 8 (very high).

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

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecVery highExtremeVery highMar 21UV 13Dec 13UV 8
UV index (midday)Level
Jan9Very high
Feb11Extreme
Mar14Extreme
Apr13Extreme
May12Extreme
Jun11Extreme
Jul12Extreme
Aug11Extreme
Sep12Extreme
Oct11Extreme
Nov8Very high
Dec8Very high

Average hourly UV index in Roseau

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)
Jan74.5
Feb7.55.5
Mar86.5
Apr86
May8.56
Jun86
Jul8.56
Aug86
Sep86
Oct7.55
Nov6.54
Dec6.53.5

Air quality in Roseau 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 Roseau is worst in June — around 28 µg/m³ PM2.5 (moderate), about 3.1× the cleanest month (December, 9 µg/m³).

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

0102030JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecGoodGoodModerateGoodJun 2028 µg/m³Dec 239 µg/m³
PM2.5 (µg/m³)Level
Jan10Good
Feb13Moderate
Mar11Good
Apr15Moderate
May18Moderate
Jun28Moderate
Jul26Moderate
Aug21Moderate
Sep16Moderate
Oct18Moderate
Nov12Moderate
Dec9Good
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free dayFrost-free year round

Roseau 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. Roseau banks about 5,811 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around September.

02,0004,0006,000JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°C·days)
Jan463
Feb411
Mar459
Apr460
May497
Jun493
Jul512
Aug520
Sep508
Oct518
Nov487
Dec482

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.

Roseau receives about 5.9 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — bright — with a clear seasonal swing between 4.8 and 6.7 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 6.9 months, from around Feb 22 to Sep 20. The brightest month is April, averaging about 6.7 kWh/m² (intense).

The dimmest month is December, down near 4.8 kWh/m² — roughly 28% less than the April peak.

012345678JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmerbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightintenseApr 236.7 kWhDec 114.8 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan5.1Bright
Feb5.8Bright
Mar6.4Intense
Apr6.7Intense
May6.6Intense
Jun6.5Intense
Jul6.5Intense
Aug6.3Intense
Sep6.0Intense
Oct5.5Bright
Nov5.0Bright
Dec4.8Bright

Where is Roseau?

Roseau sits at 15.3°N, 61.4°W, 11 m above sea level, in Dominica. The nearest listed city is Sainte-Marie, 72 km away.

What Roseau looks like

Topography around Roseau

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Roseau has significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 417 m around an average of 66 m above sea level; within 16 km, very significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 1,383 m; within 80 km, very significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 1,389 m.

The land around Roseau is covered by water (55%) and trees (38%) within 3 km, water (58%) and trees (41%) within 16 km, and water (89%) within 80 km.

3 km
417 m
16 km
1,383 m
80 km
1,389 m
treesartificial surfaceswater
Nearby: Sainte-Marie 72 km · La Trinité 78 km · Saint-Joseph 80 km · Le Robert 84 km · Fort-de-France 85 km · Capesterre-Belle-Eau 85 km · Basse-Terre 86 km · Le Lamentin 87 km

Dominica travel facts

Travel advisory
Level 1
Exercise Normal Precautions
Power plugs
Type D / G
230 V · 50 Hz
Prices
≈ 48% of US
price level, 2025
GDP per capita
$10,989
2025
Homicide rate
27.1
per 100k, 2023
Road deaths
10.9
per 100k/yr, 2016
Income group
Upper middle
World Bank
Religion
Roman Catholic 53%Protestant 30%none 9%other 4%

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 Roseau (15.3017°, -61.3881°, elevation 11 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. Tropical-cyclone seasons are the published climatological basin seasons (NOAA National Hurricane Center / regional warning centres). Sea temperatures are the NOAA OISST v2.1 1991–2020 monthly climatology (public domain), sampled at the nearest ocean point. 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).