Climate and average weather in Sek’ot’a

In Sek’ot’a, the summers are hot, fairly dry, and mostly clear and the winters are warm and partly cloudy.

Best: mid September to late December

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Sek’ot’a typically varies from 11°C to 30°C, and is rarely below 8°C or above 33°C. April is the hottest month of the year, while August is the coldest.

Based on the travel score, the best times of year to visit Sek’ot’a for warm-weather activities are from early January to mid February and mid September to late December.

Hottest
Apr
30°
Coldest
Aug
14°
Wettest
Aug
361 mm
Driest
Jan
2 mm
Rain / yr
993 mm
108 wet days
Daylight
11.3–12.7 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
2,240 m
12.6°N
Clearest
Dec
20% cloud

Sek’ot’a 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 mid September to late December.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

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

Temperatures in Sek’ot’a stay fairly even through the year, without a distinct hot or cool season. The warmest month is April, with an average high of 30°C and low of 15°C; the coolest is August, with an average low of 14°C and high of 24°C.

Days typically run about 14°C warmer than nights, with the widest day–night swing (around 16°C) in February.

10°15°20°25°30°35°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan2812
Feb2913
Mar3014
Apr3015
May3016
Jun2815
Jul2515
Aug2414
Sep2613
Oct2713
Nov2712
Dec2711

Average hourly temperature in Sek’ot’a

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 April afternoons, near 30°C, and coldest before dawn in August, near 14°C.

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

Sek’ot’a 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
Jan28° / 12°20.511.38.2
Feb29° / 13°71.511.66.9
Mar30° / 14°224.311.96.0
Apr30° / 15°275.812.35.5
May30° / 16°37612.65.6
Jun28° / 15°901312.75.4
Jul25° / 15°32329.512.74.0
Aug24° / 14°36130.512.43.9
Sep26° / 13°10813.412.16.5
Oct27° / 13°81.811.78.2
Nov27° / 12°71.311.48.5
Dec27° / 11°30.811.38.7

Chance of rain

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

Sek’ot’a gets about 993 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 3.4 months, from around Jun 10 to Sep 19, peaking in August at about 99% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Jan 29.

August is the wettest month by volume, with 361 mm over about 31 wet days; January is the driest, with 2 mm.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%110%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdrierwetterdriermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetAug 7 · 99%Jan 29 · 1%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan21
Feb52
Mar144
Apr206
May196
Jun4513
Jul9430
Aug9831
Sep4513
Oct62
Nov41
Dec21

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Sek’ot’a collects about 993 mm of rain across 108 wet days — roughly 83 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. August is the wettest month with 361 mm, while January is the driest at just 2 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 80% of the year’s total.

050100150200250300350400JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec2722273790323361108873
Rainfall (mm)Rain days
Jan21
Feb72
Mar224
Apr276
May376
Jun9013
Jul32330
Aug36131
Sep10813
Oct82
Nov71
Dec31

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Sek’ot’a, 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 10 and lasts for 7.5 months, ending around April 26. The clearest month is December, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 92% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around April 27 and lasts for 4.5 months, ending around September 9. The cloudiest month is August, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 47% 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 18 · 93%Aug 4 · 44%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastclearercloudierclearer
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan8713
Feb8515
Mar8416
Apr8119
May7723
Jun7228
Jul5743
Aug5347
Sep8119
Oct8713
Nov919
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 26, brings about 12 h 42 min of light; the shortest, around January 1, only 11 h 18 min — a swing of roughly 1 h 24 min.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan11.36:536:13
Feb11.66:516:26
Mar11.96:366:31
Apr12.36:166:33
May12.66:036:38
Jun12.76:026:46
Jul12.76:096:50
Aug12.46:156:41
Sep12.16:166:20
Oct11.76:176:00
Nov11.46:275:51
Dec11.36:425:58

Sunny days

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

Sek’ot’a averages about 17 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 4 and 25 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 7.2 months, from around Sep 12 to Apr 17. The sunniest month is December, with roughly 25 sunny days (brilliant).

The greyest month is August, down near 6 sunny days — about 76% fewer than the December peak.

051015202530JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecsunniergreyersunniergloomymixedbrightbrilliantDec 2225 daysAug 24 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan23Bright
Feb19Bright
Mar18Bright
Apr16Bright
May15Mixed
Jun11Mixed
Jul6Gloomy
Aug6Gloomy
Sep17Bright
Oct21Bright
Nov23Brilliant
Dec25Brilliant

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 Sek’ot’a, the air stays dry or comfortable essentially all year. Even in August, the muggiest month, it feels humid or worse only about 7% of the time — humidity is not something you need to plan around here.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdrycomfortable
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)Humid (%)
Jan10000
Feb9910
Mar9730
Apr9460
May88121
Jun65341
Jul7912
Aug1937
Sep48512
Oct9640
Nov9910
Dec10000

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 Sek’ot’a is typically calm, near 7 km/h, and varies little with the seasons.

The windier part of the year lasts 8.2 months, from around Sep 30 to Jun 7. The windiest month is October, averaging about 8 km/h (calm).

The calmer part of the year runs from around Jun 8 to Sep 29, with August the calmest month at about 5 km/h.

051015JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwindiercalmerwindiercalmlight breezeOct 24 · 8 km/hAug 2 · 5 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan7calm
Feb8calm
Mar7calm
Apr7calm
May7calm
Jun6calm
Jul5calm
Aug5calm
Sep6calm
Oct8calm
Nov8calm
Dec7calm

Hazard calendar for Sek’ot’a

In seasonPeak

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

Sek’ot’a's monsoon runs July–August, when most of the year's rain falls.

Sek’ot’a sees seasonal dust haze (June–July), heaviest in June.

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

Best time to visit Sek’ot’a

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

Around late September, Sek’ot’a 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 Sek’ot’a for general outdoor tourist activities is from mid September to mid February, with a peak score in the first week of December.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationDec 4 · 8.7

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
Jan8.2ideal
Feb6.9good
Mar6.0good
Apr5.6good
May5.6good
Jun5.4fair
Jul4.1fair
Aug3.9fair
Sep6.4good
Oct8.2ideal
Nov8.5ideal
Dec8.7ideal

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 Sek’ot’a for hot-weather activities is from late September to early June, with a peak score in the first week of February.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationFeb 3 · 9.1

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 Sek’ot’a, 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 April (highs near 30°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 April, Sek’ot’a sees daytime highs around 30°C and nights near 15°C. Pack light clothes and sun protection. About 6 days see rain.

UV index (midday) in Sek’ot’a 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 Sek’ot’a peaks around March 21 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.

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecExtremeVery highMar 21UV 15Dec 12UV 10
UV index (midday)Level
Jan12Extreme
Feb13Extreme
Mar15Extreme
Apr15Extreme
May13Extreme
Jun12Extreme
Jul10Extreme
Aug13Extreme
Sep13Extreme
Oct13Extreme
Nov10Extreme
Dec10Very high

Average hourly UV index in Sek’ot’a

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)
Jan7.55.5
Feb7.56
Mar8.56.5
Apr8.56.5
May8.56.5
Jun86
Jul86
Aug86.5
Sep86
Oct7.56
Nov75
Dec74.5

Air quality in Sek’ot’a 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 Sek’ot’a is worst in June — around 32 µg/m³ PM2.5 (moderate), and holds fairly steady the rest of the year.

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

010203040JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecModerateJun 1531 µg/m³Nov 2223 µg/m³
PM2.5 (µg/m³)Level
Jan25Moderate
Feb24Moderate
Mar26Moderate
Apr23Moderate
May27Moderate
Jun32Moderate
Jul26Moderate
Aug25Moderate
Sep31Moderate
Oct27Moderate
Nov23Moderate
Dec24Moderate
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free dayFrost-free year round

Sek’ot’a 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. Sek’ot’a banks about 3,848 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)
Jan299
Feb309
Mar377
Apr384
May399
Jun347
Jul301
Aug287
Sep280
Oct305
Nov283
Dec279

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.

Sek’ot’a receives about 6.2 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — intense — with a clear seasonal swing between 5.4 and 6.9 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 4.2 months, from around Jan 30 to Jun 6. The brightest month is April, averaging about 6.9 kWh/m² (intense).

The dimmest month is July, down near 5.5 kWh/m² — roughly 20% less than the April peak.

012345678JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmerbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightintenseApr 116.9 kWhJul 295.4 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan5.9Bright
Feb6.4Intense
Mar6.7Intense
Apr6.9Intense
May6.7Intense
Jun6.0Bright
Jul5.5Bright
Aug5.7Bright
Sep6.2Intense
Oct6.3Intense
Nov6.1Intense
Dec5.8Bright

Where is Sek’ot’a?

Sek’ot’a sits at 12.6°N, 39.0°E, 2,240 m above sea level, in Ethiopia. The nearest listed city is Korem, 55 km away.

Ābīy ĀdīMekeleWeldiya

Topography around Sek’ot’a

How much the land rises and falls, and what covers it, within 3, 16 and 80 km of Sek’ot’a.

Within 3 km, the terrain around Sek’ot’a has large variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 601 m around an average of 2,227 m above sea level; within 16 km, very significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 1,396 m; within 80 km, extreme variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 3,097 m.

The land around Sek’ot’a is covered by grassland (45%) and cropland (30%) within 3 km, grassland (43%) and cropland (39%) within 16 km, and grassland (46%), cropland (29%) and shrubs (21%) within 80 km.

3 km
601 m
16 km
1,396 m
80 km
3,097 m
treesshrubsgrasslandcroplandartificial surfacesbare terrainwater
Nearby: Korem 55 km · Maych’ew 58 km · Alamata 62 km · Lalibela 67 km · Mehoni 69 km · Ābīy Ādī 104 km · Mekele 107 km · Weldiya 108 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 Sek’ot’a (12.6306°, 39.0347°, elevation 2,240 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).