Climate and average weather in Bako

In Bako, 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 April.

Best: late May to late September

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Bako typically varies from 17°C to 30°C, and is rarely below 15°C or above 33°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 Bako for warm-weather activities are from early January to mid February and late May to late September.

Hottest
Feb
30°
Coldest
Jul
18°
Wettest
Apr
330 mm
Driest
Feb
56 mm
Rain / yr
2112 mm
208 wet days
Daylight
11.7–12.3 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
1,401 m
5.8°N
Clearest
Dec
50% cloud

Bako is place in Ethiopia.

Density
3,831/km²
people per km²

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

Bako 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 May to late September.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

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

Temperatures in Bako stay fairly even through the year, without a distinct hot or cool season. The warmest month is February, with an average high of 30°C and low of 18°C; the coolest is July, with an average low of 18°C and high of 26°C.

Days typically run about 10°C warmer than nights, with the widest day–night swing (around 13°C) in February.

15°20°25°30°35°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan2917
Feb3018
Mar3018
Apr2718
May2618
Jun2618
Jul2618
Aug2619
Sep2719
Oct2718
Nov2717
Dec2817

Average hourly temperature in Bako

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 30°C, and coldest before dawn in July, near 18°C.

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

Bako 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
Jan29° / 17°898.711.75.8
Feb30° / 18°56811.85.1
Mar30° / 18°16016.6124.4
Apr27° / 18°33024.812.14.0
May26° / 18°28723.912.34.4
Jun26° / 18°14117.812.35.4
Jul26° / 18°12015.312.35.7
Aug26° / 19°11815.212.25.6
Sep27° / 19°13617.5125.2
Oct27° / 18°27925.311.94.2
Nov27° / 17°25021.311.74.8
Dec28° / 17°14713.711.76.0

Chance of rain

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

Bako gets about 2112 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 3.0 months, from around Mar 20 to Jun 19, peaking in May at about 90% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Feb 4.

April is the wettest month by volume, with 330 mm over about 25 wet days; February is the driest, with 56 mm.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdrierwetterdriermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetMay 1 · 90%Feb 4 · 26%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan289
Feb308
Mar5317
Apr8325
May7724
Jun5818
Jul4915
Aug5115
Sep5818
Oct8025
Nov7121
Dec4414

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Bako collects about 2112 mm of rain across 208 wet days — roughly 176 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. April is the wettest month with 330 mm, while February is the driest at just 56 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 42% of the year’s total.

050100150200250300350400JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec8956160330287141120118136279250147
Rainfall (mm)Rain days
Jan899
Feb568
Mar16017
Apr33025
May28724
Jun14118
Jul12015
Aug11815
Sep13618
Oct27925
Nov25021
Dec14714

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Bako, 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 7 and lasts for 4.4 months, ending around March 19. The clearest month is December, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 66% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around March 20 and lasts for 2.3 months, ending around May 28. The cloudiest month is April, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 84% 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 23 · 70%Apr 30 · 10%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastclearercloudierclearer
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan6436
Feb5842
Mar4159
Apr1684
May2377
Jun3466
Jul2278
Aug2773
Sep3862
Oct2476
Nov4456
Dec6634

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, Bako barely changes through the year: days stay near 12 h 18 min of light in every season.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan11.76:526:34
Feb11.86:546:43
Mar12.06:456:42
Apr12.16:306:38
May12.36:226:38
Jun12.36:246:44
Jul12.36:306:49
Aug12.26:326:44
Sep12.06:276:29
Oct11.96:236:15
Nov11.76:276:11
Dec11.76:406:20

Sunny days

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

Bako averages about 5 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 0 and 13 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 4.3 months, from around Nov 10 to Mar 20. The sunniest month is December, with roughly 12 sunny days (mixed).

The greyest month is April, down near 1 sunny days — about 87% fewer than the December peak.

051015JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecsunniergreyersunniergloomymixedDec 2113 daysApr 270 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan11Mixed
Feb9Mixed
Mar6Gloomy
Apr1Gloomy
May2Gloomy
Jun3Gloomy
Jul1Gloomy
Aug2Gloomy
Sep3Gloomy
Oct2Gloomy
Nov6Gloomy
Dec12Mixed

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

The more humid part of the year lasts 3.3 months, from around March 19 to June 26. The muggiest month is May, when the air feels humid, muggy or worse about 97% of the time.

The most comfortable stretch runs from around December 7 to March 18, and February is the most comfortable month — the air is dry or comfortable 69% of the time.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecFeb 4 · 74%May 5 · 0%muggyhumidcomfortabledrycomfortablehumidcomfortable
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)Humid (%)Muggy (%)
Jan3634282
Feb3436292
Mar1426528
Apr066133
May036631
Jun123724
Jul447490
Aug748450
Sep640540
Oct011827
Nov316747
Dec1931473

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.

Wind in Bako is steady company: average speeds sit near 4 km/hcalm — in every month of the year, with no meaningful windy or calm season.

0510JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDeccalmJul 7 · 4 km/hNov 16 · 4 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan4calm
Feb4calm
Mar4calm
Apr4calm
May4calm
Jun4calm
Jul4calm
Aug4calm
Sep4calm
Oct4calm
Nov4calm
Dec4calm

Best time to visit Bako

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

Around mid September, Bako 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 times of year to visit Bako for general outdoor tourist activities run from late May to late September and again from late November to mid February, with a peak score in the last week of December.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timebest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationDec 25 · 6.3

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
Jan5.8good
Feb5.1fair
Mar4.4fair
Apr4.0fair
May4.4fair
Jun5.4fair
Jul5.7good
Aug5.6good
Sep5.2fair
Oct4.3fair
Nov4.8fair
Dec5.9good

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 Bako for hot-weather activities is from mid December to mid March, with a peak score in the first week of January.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationJan 7 · 7.4

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 Bako, 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.

Bako packs about the same all year — highs hold near 30°C. Across the year the things worth having are light clothes, rain gear and sun protection.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In February, Bako sees daytime highs around 30°C and nights near 18°C. Pack light clothes. Worth having: rain gear and sun protection. About 8 days see rain.

UV index (midday) in Bako 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 Bako peaks around March 14 at about 15 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near November 21 at about 10 (extreme).

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

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecExtremeMar 14UV 15Nov 21UV 10
UV index (midday)Level
Jan13Extreme
Feb14Extreme
Mar15Extreme
Apr13Extreme
May12Extreme
Jun10Extreme
Jul11Extreme
Aug13Extreme
Sep13Extreme
Oct13Extreme
Nov10Very high
Dec11Extreme

Average hourly UV index in Bako

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 8.5 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)
Jan86
Feb86.5
Mar8.56.5
Apr86.5
May86
Jun7.55.5
Jul85.5
Aug86
Sep86
Oct86
Nov7.55
Dec7.55.5

Air quality in Bako 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 Bako is worst in February — around 46 µg/m³ PM2.5 (poor), about 2.1× the cleanest month (April, 22 µg/m³).

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

0204060JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecPoorModerateFeb 845 µg/m³Apr 2322 µg/m³
PM2.5 (µg/m³)Level
Jan45Poor
Feb46Poor
Mar29Moderate
Apr22Moderate
May22Moderate
Jun30Moderate
Jul28Moderate
Aug23Moderate
Sep24Moderate
Oct22Moderate
Nov28Moderate
Dec36Poor
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free dayFrost-free year round

Bako 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. Bako banks about 4,550 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around February.

01,0002,0003,0004,000JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°C·days)
Jan401
Feb390
Mar428
Apr371
May369
Jun356
Jul366
Aug383
Sep387
Oct375
Nov350
Dec372

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.

Bako receives about 4.8 kWh/m² a day of solar energy — bright — and it stays remarkably steady, holding between 4.1 and 5.6 kWh/m² all year. For solar panels, output here is a flat line, not a seasonal wave.

01234567JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmoderatebrightintenseFeb 265.6 kWhJul 214.1 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan5.2Bright
Feb5.6Bright
Mar5.4Bright
Apr4.8Bright
May4.6Bright
Jun4.4Bright
Jul4.1Bright
Aug4.5Bright
Sep4.9Bright
Oct4.7Bright
Nov4.7Bright
Dec4.9Bright

Where is Bako?

Bako sits at 5.8°N, 36.6°E, 1,401 m above sea level, in Ethiopia. The nearest listed city is Jinka, 17 km away.

Arba MinchKonsoCh’ench’aGasubaWaka

Topography around Bako

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Bako has significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 433 m around an average of 1,439 m above sea level; within 16 km, very significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 1,969 m; within 80 km, extreme variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 3,025 m.

The land around Bako is covered by trees (44%) and shrubs (35%) within 3 km, trees (43%) and shrubs (39%) within 16 km, and shrubs (44%), trees (33%) and grassland (20%) within 80 km.

3 km
433 m
16 km
1,969 m
80 km
3,025 m
treesshrubsgrasslandcroplandartificial surfaces
Nearby: Jinka 17 km · Felege Neway 67 km · Gīdolē 90 km · Arba Minch 112 km · Konso 118 km · Ch’ench’a 122 km · Gasuba 152 km · Waka 157 km

Ethiopia travel facts

Travel advisory
Level 3
Reconsider Travel
Power plugs
Type C / E / F / L
220 V · 50 Hz
Prices
≈ 37% of US
price level, 2025
GDP per capita
$933
2025
Happiness
4.0 / 10
World Happiness, 2025
Safe drinking water
14%
of population, 2024
Homicide rate
8.5
per 100k, 2012
Road deaths
28.2
per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group
Low
World Bank
English
Low
EF EPI 499
Religion
Ethiopian Orthodox 44%Muslim 31%Protestant 23%other 1%

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 Bako (5.7833°, 36.5667°, elevation 1,401 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).