Climate and average weather in Sifra

In Sifra, the summers are sweltering, dry, and mostly clear and the winters are warm and mostly clear.

Best: late October to late February

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Sifra typically varies from 15°C to 35°C, and is rarely below 11°C or above 36°C. June is the hottest month of the year, while January is the coldest.

Based on the travel score, the best time of year to visit Sifra for warm-weather activities is from late October to late February.

Hottest
Jun
35°
Coldest
Jan
15°
Wettest
Apr
68 mm
Driest
Jun
2 mm
Rain / yr
392 mm
74 wet days
Daylight
11.3–12.7 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
936 m
11.6°N
Clearest
Nov
24% cloud

Sifra 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 October to late February.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

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

The hot season lasts 2.4 months, from May 13 to July 25, with daily high temperatures above 32°C. The hottest month of the year in Sifra is June, with an average high of 35°C and low of 22°C.

The cool season lasts 2.6 months, from November 27 to February 14, with daily high temperatures below 28°C. The coldest month of the year in Sifra is January, with an average low of 15°C and high of 26°C.

Days typically run about 12°C warmer than nights year-round.

10°15°20°25°30°35°40°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan2615
Feb2816
Mar2918
Apr3119
May3321
Jun3522
Jul3322
Aug3221
Sep3221
Oct3018
Nov2816
Dec2715

How hot and cold Sifra really feels

Feels-like highFeels-like lowactual air temp

The felt-temperature range through the year — heat index on the day's high (summer humidity), wind chill on the night's low (winter wind). The dashed lines are the plain thermometer; the gap is how much hotter or colder it really feels.

On the hottest afternoons, once humidity is folded in, Sifra feels like about 35°C (around June 13). About 85 days a year carry some heat stress, peaking in June.

10°15°20°25°30°35°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Feels-like high (°C)Air high (°C)Feels-like low (°C)Air low (°C)
Jan26261515
Feb28281616
Mar29291818
Apr31311919
May33332121
Jun35352222
Jul33332222
Aug32322121
Sep32322021
Oct30301818
Nov28281616
Dec27271515

Average hourly temperature in Sifra

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 June afternoons, near 35°C, and coldest before dawn in January, near 15°C.

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

Sifra 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° / 15°315.911.47.6
Feb28° / 16°254.811.67.2
Mar29° / 18°6710.311.95.5
Apr31° / 19°6810.512.34.8
May33° / 21°244.512.54.3
Jun35° / 22°20.712.73.5
Jul33° / 22°368.312.63.6
Aug32° / 21°5713.112.44.0
Sep32° / 21°22612.14.8
Oct30° / 18°183.911.76.0
Nov28° / 16°192.811.57.5
Dec27° / 15°223.211.38.2

Chance of rain

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

Sifra gets about 392 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 2.1 months, from around Jul 12 to Sep 13, peaking in August at about 46% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Jun 14.

April is the wettest month by volume, with 68 mm over about 11 wet days; June is the driest, with 2 mm.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdrierwetterdriermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetAug 5 · 46%Jun 14 · 2%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan196
Feb185
Mar3210
Apr3411
May155
Jun41
Jul278
Aug4113
Sep216
Oct124
Nov93
Dec113

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Sifra collects about 392 mm of rain across 74 wet days — roughly 33 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. April is the wettest month with 68 mm, while June is the driest at just 2 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 49% of the year’s total.

0255075100JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec31256768242365722181922
Rainfall (mm)Rain days
Jan316
Feb255
Mar6710
Apr6811
May245
Jun21
Jul368
Aug5713
Sep226
Oct184
Nov193
Dec223

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Sifra, the average share of the sky covered by clouds shows moderate seasonal variation over the course of the year.

The clearer part of the year begins around August 19 and lasts for 4.4 months, ending around December 29. The clearest month is November, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 88% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around December 30 and lasts for 4.2 months, ending around May 7. The cloudiest month is January, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 35% 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 11 · 89%Jan 16 · 60%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastcloudierclearer
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan6535
Feb6634
Mar6733
Apr7327
May7921
Jun7822
Jul7129
Aug7426
Sep8614
Oct8614
Nov8812
Dec8317

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 6, 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)
Jan11.46:486:11
Feb11.66:466:23
Mar11.96:326:27
Apr12.36:126:28
May12.56:006:32
Jun12.76:006:40
Jul12.66:076:44
Aug12.46:126:36
Sep12.16:126:16
Oct11.76:135:57
Nov11.56:215:49
Dec11.36:365:56

Sunny days

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

Sifra averages about 17 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 11 and 24 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 4.3 months, from around Aug 24 to Jan 2. The sunniest month is November, with roughly 23 sunny days (bright).

The greyest month is July, down near 13 sunny days — about 43% fewer than the November peak.

051015202530JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgreyersunniergloomymixedbrightbrilliantNov 1124 daysJul 3111 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan15Mixed
Feb14Mixed
Mar14Mixed
Apr15Bright
May19Bright
Jun18Bright
Jul13Mixed
Aug15Bright
Sep19Bright
Oct21Bright
Nov23Bright
Dec21Bright

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

The more humid part of the year lasts 3.8 months, from around January 18 to May 14. The muggiest month is March, when the air feels humid, muggy or worse about 32% of the time.

The most comfortable stretch runs from around May 15 to July 23, and June is the most comfortable month — the air is dry or comfortable 99% of the time.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecJun 15 · 100%Mar 25 · 62%humidcomfortabledryhumidcomfortablehumid
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)Humid (%)Muggy (%)
Jan6027130
Feb5726170
Mar4226302
Apr4025315
May6619131
Jun95410
Jul702180
Aug3941200
Sep603370
Oct761770
Nov791380
Dec751770

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 Sifra is steady company: average speeds sit near 7 km/hcalm — in every month of the year, with no meaningful windy or calm season.

051015JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDeccalmlight breezeJun 20 · 9 km/hApr 20 · 6 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan7calm
Feb7calm
Mar7calm
Apr6calm
May7calm
Jun8calm
Jul8calm
Aug7calm
Sep7calm
Oct7calm
Nov7calm
Dec7calm

Hazard calendar for Sifra

In seasonPeak

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

Sifra 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 Sifra

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

Around mid February, Sifra 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 Sifra for general outdoor tourist activities is from late October to late February, with a peak score in the third week of December.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationDec 19 · 8.3

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
Jan7.6ideal
Feb7.1good
Mar5.6good
Apr4.8fair
May4.3fair
Jun3.5poor
Jul3.6fair
Aug4.0fair
Sep4.8fair
Oct6.0good
Nov7.5ideal
Dec8.2ideal

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 Sifra for hot-weather activities run from early May to mid June and again from early September to mid March, with a peak score in the first week of November.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timebest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationNov 5 · 8.8

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 Sifra, 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 June (highs near 35°C), the essentials are light clothes and sun protection. In the cold season around January (highs near 26°C), pack light clothes and sun protection.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In June, Sifra sees daytime highs around 35°C and nights near 22°C. Pack light clothes and sun protection.

UV index (midday) in Sifra 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 Sifra peaks around March 18 at about 14 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near December 13 at about 9 (very high).

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

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecExtremeExtremeVery highMar 18UV 14Dec 13UV 9
UV index (midday)Level
Jan11Extreme
Feb12Extreme
Mar14Extreme
Apr13Extreme
May12Extreme
Jun11Extreme
Jul10Very high
Aug12Extreme
Sep12Extreme
Oct12Extreme
Nov10Very high
Dec9Very high

Average hourly UV index in Sifra

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)
Jan7.55.5
Feb7.55.5
Mar86.5
Apr86
May86
Jun86
Jul7.55
Aug85.5
Sep86
Oct7.55.5
Nov75
Dec74.5

Air quality in Sifra 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 Sifra is worst in September — around 42 µg/m³ PM2.5 (poor), and holds fairly steady the rest of the year.

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

0204060JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecModeratePoorModerateSep 942 µg/m³Nov 1729 µg/m³
PM2.5 (µg/m³)Level
Jan32Moderate
Feb33Moderate
Mar35Moderate
Apr32Moderate
May36Poor
Jun42Poor
Jul39Poor
Aug41Poor
Sep42Poor
Oct31Moderate
Nov29Moderate
Dec31Moderate
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free dayFrost-free year round

Sifra 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. Sifra banks about 5,223 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around June.

02,0004,000JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°C·days)
Jan322
Feb328
Mar419
Apr447
May515
Jun540
Jul539
Aug502
Sep481
Oct440
Nov361
Dec328

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.

Sifra receives about 6.0 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — bright — with a clear seasonal swing between 5.1 and 6.7 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 3.6 months, from around Feb 26 to Jun 16. The brightest month is April, averaging about 6.7 kWh/m² (intense).

The dimmest month is January, down near 5.2 kWh/m² — roughly 22% less than the April peak.

012345678JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmerbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightintenseApr 296.7 kWhJan 145.1 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan5.1Bright
Feb5.7Bright
Mar6.2Intense
Apr6.7Intense
May6.6Intense
Jun6.0Intense
Jul5.7Bright
Aug6.0Intense
Sep6.0Intense
Oct6.2Intense
Nov6.0Bright
Dec5.5Bright

Where is Sifra?

Sifra sits at 11.6°N, 40.0°E, 936 m above sea level, in Ethiopia. The nearest listed city is Mersa, 41 km away.

Topography around Sifra

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Sifra has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 129 m around an average of 939 m above sea level; within 16 km, large variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 854 m; within 80 km, extreme variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 3,295 m.

The land around Sifra is covered by grassland (60%) and shrubs (21%) within 3 km, grassland (46%) and shrubs (43%) within 16 km, and shrubs (38%) and grassland (27%) within 80 km.

3 km
129 m
16 km
854 m
80 km
3,295 m
treesshrubsgrasslandcroplandartificial surfacesbare terrainwetland
Nearby: Mersa 41 km · Batī 46 km · Hāyk’ 50 km · Weldiya 53 km · Kombolcha 65 km · Dessie 67 km · Harbu 80 km · Mīlē 84 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 Sifra (11.6046°, 40.0166°, elevation 936 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).