Climate and average weather in Wamena

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

Best: all year

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Wamena typically varies from 11°C to 21°C, and is rarely below 9°C or above 23°C. December is the hottest month of the year, while July is the coldest.

Based on the travel score, Wamena has no single best season — it scores well the whole year round, so any month is a good time to visit for warm-weather activities.

Hottest
Dec
21°
Coldest
Jul
11°
Wettest
Mar
427 mm
Driest
Jun
213 mm
Rain / yr
3686 mm
334 wet days
Daylight
11.8–12.2 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
1,488 m
4.1°S
Clearest
Aug
83% cloud

Wamena 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 holds near its peak the whole year round.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

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

Temperatures in Wamena stay fairly even through the year, without a distinct hot or cool season. The warmest month is December, with an average high of 21°C and low of 12°C; the coolest is July, with an average low of 11°C and high of 19°C.

Days typically run about 9°C warmer than nights year-round.

10°15°20°25°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan2112
Feb2112
Mar2112
Apr2112
May2012
Jun2011
Jul1911
Aug2011
Sep2011
Oct2012
Nov2112
Dec2112

Average hourly temperature in Wamena

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 December afternoons, near 21°C, and coldest before dawn in July, near 11°C.

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

Wamena 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
Jan21° / 12°40428.912.23.4
Feb21° / 12°40727.312.13.2
Mar21° / 12°42730.3123.2
Apr21° / 12°35928.511.93.3
May20° / 12°23327.111.83.7
Jun20° / 11°21325.411.83.8
Jul19° / 11°23225.911.83.8
Aug20° / 11°25827.811.93.6
Sep20° / 11°27527.7123.5
Oct20° / 12°26128.212.13.5
Nov21° / 12°25927.612.23.5
Dec21° / 12°35929.212.23.4

Chance of rain

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

Wamena gets about 3686 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 6.0 months, from around Oct 29 to Apr 30, peaking in March at about 98% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Jul 6.

March is the wettest month by volume, with 427 mm over about 30 wet days; June is the driest, with 213 mm.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%110%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwetterdrierwettermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetMar 22 · 98%Jul 6 · 80%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan9329
Feb9727
Mar9830
Apr9529
May8727
Jun8425
Jul8426
Aug9028
Sep9228
Oct9128
Nov9228
Dec9429

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Wamena collects about 3686 mm of rain across 334 wet days — roughly 307 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. March is the wettest month with 427 mm, while June is the driest at just 213 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 34% of the year’s total.

050100150200250300350400450500JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec404407427359233213232258275261259359
Rainfall (mm)Rain days
Jan40429
Feb40727
Mar42730
Apr35929
May23327
Jun21325
Jul23226
Aug25828
Sep27528
Oct26128
Nov25928
Dec35929

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

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

The clearer part of the year begins around May 10 and lasts for 4.8 months, ending around October 3. The clearest month is July, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 9% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around October 4 and lasts for 7.2 months, ending around May 9. The cloudiest month is February, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 100% 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%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecJul 10 · 10%Feb 2 · 0%mostly cloudyovercastcloudierclearercloudier
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan199
Feb0100
Mar199
Apr199
May496
Jun892
Jul991
Aug892
Sep595
Oct298
Nov199
Dec0100

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. Close to the equator, Wamena barely changes through the year: days stay near 12 h 12 min of light in every season.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan12.25:476:00
Feb12.15:556:03
Mar12.05:535:55
Apr11.95:475:42
May11.85:465:35
Jun11.85:525:37
Jul11.85:565:43
Aug11.95:525:44
Sep12.05:395:38
Oct12.15:265:32
Nov12.25:245:35
Dec12.25:335:47

Sunny days

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

Wamena gets about 0 sunny days a month gloomy — and it barely shifts through the year, holding between 0 and 1 days every month. Clear skies here are a flat line, not a season.

05JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgloomyJul 131 daysJan 10 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan0Gloomy
Feb0Gloomy
Mar0Gloomy
Apr0Gloomy
May0Gloomy
Jun0Gloomy
Jul1Gloomy
Aug1Gloomy
Sep0Gloomy
Oct0Gloomy
Nov0Gloomy
Dec0Gloomy

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 Wamena, the air stays dry or comfortable essentially all year. Even in March, the muggiest month, it feels humid or worse only about 1% of the time — humidity is not something you need to plan around here.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDeccomfortabledry
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)Humid (%)
Jan19810
Feb18821
Mar14851
Apr11891
May22780
Jun39610
Jul55450
Aug56440
Sep47530
Oct36640
Nov22780
Dec14860

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

0510JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDeccalmJan 1 · 3 km/hJun 12 · 3 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan3calm
Feb3calm
Mar3calm
Apr3calm
May3calm
Jun3calm
Jul3calm
Aug3calm
Sep3calm
Oct3calm
Nov3calm
Dec3calm

Best time to visit Wamena

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

The travel score favors clear, rainless days with daytime highs between 18°C and 28°C. In Wamena it holds close to 3.9 all year, so any month is about as good as another for general outdoor tourist activities.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDectravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitation

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
Jan3.4poor
Feb3.2poor
Mar3.2poor
Apr3.3poor
May3.7fair
Jun3.8fair
Jul3.8fair
Aug3.6fair
Sep3.5poor
Oct3.5fair
Nov3.5poor
Dec3.4poor

The beach/pool score favors clear, rainless days with daytime highs between 24°C and 34°C. In Wamena it holds close to 2.1 all year, so any month is about as good as another for hot-weather activities.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitation

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 Wamena, 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.

Wamena packs about the same all year — highs hold near 21°C. Across the year the things worth having are rain gear.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In December, Wamena sees daytime highs around 21°C and nights near 12°C. Pack rain gear. About 29 days see rain.

UV index (midday) in Wamena 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 Wamena peaks around March 13 at about 19 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near June 22 at about 13 (extreme).

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

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecExtremeMar 13UV 19Jun 22UV 13
UV index (midday)Level
Jan17Extreme
Feb18Extreme
Mar19Extreme
Apr17Extreme
May14Extreme
Jun13Extreme
Jul13Extreme
Aug14Extreme
Sep16Extreme
Oct16Extreme
Nov15Extreme
Dec15Extreme

Average hourly UV index in Wamena

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
Feb97.5
Mar8.57
Apr8.57
May86.5
Jun86
Jul86
Aug86.5
Sep8.56.5
Oct8.57
Nov8.57
Dec8.57
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free dayFrost-free year round

Wamena 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. Wamena banks about 2,179 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around December.

05001,0001,5002,000JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°C·days)
Jan196
Feb178
Mar199
Apr190
May188
Jun164
Jul159
Aug162
Sep166
Oct186
Nov190
Dec201

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.

Wamena receives about 4.2 kWh/m² a day of solar energy — bright — and it stays remarkably steady, holding between 4.0 and 4.7 kWh/m² all year. For solar panels, output here is a flat line, not a seasonal wave.

0123456JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmoderatebrightOct 84.7 kWhApr 114.0 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan4.4Bright
Feb4.2Bright
Mar4.2Bright
Apr4.0Moderate
May4.1Bright
Jun4.0Moderate
Jul4.0Moderate
Aug4.3Bright
Sep4.5Bright
Oct4.6Bright
Nov4.5Bright
Dec4.3Bright

Where is Wamena?

Wamena sits at 4.1°S, 138.9°E, 1,488 m above sea level, in Indonesia. The nearest listed city is Tiom, 58 km away.

Nabire

Topography around Wamena

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Wamena has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 243 m around an average of 1,662 m above sea level; within 16 km, extreme variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 2,670 m; within 80 km, extreme variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 4,664 m.

The land around Wamena is covered by grassland (58%) and trees (21%) within 3 km, trees (55%) and grassland (42%) within 16 km, and trees (92%) within 80 km.

3 km
243 m
16 km
2,670 m
80 km
4,664 m
treesshrubsgrasslandartificial surfacesbare terrainwaterwetland
Nearby: Tiom 58 km · Mulia 115 km · Agats 185 km · Sentani 243 km · Abepura 251 km · Timika 258 km · Jayapura 262 km · Nabire 391 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 Wamena (-4.0958°, 138.9481°, elevation 1,488 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. Topography is sampled from the Copernicus DEM GLO-90 elevation model (© ESA/Airbus) and ESA WorldCover 2021 land cover (CC BY 4.0).