Mekele weather in December

In December, Mekele sees average daytime highs of 22°C and overnight lows near 9°C, with 10 mm of rain across 2.7 wet days and about 11.2 hours of daylight. It is the 12th-warmest and 12th-wettest month of the year here.

Day-to-day highs hold fairly steady near 22°C through the month. The sky is clear or mostly clear about 72% of the time in December, and the air most often feels dry.

Daylight stretches from about 11 h 18 min at the start of December to 11 h 12 min by month's end. Set against the rest of the year, December is Mekele's 1st-clearest and 4th-windiest month. For the whole year in context, see Mekele's year-round climate.

Daytime high: 22°; 12th warmest
Overnight low: 9°; 1st coldest
Rainfall: 10 mm; 2.7 wet days
Daylight: 11 h 12 min; 6:42 AM – 5:55 PM
Cloud cover: 24%; 1st clearest
Wind: 8 km/h; 4th windiest
Solar energy: 5.71 kWh/m²
Travel score: 8.5; out of 10

Mekele is the capital city in the northern Tigray Region of Ethiopia.

Density: 18,736/km²; people per km²

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

← November Mekele year-round climate January →Best places to visit in December

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

Temperature in December

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

Day-to-day highs hold fairly steady near 22°C through the month.

A typical December day in Mekele reaches about 22°C in the afternoon and slips back to 9°C overnight — a 13°C spread between the day's warmth and the night's chill. On most days the high lands between 20°C and 24°C. Set against its neighbours, December runs on par with November and on par with January.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Avg high (°C)	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	22
Avg low (°C)	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9

	Avg high (°C)	Avg low (°C)
1	22	10
2	22	10
3	22	10
4	22	10
5	22	10
6	22	10
7	22	10
8	22	10
9	22	10
10	22	9
11	22	9
12	22	9
13	22	9
14	22	9
15	22	9
16	22	9
17	22	9
18	22	9
19	22	9
20	22	9
21	22	9
22	22	9
23	22	9
24	22	9
25	22	9
26	22	9
27	22	9
28	22	9
29	22	9
30	22	9
31	22	9

Mekele weather by month

How December compares with the rest of the year at a glance. December is the 12th-warmest and 12th-wettest month here — the current month is highlighted below.

Month	High / Low (°C)	Rainfall (mm)	Wet days	Daylight (hours)	Travel score
Jan	22° / 10°	23	6.1	11.3	7.8
Feb	24° / 11°	21	5.6	11.6	8.1
Mar	25° / 12°	60	11.4	11.9	7.1
Apr	25° / 13°	61	11.6	12.3	6.9
May	26° / 14°	26	5.6	12.6	7.7
Jun	26° / 14°	72	11.7	12.8	6.6
Jul	23° / 14°	228	29.1	12.7	4.0
Aug	22° / 14°	284	30.1	12.4	3.8
Sep	24° / 12°	67	11.2	12.1	7.1
Oct	23° / 12°	12	2.4	11.7	8.7
Nov	23° / 10°	13	3.1	11.4	8.6
Dec	22° / 9°	10	2.7	11.2	8.5

Cloud cover in December

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

The sky is clear or mostly clear about 72% of the time in December, the clearest month of the year.

Beyond those clear spells, partly cloudy skies cover about 16% of December, with mostly cloudy or overcast conditions the remaining 12%.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Clearer (%)	87	88	88	88	89	89	89	89	89	89	89	89	89	89	89	89	90	90	90	89	89	89	89	89	89	89	88	87	86	85	84
Cloudier (%)	13	12	12	12	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	10	10	10	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	12	13	14	15	16

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	87	13
2	88	12
3	88	12
4	88	12
5	89	11
6	89	11
7	89	11
8	89	11
9	89	11
10	89	11
11	89	11
12	89	11
13	89	11
14	89	11
15	89	11
16	89	11
17	90	10
18	90	10
19	90	10
20	89	11
21	89	11
22	89	11
23	89	11
24	89	11
25	89	11
26	89	11
27	88	12
28	87	13
29	86	14
30	85	15
31	84	16

Chance of precipitation in December

Any precipitation

Mekele gets around 10 mm of rain over 2.7 wet days in December, the driest month. The line is the day-by-day chance of measurable precipitation.

Day to day, the chance of measurable rain averages around 10% and peaks near 13% on the wettest days.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Rain chance (%)	10	10	9	9	9	9	8	8	8	8	8	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	10	10	10	10	10	11	11	11	12	12	13

	Rain chance (%)
1	10
2	10
3	9
4	9
5	9
6	9
7	8
8	8
9	8
10	8
11	8
12	9
13	9
14	9
15	9
16	9
17	9
18	9
19	9
20	9
21	10
22	10
23	10
24	10
25	10
26	11
27	11
28	11
29	12
30	12
31	13

Humidity in December

DryComfortableHumidMuggyOppressiveMiserable

Most of December feels dry — the stacked bands show each day's mix of comfort levels, read off the dew point.

By dew point, December lands in the dry band about 97% of days. It rarely turns muggy — the humid and sticky bands barely register.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Dry (%)	95	95	96	96	96	96	96	96	96	96	97	97	97	97	97	97	98	98	98	98	98	98	98	98	98	98	98	98	98	98	98
Comfortable (%)	5	5	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	3	3	3	3	3	3	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)
1	95	5
2	95	5
3	96	4
4	96	4
5	96	4
6	96	4
7	96	4
8	96	4
9	96	4
10	96	4
11	97	3
12	97	3
13	97	3
14	97	3
15	97	3
16	97	3
17	98	2
18	98	2
19	98	2
20	98	2
21	98	2
22	98	2
23	98	2
24	98	2
25	98	2
26	98	2
27	98	2
28	98	2
29	98	2
30	98	2
31	98	2

Wind in December

Winds average 8 km/h in December.

Across December, daily wind ranges from about 8 km/h on the calmest days to 8 km/h at its breeziest. It stays fairly steady from day to day.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Wind speed (km/h)	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8
Feels	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm

	Wind speed (km/h)	Feels
1	8	calm
2	8	calm
3	8	calm
4	8	calm
5	8	calm
6	8	calm
7	8	calm
8	8	calm
9	8	calm
10	8	calm
11	8	calm
12	8	calm
13	8	calm
14	8	calm
15	8	calm
16	8	calm
17	8	calm
18	8	calm
19	8	calm
20	8	calm
21	8	calm
22	8	calm
23	8	calm
24	8	calm
25	8	calm
26	8	calm
27	8	calm
28	8	calm
29	8	calm
30	8	calm
31	8	calm

Sunrise & sunset in December

DaylightNight

Daylight runs from about 11 h 18 min at the start of December to 11 h 12 min by month's end. The lit band spans sunrise to sunset each day.

Days shrink by about 6 minutes over December. Sunrise moves from 6:34 AM to 6:49 AM, and sunset from 5:50 PM to 6:02 PM.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Daylight (h)	11.3	11.3	11.3	11.2	11.2	11.2	11.2	11.2	11.2	11.2	11.2	11.2	11.2	11.2	11.2	11.2	11.2	11.2	11.2	11.2	11.2	11.2	11.2	11.2	11.2	11.2	11.2	11.2	11.2	11.2	11.2
Sunrise (AM)	6:34	6:35	6:35	6:36	6:36	6:37	6:37	6:38	6:38	6:39	6:39	6:40	6:40	6:41	6:41	6:42	6:43	6:43	6:44	6:44	6:44	6:45	6:45	6:46	6:46	6:47	6:47	6:48	6:48	6:48	6:49
Sunset (PM)	5:50	5:50	5:50	5:50	5:51	5:51	5:51	5:52	5:52	5:52	5:53	5:53	5:53	5:54	5:54	5:55	5:55	5:55	5:56	5:56	5:57	5:57	5:58	5:58	5:59	5:59	6:00	6:00	6:01	6:01	6:02

	Daylight (h)	Sunrise (AM)	Sunset (PM)
1	11.3	6:34	5:50
2	11.3	6:35	5:50
3	11.3	6:35	5:50
4	11.2	6:36	5:50
5	11.2	6:36	5:51
6	11.2	6:37	5:51
7	11.2	6:37	5:51
8	11.2	6:38	5:52
9	11.2	6:38	5:52
10	11.2	6:39	5:52
11	11.2	6:39	5:53
12	11.2	6:40	5:53
13	11.2	6:40	5:53
14	11.2	6:41	5:54
15	11.2	6:41	5:54
16	11.2	6:42	5:55
17	11.2	6:43	5:55
18	11.2	6:43	5:55
19	11.2	6:44	5:56
20	11.2	6:44	5:56
21	11.2	6:44	5:57
22	11.2	6:45	5:57
23	11.2	6:45	5:58
24	11.2	6:46	5:58
25	11.2	6:46	5:59
26	11.2	6:47	5:59
27	11.2	6:47	6:00
28	11.2	6:48	6:00
29	11.2	6:48	6:01
30	11.2	6:48	6:01
31	11.2	6:49	6:02

Solar energy in December

Daily solar energy (kWh/m²)

Average shortwave solar energy reaching the ground each day in December, about 5.71 kWh/m².

For context, solar energy here swings from a low near 5.16 kWh/m² to a high of 6.99 kWh/m² in April across the year — December's 5.71 kWh/m² sits near the bottom.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Solar energy (kWh/m²)	5.8	5.8	5.8	5.8	5.8	5.7	5.7	5.7	5.7	5.7	5.7	5.7	5.7	5.7	5.7	5.7	5.7	5.7	5.7	5.7	5.7	5.7	5.7	5.7	5.7	5.7	5.7	5.7	5.7	5.7	5.7
Level	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright

	Solar energy (kWh/m²)	Level
1	5.8	Bright
2	5.8	Bright
3	5.8	Bright
4	5.8	Bright
5	5.8	Bright
6	5.7	Bright
7	5.7	Bright
8	5.7	Bright
9	5.7	Bright
10	5.7	Bright
11	5.7	Bright
12	5.7	Bright
13	5.7	Bright
14	5.7	Bright
15	5.7	Bright
16	5.7	Bright
17	5.7	Bright
18	5.7	Bright
19	5.7	Bright
20	5.7	Bright
21	5.7	Bright
22	5.7	Bright
23	5.7	Bright
24	5.7	Bright
25	5.7	Bright
26	5.7	Bright
27	5.7	Bright
28	5.7	Bright
29	5.7	Bright
30	5.7	Bright
31	5.7	Bright

Planning a trip in December

Hazard calendar for Mekele

In seasonPeak

None of Mekele's seasonal hazards are active in December. The full-year calendar below shows when the rainy season, cyclone risk and dust haze do peak.

Mekele's monsoon runs July–August, when most of the year's rain falls.

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

Monsoon

Dust

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Is December a good time to visit Mekele?

Our two travel scores rate December for general sightseeing and for beach or pool weather — 0 (poor) to 10 (ideal).

8.5

Sightseeing

3rd-best month of the year

5.8

Beach & pool

8th-best month of the year

December is one of the better times to visit Mekele for general sightseeing.

What to pack for Mekele in December

From December's temperature range, rain chance, sun and wind — what's worth putting in the bag.

In December, Mekele sees daytime highs around 22°C and nights near 9°C. Worth packing: light clothes and sun protection.

light clothessun protection

UV index in Mekele in December

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Clear-sky midday UV in December peaks around 9 (very high — sun protection essential). The full-year curve, shaded by WHO exposure level, is below.

Under clear skies, the midday UV index in Mekele peaks around March 20 at about 15 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near December 12 at about 10 (very high).

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

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
UV index (midday)	12	13	15	14	13	12	10	13	13	12	10	9
Level	Extreme	Extreme	Extreme	Extreme	Extreme	Extreme	Very high	Extreme	Extreme	Extreme	Very high	Very high

	UV index (midday)	Level
Jan	12	Extreme
Feb	13	Extreme
Mar	15	Extreme
Apr	14	Extreme
May	13	Extreme
Jun	12	Extreme
Jul	10	Very high
Aug	13	Extreme
Sep	13	Extreme
Oct	12	Extreme
Nov	10	Very high
Dec	9	Very high

Air quality in Mekele in December

GoodModeratePoorUnhealthyVery unhealthy

Average fine-particle pollution (PM2.5) through the year — so you can see where December falls, not just the annual average.

Air quality in Mekele is worst in June — around 31 µg/m³ PM2.5 (moderate), and holds fairly steady the rest of the year.

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

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
PM2.5 (µg/m³)	26	26	28	23	25	31	27	28	28	23	21	23
Level	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate

	PM2.5 (µg/m³)	Level
Jan	26	Moderate
Feb	26	Moderate
Mar	28	Moderate
Apr	23	Moderate
May	25	Moderate
Jun	31	Moderate
Jul	27	Moderate
Aug	28	Moderate
Sep	28	Moderate
Oct	23	Moderate
Nov	21	Moderate
Dec	23	Moderate

Location & terrain

Where is Mekele?

Mekele sits at 13.5°N, 39.5°E, 2,068 m above sea level, in Ethiopia. The nearest listed city is Dolo, 18 km away.

Topography around Mekele

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Mekele has significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 341 m around an average of 2,104 m above sea level; within 16 km, large variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 905 m; within 80 km, extreme variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 3,776 m.

The land around Mekele is covered by artificial surfaces (50%) and cropland (25%) within 3 km, cropland (61%) within 16 km, and grassland (33%), cropland (30%) and shrubs (25%) within 80 km.

3 km

341 m

artificial surfaces 50%

16 km

905 m

cropland 61%

80 km

3,776 m

grassland 33%

treesshrubsgrasslandcroplandartificial surfacesbare terrain

← November Mekele year-round climate January →Best places to visit in December

December weather nearby: Dolo 18 km · Wik’ro 36 km · Ābīy Ādī 55 km · Idaga Hamus 77 km · Maych’ew 79 km · Mehoni 80 km · Ādīgrat 87 km · Intich’o 94 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

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 Mekele (13.4967°, 39.4753°, elevation 2,068 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).

	Avg high (°C)	Avg low (°C)
1	22	10
2	22	10
3	22	10
4	22	10
5	22	10
6	22	10
7	22	10
8	22	10
9	22	10
10	22	9
11	22	9
12	22	9
13	22	9
14	22	9
15	22	9
16	22	9
17	22	9
18	22	9
19	22	9
20	22	9
21	22	9
22	22	9
23	22	9
24	22	9
25	22	9
26	22	9
27	22	9
28	22	9
29	22	9
30	22	9
31	22	9

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	87	13
2	88	12
3	88	12
4	88	12
5	89	11
6	89	11
7	89	11
8	89	11
9	89	11
10	89	11
11	89	11
12	89	11
13	89	11
14	89	11
15	89	11
16	89	11
17	90	10
18	90	10
19	90	10
20	89	11
21	89	11
22	89	11
23	89	11
24	89	11
25	89	11
26	89	11
27	88	12
28	87	13
29	86	14
30	85	15
31	84	16

	Rain chance (%)
1	10
2	10
3	9
4	9
5	9
6	9
7	8
8	8
9	8
10	8
11	8
12	9
13	9
14	9
15	9
16	9
17	9
18	9
19	9
20	9
21	10
22	10
23	10
24	10
25	10
26	11
27	11
28	11
29	12
30	12
31	13

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)
1	95	5
2	95	5
3	96	4
4	96	4
5	96	4
6	96	4
7	96	4
8	96	4
9	96	4
10	96	4
11	97	3
12	97	3
13	97	3
14	97	3
15	97	3
16	97	3
17	98	2
18	98	2
19	98	2
20	98	2
21	98	2
22	98	2
23	98	2
24	98	2
25	98	2
26	98	2
27	98	2
28	98	2
29	98	2
30	98	2
31	98	2

	Avg high (°C)	Avg low (°C)
1	22	10
2	22	10
3	22	10
4	22	10
5	22	10
6	22	10
7	22	10
8	22	10
9	22	10
10	22	9
11	22	9
12	22	9
13	22	9
14	22	9
15	22	9
16	22	9
17	22	9
18	22	9
19	22	9
20	22	9
21	22	9
22	22	9
23	22	9
24	22	9
25	22	9
26	22	9
27	22	9
28	22	9
29	22	9
30	22	9
31	22	9

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	87	13
2	88	12
3	88	12
4	88	12
5	89	11
6	89	11
7	89	11
8	89	11
9	89	11
10	89	11
11	89	11
12	89	11
13	89	11
14	89	11
15	89	11
16	89	11
17	90	10
18	90	10
19	90	10
20	89	11
21	89	11
22	89	11
23	89	11
24	89	11
25	89	11
26	89	11
27	88	12
28	87	13
29	86	14
30	85	15
31	84	16

	Rain chance (%)
1	10
2	10
3	9
4	9
5	9
6	9
7	8
8	8
9	8
10	8
11	8
12	9
13	9
14	9
15	9
16	9
17	9
18	9
19	9
20	9
21	10
22	10
23	10
24	10
25	10
26	11
27	11
28	11
29	12
30	12
31	13

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)
1	95	5
2	95	5
3	96	4
4	96	4
5	96	4
6	96	4
7	96	4
8	96	4
9	96	4
10	96	4
11	97	3
12	97	3
13	97	3
14	97	3
15	97	3
16	97	3
17	98	2
18	98	2
19	98	2
20	98	2
21	98	2
22	98	2
23	98	2
24	98	2
25	98	2
26	98	2
27	98	2
28	98	2
29	98	2
30	98	2
31	98	2

	Avg high (°C)	Avg low (°C)
1	22	10
2	22	10
3	22	10
4	22	10
5	22	10
6	22	10
7	22	10
8	22	10
9	22	10
10	22	9
11	22	9
12	22	9
13	22	9
14	22	9
15	22	9
16	22	9
17	22	9
18	22	9
19	22	9
20	22	9
21	22	9
22	22	9
23	22	9
24	22	9
25	22	9
26	22	9
27	22	9
28	22	9
29	22	9
30	22	9
31	22	9

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	87	13
2	88	12
3	88	12
4	88	12
5	89	11
6	89	11
7	89	11
8	89	11
9	89	11
10	89	11
11	89	11
12	89	11
13	89	11
14	89	11
15	89	11
16	89	11
17	90	10
18	90	10
19	90	10
20	89	11
21	89	11
22	89	11
23	89	11
24	89	11
25	89	11
26	89	11
27	88	12
28	87	13
29	86	14
30	85	15
31	84	16

	Rain chance (%)
1	10
2	10
3	9
4	9
5	9
6	9
7	8
8	8
9	8
10	8
11	8
12	9
13	9
14	9
15	9
16	9
17	9
18	9
19	9
20	9
21	10
22	10
23	10
24	10
25	10
26	11
27	11
28	11
29	12
30	12
31	13

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)
1	95	5
2	95	5
3	96	4
4	96	4
5	96	4
6	96	4
7	96	4
8	96	4
9	96	4
10	96	4
11	97	3
12	97	3
13	97	3
14	97	3
15	97	3
16	97	3
17	98	2
18	98	2
19	98	2
20	98	2
21	98	2
22	98	2
23	98	2
24	98	2
25	98	2
26	98	2
27	98	2
28	98	2
29	98	2
30	98	2
31	98	2