Climate and average weather in Merauke

In Merauke, the weather is muggy, hot, wet, and mostly cloudy and remarkably steady, with daytime highs holding near hot levels all year. The wettest stretch peaks around March.

Best: early June to late September

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Merauke typically varies from 23°C to 31°C, and is rarely below 21°C or above 32°C. November is the hottest month of the year, while July is the coldest.

Based on the travel score, the best time of year to visit Merauke for warm-weather activities is from early June to late September.

Hottest
Nov
31°
Coldest
Jul
23°
Wettest
Mar
297 mm
Driest
Jul
27 mm
Rain / yr
1665 mm
211 wet days
Daylight
11.5–12.5 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
8 m
8.5°S
Clearest
Oct
65% cloud

Merauke 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 early June to late September.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

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

Temperatures in Merauke stay fairly even through the year, without a distinct hot or cool season. The warmest month is November, with an average high of 31°C and low of 25°C; the coolest is July, with an average low of 23°C and high of 28°C.

Days typically run about 5°C warmer than nights year-round.

20°25°30°35°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan3025
Feb2925
Mar2925
Apr2925
May2925
Jun2824
Jul2823
Aug2823
Sep2924
Oct3024
Nov3125
Dec3025

How hot and cold Merauke 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, Merauke feels like about 37°C (around December 25). About 249 days a year carry some heat stress, peaking in December.

20°25°30°35°40°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Feels-like high (°C)Air high (°C)Feels-like low (°C)Air low (°C)
Jan36302525
Feb36292525
Mar35292525
Apr35292525
May33292525
Jun31282424
Jul30282323
Aug30282323
Sep32292424
Oct33302424
Nov35312525
Dec37302525

Average hourly temperature in Merauke

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 November afternoons, near 31°C, and coldest before dawn in July, near 23°C.

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

Merauke 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° / 25°27527.812.42.9
Feb29° / 25°26025.812.32.9
Mar29° / 25°29727.312.13.0
Apr29° / 25°20622.411.83.5
May29° / 25°10618.111.64.4
Jun28° / 24°4912.311.55.5
Jul28° / 23°278.411.66.3
Aug28° / 23°277.611.76.3
Sep29° / 24°338125.5
Oct30° / 24°7011.612.24.7
Nov31° / 25°10616.212.43.9
Dec30° / 25°20825.512.53.1

Chance of rain

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

Merauke gets about 1665 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 5.8 months, from around Nov 22 to May 17, peaking in January at about 93% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Aug 17.

March is the wettest month by volume, with 297 mm over about 27 wet days; July is the driest, with 27 mm.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwetterdrierwettermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetJan 27 · 93%Aug 17 · 24%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan9028
Feb9226
Mar8827
Apr7522
May5818
Jun4112
Jul288
Aug258
Sep278
Oct3712
Nov5516
Dec8026

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Merauke collects about 1665 mm of rain across 211 wet days — roughly 139 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. March is the wettest month with 297 mm, while July is the driest at just 27 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 50% of the year’s total.

050100150200250300350JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec2752602972061064927273370106208
Rainfall (mm)Rain days
Jan27528
Feb26026
Mar29727
Apr20622
May10618
Jun4912
Jul278
Aug278
Sep338
Oct7012
Nov10616
Dec20826

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Merauke, 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 July 27 and lasts for 4.2 months, ending around December 1. The clearest month is October, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 39% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around December 2 and lasts for 4.7 months, ending around April 22. The cloudiest month is February, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 92% 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%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecOct 17 · 41%Mar 6 · 5%mostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastcloudierclearercloudier
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan991
Feb892
Mar892
Apr2179
May3367
Jun3070
Jul2575
Aug3070
Sep3367
Oct3961
Nov2971
Dec1783

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 January 1, brings about 12 h 30 min of light; the shortest, around May 30, only 11 h 30 min — a swing of roughly 1 hour.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan12.45:346:01
Feb12.35:456:01
Mar12.15:465:50
Apr11.85:445:33
May11.65:465:23
Jun11.55:535:24
Jul11.65:585:30
Aug11.75:515:34
Sep12.05:345:31
Oct12.25:185:29
Nov12.45:125:35
Dec12.55:205:49

Sunny days

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

Merauke averages about 3 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 0 and 6 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 4.3 months, from around Jul 29 to Dec 6. The sunniest month is October, with roughly 6 sunny days (gloomy).

The greyest month is March, down near 1 sunny days — about 85% fewer than the October peak.

0510JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgreyersunniergreyergloomymixedOct 206 daysMar 30 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan1Gloomy
Feb0Gloomy
Mar1Gloomy
Apr3Gloomy
May4Gloomy
Jun3Gloomy
Jul2Gloomy
Aug4Gloomy
Sep5Gloomy
Oct6Gloomy
Nov4Gloomy
Dec2Gloomy

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.

Merauke is humid all year round — on a typical day the air feels at least humid, and there is no real dry season to wait for.

The stickiest month is January, when it feels muggy, oppressive or miserable about 100% of the time. Even in January, the mildest month, the air is dry or comfortable only 0% of the time.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecmiserableoppressivemuggy
Humid (%)Muggy (%)Oppressive (%)Miserable (%)
Jan001981
Feb001882
Mar002971
Apr014554
May056827
Jun017776
Jul139591
Aug450451
Sep338553
Oct1236710
Nov055936
Dec002872

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 Merauke is typically light breeze, near 15 km/h, and varies moderately with the seasons.

The windier part of the year lasts 5.8 months, from around May 3 to Oct 27. The windiest month is July, averaging about 20 km/h (light breeze).

The calmer part of the year runs from around Oct 28 to May 2, with December the calmest month at about 10 km/h.

0510152025JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDeccalmerwindiercalmercalmlight breezebreezyJul 21 · 20 km/hDec 10 · 10 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan12calm
Feb13light breeze
Mar11calm
Apr12light breeze
May16light breeze
Jun19light breeze
Jul20light breeze
Aug19light breeze
Sep18light breeze
Oct16light breeze
Nov12light breeze
Dec10calm

Hazard calendar for Merauke

In seasonPeak

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

Merauke sits in the South Indian Ocean cyclone belt; the season peaks January–March.

Merauke's monsoon runs December–April, when most of the year's rain falls.

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

Best time to visit Merauke

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

Around mid June, Merauke 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 Merauke for general outdoor tourist activities is from early June to late September, with a peak score in the second week of August.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationAug 8 · 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
Jan2.9poor
Feb2.9poor
Mar3.0poor
Apr3.6fair
May4.4fair
Jun5.5fair
Jul6.3good
Aug6.2good
Sep5.5good
Oct4.7fair
Nov3.9fair
Dec3.1poor

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 Merauke for hot-weather activities is from late May to mid November, with a peak score in the second week of September.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationSep 13 · 7.1

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 Merauke, 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.

Merauke packs about the same all year — highs hold near 31°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 November, Merauke sees daytime highs around 31°C and nights near 25°C. Pack light clothes, rain gear and sun protection. About 16 days see rain.

Sea temperature near Merauke

Average ocean temperature at the nearest coast, month by month, banded into swim-comfort zones — the other half of the beach question.

The sea at the nearest coast (about 14 km away) is warmest in December at about 30°C and coldest in August near 26°C.

The water stays above 20°C all year — warm enough for a swim any month.

24°26°28°30°32°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwarmtropicalcomfortable to swim
Sea temperature (°C)Comfort
Jan30Tropical
Feb29Tropical
Mar29Tropical
Apr29Tropical
May28Warm
Jun27Warm
Jul26Warm
Aug26Warm
Sep27Warm
Oct28Warm
Nov29Tropical
Dec30Tropical

UV index (midday) in Merauke 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 Merauke peaks around March 11 at about 16 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near June 19 at about 9 (very high).

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

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecExtremeVery highExtremeMar 11UV 16Jun 19UV 9
UV index (midday)Level
Jan15Extreme
Feb16Extreme
Mar16Extreme
Apr14Extreme
May11Extreme
Jun9Very high
Jul10Very high
Aug12Extreme
Sep14Extreme
Oct13Extreme
Nov14Extreme
Dec14Extreme

Average hourly UV index in Merauke

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 7 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)
Jan8.57
Feb8.57
Mar8.57
Apr86
May7.55
Jun74.5
Jul7.55
Aug7.56
Sep86.5
Oct86
Nov86.5
Dec8.56.5

Air quality in Merauke 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 Merauke is worst in October — around 18 µg/m³ PM2.5 (moderate), about 2.3× the cleanest month (May, 8 µg/m³).

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

01020JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecGoodModerateOct 1817 µg/m³May 148 µg/m³
PM2.5 (µg/m³)Level
Jan10Good
Feb9Good
Mar9Good
Apr8Good
May8Good
Jun8Good
Jul8Good
Aug9Good
Sep13Moderate
Oct18Moderate
Nov14Moderate
Dec12Moderate
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free dayFrost-free year round

Merauke 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. Merauke banks about 6,134 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around November.

02,0004,0006,000JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°C·days)
Jan540
Feb482
Mar530
Apr512
May519
Jun483
Jul481
Aug482
Sep489
Oct532
Nov534
Dec551

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.

Merauke receives about 5.0 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — bright — with a clear seasonal swing between 4.0 and 6.1 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 5.0 months, from around Sep 1 to Jan 31. The brightest month is October, averaging about 6.0 kWh/m² (intense).

The dimmest month is July, down near 4.1 kWh/m² — roughly 32% less than the October peak.

01234567JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbrighterdimmerbrighterdimmoderatebrightintenseOct 296.1 kWhJul 14.0 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan5.3Bright
Feb5.0Bright
Mar5.0Bright
Apr4.8Bright
May4.5Bright
Jun4.1Bright
Jul4.0Bright
Aug4.6Bright
Sep5.5Bright
Oct6.0Intense
Nov6.1Intense
Dec5.5Bright

Where is Merauke?

Merauke sits at 8.5°S, 140.4°E, 8 m above sea level, in Indonesia. The nearest listed city is Daru, 315 km away.

DaruAgatsMendiWamenaTiomMuliaTimika

Topography around Merauke

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Merauke has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 13 m around an average of 4 m above sea level; within 16 km, only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 28 m; within 80 km, only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 52 m.

The land around Merauke is covered by trees (42%), artificial surfaces (26%) and grassland (20%) within 3 km, trees (42%) and water (41%) within 16 km, and trees (58%) and water (32%) within 80 km.

3 km
13 m
16 km
28 m
80 km
52 m
treesshrubsgrasslandcroplandartificial surfacesbare terrainwaterwetlandmangroves
Nearby: Daru 315 km · Agats 413 km · Mendi 444 km · Mount Hagen 514 km · Wamena 516 km · Tiom 553 km · Mulia 596 km · Timika 597 km

Indonesia travel facts

Travel advisory
Level 2
Exercise Increased Caution
Power plugs
Type C / F
230 V · 50 Hz
Prices
≈ 29% of US
price level, 2025
GDP per capita
$5,060
2025
Happiness
5.6 / 10
World Happiness, 2025
Safe drinking water
30%
of population, 2024
Homicide rate
0.3
per 100k, 2022
Road deaths
11.3
per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group
Upper middle
World Bank
English
Low
EF EPI 471
Religion
Muslim 87%Protestant 8%Roman Catholic 3%Hindu 2%

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 Merauke (-8.4996°, 140.4061°, elevation 8 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. Tropical-cyclone seasons are the published climatological basin seasons (NOAA National Hurricane Center / regional warning centres). Sea temperatures are the NOAA OISST v2.1 1991–2020 monthly climatology (public domain), sampled at the nearest ocean point. 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).