Climate and average weather in Keren

In Keren, the summers are hot, fairly dry, and clear and the winters are warm and partly cloudy.

Best: late September to late December

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Keren typically varies from 14°C to 32°C, and is rarely below 11°C or above 34°C. May is the hottest month of the year, while August is the coldest.

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

Hottest
May
32°
Coldest
Aug
17°
Wettest
Aug
193 mm
Driest
Jan
1 mm
Rain / yr
493 mm
91 wet days
Daylight
11.1–12.9 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
1,399 m
15.8°N
Clearest
Nov
17% cloud

Keren is city in Eritrea.

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

Keren 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 September to late December.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

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

Temperatures in Keren stay fairly even through the year, without a distinct hot or cool season. The warmest month is May, with an average high of 32°C and low of 18°C; the coolest is August, with an average low of 17°C and high of 24°C.

Days typically run about 12°C warmer than nights, with the widest day–night swing (around 14°C) in March.

10°15°20°25°30°35°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan2714
Feb2815
Mar3016
Apr3117
May3218
Jun3019
Jul2617
Aug2417
Sep2716
Oct2815
Nov2715
Dec2614

Average hourly temperature in Keren

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 May afternoons, near 32°C, and coldest before dawn in August, near 17°C.

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

Keren 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
Jan27° / 14°10.111.28.8
Feb28° / 15°10.111.58.1
Mar30° / 16°51.811.96.6
Apr31° / 17°134.912.35.4
May32° / 18°205.612.74.9
Jun30° / 19°421112.95.3
Jul26° / 17°8620.112.85.2
Aug24° / 17°19328.312.54.1
Sep27° / 16°12316.812.15.7
Oct28° / 15°61.611.67.9
Nov27° / 15°30.911.38.7
Dec26° / 14°10.111.18.9

Chance of rain

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

Keren gets about 493 mm of precipitation a year. On a typical day the chance of rain is some rain, but that rises and falls sharply with the seasons.

The wetter season lasts 3.7 months, from around Jun 5 to Sep 24, peaking in August at about 94% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Jan 1.

August is the wettest month by volume, with 193 mm over about 28 wet days; January is the driest, with 1 mm.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%110%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdrierwetterdriermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetAug 24 · 94%Jan 1 · 0%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan00
Feb00
Mar62
Apr165
May186
Jun3711
Jul6520
Aug9128
Sep5617
Oct52
Nov31
Dec00

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Keren collects about 493 mm of rain across 91 wet days — roughly 41 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. August is the wettest month with 193 mm, while January is the driest at just 1 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 81% of the year’s total.

050100150200JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec11513204286193123631
Rainfall (mm)Rain days
Jan10
Feb10
Mar52
Apr135
May206
Jun4211
Jul8620
Aug19328
Sep12317
Oct62
Nov31
Dec10

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Keren, 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 September 16 and lasts for 8.6 months, ending around June 5. The clearest month is November, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 95% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around June 6 and lasts for 3.4 months, ending around September 15. The cloudiest month is August, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 63% 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%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecNov 13 · 95%Aug 6 · 29%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastclearercloudierclearer
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan919
Feb928
Mar946
Apr928
May8713
Jun7624
Jul4852
Aug3763
Sep7921
Oct928
Nov955
Dec928

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 May 30, 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)
Jan11.27:016:10
Feb11.56:576:25
Mar11.96:396:33
Apr12.36:166:37
May12.76:006:44
Jun12.95:586:54
Jul12.86:066:57
Aug12.56:146:46
Sep12.16:186:23
Oct11.66:226:00
Nov11.36:345:49
Dec11.16:505:54

Sunny days

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

Keren averages about 20 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 2 and 27 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 8.4 months, from around Sep 19 to May 31. The sunniest month is November, with roughly 27 sunny days (brilliant).

The greyest month is August, down near 3 sunny days — about 89% fewer than the November peak.

051015202530JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecsunniergreyersunniergloomymixedbrightbrilliantNov 1127 daysAug 82 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan25Brilliant
Feb23Brilliant
Mar26Brilliant
Apr25Brilliant
May23Bright
Jun14Mixed
Jul6Gloomy
Aug3Gloomy
Sep17Bright
Oct26Brilliant
Nov27Brilliant
Dec26Brilliant

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 Keren, how humid it feels changes dramatically over the year.

The more humid part of the year lasts 3.1 months, from around June 22 to September 23. The muggiest month is August, when the air feels humid, muggy or worse about 97% of the time.

The most comfortable stretch runs from around September 24 to June 21, and January is the most comfortable month — the air is dry or comfortable 100% of the time.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecJan 3 · 100%Aug 21 · 1%humidcomfortabledrycomfortablehumidcomfortable
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)Humid (%)Muggy (%)
Jan841600
Feb821800
Mar742420
Apr653140
May732260
Jun5530160
Jul628650
Aug03933
Sep2524491
Oct633430
Nov584020
Dec673310

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 Keren is typically calm, near 7 km/h, and varies little with the seasons.

The windier part of the year lasts 6.9 months, from around Oct 4 to May 2. The windiest month is October, averaging about 8 km/h (calm).

The calmer part of the year runs from around Jul 26 to Oct 3, with September the calmest month at about 5 km/h.

051015JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwindiercalmerwindiercalmlight breezeOct 19 · 8 km/hSep 11 · 5 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan8calm
Feb8calm
Mar8calm
Apr8calm
May7calm
Jun7calm
Jul8calm
Aug6calm
Sep5calm
Oct8calm
Nov8calm
Dec8calm

Hazard calendar for Keren

In seasonPeak

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

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

Dust
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec

Best time to visit Keren

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

Around early October, Keren 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 Keren for general outdoor tourist activities is from late September to early March, with a peak score in the last week of December.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationDec 23 · 9.0

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
Jan8.8ideal
Feb8.1ideal
Mar6.6good
Apr5.4fair
May4.9fair
Jun5.3fair
Jul5.2fair
Aug4.1fair
Sep5.7good
Oct7.9ideal
Nov8.7ideal
Dec8.9ideal

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 Keren for hot-weather activities is from late September to late May, with a peak score in the last week of February.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationFeb 26 · 9.3

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 Keren, 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.

For a warm-season trip around May (highs near 32°C), the essentials are light clothes and sun protection. In the cold season around August (highs near 24°C), pack light clothes, rain gear and sun protection.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In May, Keren sees daytime highs around 32°C and nights near 18°C. Pack light clothes and sun protection. About 6 days see rain.

UV index (midday) in Keren 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 Keren peaks around April 14 at about 14 (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.

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecExtremeExtremeVery highApr 14UV 14Dec 13UV 8
UV index (midday)Level
Jan10Extreme
Feb12Extreme
Mar14Extreme
Apr14Extreme
May13Extreme
Jun11Extreme
Jul10Very high
Aug10Extreme
Sep12Extreme
Oct11Extreme
Nov9Very high
Dec8Very high

Average hourly UV index in Keren

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 April the burn window is concentrated in the middle of the day: about 8.5 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)
Jan75
Feb7.55.5
Mar86
Apr8.56.5
May8.56.5
Jun86
Jul85.5
Aug85.5
Sep85.5
Oct7.55.5
Nov74.5
Dec6.54

Air quality in Keren 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 Keren is worst in May — around 23 µg/m³ PM2.5 (moderate), about 1.7× the cleanest month (December, 14 µg/m³).

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

0102030JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecModerateMay 2023 µg/m³Dec 1214 µg/m³
PM2.5 (µg/m³)Level
Jan17Moderate
Feb18Moderate
Mar23Moderate
Apr21Moderate
May23Moderate
Jun22Moderate
Jul22Moderate
Aug20Moderate
Sep17Moderate
Oct19Moderate
Nov15Moderate
Dec14Moderate
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free dayFrost-free year round

Keren 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. Keren banks about 4,378 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around May.

01,0002,0003,0004,000JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°C·days)
Jan314
Feb317
Mar397
Apr427
May467
Jun422
Jul354
Aug328
Sep343
Oct358
Nov332
Dec320

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.

Keren receives about 6.0 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — bright — with a clear seasonal swing between 5.1 and 7.1 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 4.3 months, from around Feb 13 to Jun 23. The brightest month is April, averaging about 7.0 kWh/m² (intense).

The dimmest month is August, down near 5.2 kWh/m² — roughly 26% less than the April peak.

012345678JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmerbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightintenseApr 197.1 kWhAug 55.1 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan5.4Bright
Feb6.0Intense
Mar6.8Intense
Apr7.0Intense
May6.9Intense
Jun6.2Intense
Jul5.4Bright
Aug5.1Bright
Sep5.9Bright
Oct6.2Intense
Nov5.7Bright
Dec5.3Bright

Where is Keren?

Keren sits at 15.8°N, 38.5°E, 1,399 m above sea level, in Eritrea. The nearest listed city is Asmara, 71 km away.

AsmaraMendeferaMassawaBarentuSheraroIntich’oAdwaAksum

Topography around Keren

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Keren has significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 412 m around an average of 1,420 m above sea level; within 16 km, very significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 1,346 m; within 80 km, extreme variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 2,515 m.

The land around Keren is covered by grassland (48%) and cropland (23%) within 3 km, grassland (46%) and shrubs (37%) within 16 km, and grassland (47%), shrubs (23%) and bare terrain (22%) within 80 km.

3 km
412 m
16 km
1,346 m
80 km
2,515 m
shrubsgrasslandcroplandartificial surfacesbare terrain
Nearby: Asmara 71 km · Mendefera 106 km · Massawa 111 km · Barentu 119 km · Sheraro 163 km · Intich’o 183 km · Adwa 186 km · Aksum 187 km

Eritrea travel facts

Travel advisory
Level 2
Exercise Increased Caution
Power plugs
Type C / L
230 V · 50 Hz
Prices
≈ 33% of US
price level, 2021
GDP per capita
$689
2011
Homicide rate
15.6
per 100k, 2012
Road deaths
37.9
per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group
Low
World Bank

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 Keren (15.7779°, 38.4511°, elevation 1,399 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).