Climate and average weather in Waka

In Waka, the summers are hot, fairly dry, and partly cloudy and the winters are warm and mostly cloudy.

Best: mid October to late December

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Waka typically varies from 16°C to 31°C, and is rarely below 13°C or above 34°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 Waka for warm-weather activities are from early January to mid February and mid October to late December.

Hottest
Feb
31°
Coldest
Jul
16°
Wettest
Sep
224 mm
Driest
Dec
17 mm
Rain / yr
1301 mm
201 wet days
Daylight
11.6–12.4 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
2,312 m
7.1°N
Clearest
Dec
40% cloud

Waka 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 October to late December.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

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

Temperatures in Waka stay fairly even through the year, without a distinct hot or cool season. The warmest month is February, with an average high of 31°C and low of 18°C; the coolest is July, with an average low of 16°C and high of 24°C.

Days typically run about 11°C warmer than nights, with the widest day–night swing (around 14°C) in December.

10°15°20°25°30°35°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan3016
Feb3118
Mar3118
Apr2918
May2717
Jun2516
Jul2416
Aug2516
Sep2616
Oct2716
Nov2916
Dec2916

Average hourly temperature in Waka

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 31°C, and coldest before dawn in July, near 16°C.

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

Waka 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
Jan30° / 16°184.611.65.9
Feb31° / 18°194.611.85.1
Mar31° / 18°6111.8124.4
Apr29° / 18°15422.212.23.9
May27° / 17°1962612.34.1
Jun25° / 16°13124.912.44.4
Jul24° / 16°15125.312.44.5
Aug25° / 16°16925.912.24.3
Sep26° / 16°22428.3124.0
Oct27° / 16°12116.811.85.3
Nov29° / 16°396.611.76.1
Dec29° / 16°173.511.66.4

Chance of rain

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

Waka gets about 1301 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 6.6 months, from around Mar 30 to Oct 15, peaking in September at about 95% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Dec 18.

September is the wettest month by volume, with 224 mm over about 28 wet days; December is the driest, with 17 mm.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%110%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdrierwetterdriermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetSep 17 · 95%Dec 18 · 10%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan155
Feb175
Mar3812
Apr7322
May8426
Jun8225
Jul8225
Aug8426
Sep9228
Oct5517
Nov227
Dec124

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Waka collects about 1301 mm of rain across 201 wet days — roughly 108 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. September is the wettest month with 224 mm, while December is the driest at just 17 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 45% of the year’s total.

050100150200250JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec1819611541961311511692241213917
Rainfall (mm)Rain days
Jan185
Feb195
Mar6112
Apr15422
May19626
Jun13125
Jul15125
Aug16926
Sep22428
Oct12117
Nov397
Dec174

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Waka, 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 October 13 and lasts for 5.4 months, ending around March 25. The clearest month is December, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 76% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around March 26 and lasts for 6.6 months, ending around October 12. The cloudiest month is July, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 73% 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 17 · 79%Aug 1 · 23%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastclearercloudierclearer
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan6832
Feb6535
Mar5446
Apr3466
May3466
Jun3862
Jul2773
Aug2773
Sep4258
Oct5149
Nov6535
Dec7624

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 23, brings about 12 h 24 min of light; the shortest, around January 1, only 11 h 36 min — a swing of roughly 0 h 48 min.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan11.66:526:30
Feb11.86:536:39
Mar12.06:426:40
Apr12.26:276:36
May12.36:186:37
Jun12.46:196:44
Jul12.46:266:48
Aug12.26:286:42
Sep12.06:256:27
Oct11.86:216:12
Nov11.76:266:07
Dec11.66:406:15

Sunny days

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

Waka averages about 6 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 0 and 16 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 5.4 months, from around Oct 18 to Mar 29. The sunniest month is December, with roughly 15 sunny days (mixed).

The greyest month is July, down near 1 sunny days — about 96% fewer than the December peak.

05101520JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecsunniergreyersunniergloomymixedbrightDec 1516 daysJul 250 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan12Mixed
Feb10Mixed
Mar8Gloomy
Apr3Gloomy
May3Gloomy
Jun2Gloomy
Jul1Gloomy
Aug1Gloomy
Sep2Gloomy
Oct6Gloomy
Nov11Mixed
Dec15Mixed

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

The more humid part of the year lasts 6.4 months, from around April 7 to October 18. The muggiest month is May, when the air feels humid, muggy or worse about 92% of the time.

The most comfortable stretch runs from around October 19 to April 6, and December is the most comfortable month — the air is dry or comfortable 96% of the time.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecDec 27 · 98%May 20 · 7%humidcomfortabledrycomfortablehumidcomfortable
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)Humid (%)Muggy (%)
Jan772130
Feb742330
Mar4736180
Apr1126621
May17902
Jun018810
Jul032680
Aug024760
Sep115840
Oct1930510
Nov5927140
Dec762040

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 Waka is steady company: average speeds sit near 3 km/hcalm — in every month of the year, with no meaningful windy or calm season.

0510JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDeccalmFeb 5 · 4 km/hMay 17 · 3 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan3calm
Feb3calm
Mar3calm
Apr3calm
May3calm
Jun3calm
Jul3calm
Aug3calm
Sep3calm
Oct3calm
Nov3calm
Dec3calm

Hazard calendar for Waka

In seasonPeak

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

Waka's rainy season runs April–October, when most of the year's rain falls.

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

Best time to visit Waka

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

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

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationDec 17 · 6.5

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
Jan5.9good
Feb5.1fair
Mar4.4fair
Apr3.9fair
May4.1fair
Jun4.4fair
Jul4.5fair
Aug4.3fair
Sep4.0fair
Oct5.3fair
Nov6.1good
Dec6.4good

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 Waka for hot-weather activities is from late October to mid March, with a peak score in the third week of December.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationDec 18 · 8.4

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 Waka, 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 February (highs near 31°C), the essentials are light clothes and sun protection. In the cold season around July (highs near 24°C), pack light clothes, rain gear and sun protection.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In February, Waka sees daytime highs around 31°C and nights near 18°C. Pack light clothes and sun protection. About 5 days see rain.

UV index (midday) in Waka 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 Waka peaks around March 16 at about 15 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near November 23 at about 11 (extreme).

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

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecExtremeMar 16UV 15Nov 23UV 11
UV index (midday)Level
Jan12Extreme
Feb14Extreme
Mar15Extreme
Apr14Extreme
May12Extreme
Jun11Extreme
Jul12Extreme
Aug14Extreme
Sep13Extreme
Oct13Extreme
Nov11Extreme
Dec11Extreme

Average hourly UV index in Waka

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)
Jan7.56
Feb86.5
Mar86.5
Apr86.5
May86
Jun86
Jul86
Aug86.5
Sep86
Oct86
Nov7.55.5
Dec7.55.5

Air quality in Waka 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 Waka is worst in January — around 69 µg/m³ PM2.5 (unhealthy), about 1.8× the cleanest month (May, 38 µg/m³).

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

020406080JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecUnhealthyPoorUnhealthyJan 1468 µg/m³May 938 µg/m³
PM2.5 (µg/m³)Level
Jan69Unhealthy
Feb61Unhealthy
Mar49Poor
Apr38Poor
May38Poor
Jun45Poor
Jul44Poor
Aug39Poor
Sep40Poor
Oct45Poor
Nov56Unhealthy
Dec65Unhealthy
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free dayFrost-free year round

Waka 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. Waka banks about 4,424 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around March.

01,0002,0003,0004,000JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°C·days)
Jan407
Feb400
Mar448
Apr399
May367
Jun322
Jul315
Aug321
Sep323
Oct363
Nov372
Dec387

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.

Waka receives about 5.6 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — bright — with a clear seasonal swing between 4.6 and 6.3 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 7.4 months, from around Sep 27 to May 8. The brightest month is March, averaging about 6.2 kWh/m² (intense).

The dimmest month is July, down near 4.6 kWh/m² — roughly 26% less than the March peak.

01234567JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbrighterdimmerbrighterdimmoderatebrightintenseMar 36.3 kWhJul 254.6 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan5.8Bright
Feb6.2Intense
Mar6.2Intense
Apr6.0Bright
May5.5Bright
Jun4.9Bright
Jul4.6Bright
Aug5.0Bright
Sep5.5Bright
Oct5.9Bright
Nov6.0Intense
Dec5.8Bright

Where is Waka?

Waka sits at 7.1°N, 37.2°E, 2,312 m above sea level, in Ethiopia. The nearest listed city is Tarch’a Sodo, 9.0 km away.

Topography around Waka

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Waka has large variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 870 m around an average of 2,109 m above sea level; within 16 km, very significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 1,819 m; within 80 km, extreme variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 2,838 m.

The land around Waka is covered by shrubs (49%) and trees (42%) within 3 km, shrubs (54%) and trees (26%) within 16 km, and shrubs (36%), trees (33%) and cropland (21%) within 80 km.

3 km
870 m
16 km
1,819 m
80 km
2,838 m
treesshrubsgrasslandcroplandartificial surfaceswater
Nearby: Tarch’a Sodo 9.0 km · Bale Hawassa 43 km · Gununo 56 km · Hadero 57 km · Āreka 59 km · Gasuba 59 km · Gīmbīcho 67 km · Shinshicho 69 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 Waka (7.0667°, 37.1667°, elevation 2,312 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).