Climate and average weather in Chuka

In Chuka, the weather is hot, wet, and mostly clear and remarkably steady, with daytime highs holding near hot levels all year. The wettest stretch peaks around November.

Best: mid May to mid October

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Chuka typically varies from 17°C to 29°C, and is rarely below 16°C or above 31°C. March is the hottest month of the year, while July is the coldest.

Based on the travel score, the best times of year to visit Chuka for warm-weather activities are from early January to mid March and mid May to mid October.

Hottest
Mar
29°
Coldest
Jul
17°
Wettest
Nov
123 mm
Driest
Jul
15 mm
Rain / yr
597 mm
107 wet days
Daylight
12.0–12.0 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
1,452 m
0.3°S
Clearest
Feb
42% cloud

Chuka is human settlement in Kenya.

Air quality: WHO Ambient Air Quality Database. Density & description: Wikidata (CC0), GeoNames.

Chuka 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 May to mid October.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

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

Temperatures in Chuka stay fairly even through the year, without a distinct hot or cool season. The warmest month is March, with an average high of 29°C and low of 19°C; the coolest is July, with an average low of 17°C and high of 25°C.

Days typically run about 9°C warmer than nights, with the widest day–night swing (around 11°C) in February.

15°20°25°30°35°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan2718
Feb2918
Mar2919
Apr2719
May2719
Jun2618
Jul2517
Aug2617
Sep2818
Oct2819
Nov2618
Dec2618

Average hourly temperature in Chuka

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 March afternoons, near 29°C, and coldest before dawn in July, near 17°C.

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

Chuka 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
Jan27° / 18°336.3127.3
Feb29° / 18°224.1126.6
Mar29° / 19°499.1126.0
Apr27° / 19°12118.4125.3
May27° / 19°6612.5126.4
Jun26° / 18°214.4127.3
Jul25° / 17°153127.6
Aug26° / 17°193.5127.4
Sep28° / 18°163.2127.2
Oct28° / 19°6812.1126.0
Nov26° / 18°12320.1125.3
Dec26° / 18°4510.8126.8

Chance of rain

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

Chuka gets about 597 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 2.3 months, from around Oct 11 to Dec 20, peaking in November at about 67% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Jul 11.

November is the wettest month by volume, with 123 mm over about 20 wet days; July is the driest, with 15 mm.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdrierwettermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetNov 11 · 67%Jul 11 · 7%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan206
Feb164
Mar299
Apr6018
May4013
Jun154
Jul93
Aug124
Sep123
Oct3912
Nov6420
Dec3611

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Chuka collects about 597 mm of rain across 107 wet days — roughly 50 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. November is the wettest month with 123 mm, while July is the driest at just 15 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 52% of the year’s total.

0255075100125150JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec33224912166211519166812345
Rainfall (mm)Rain days
Jan336
Feb224
Mar499
Apr12118
May6613
Jun214
Jul153
Aug194
Sep163
Oct6812
Nov12320
Dec4511

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Chuka, 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 November 29 and lasts for 4.6 months, ending around April 18. The clearest month is February, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 71% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around June 2 and lasts for 3.2 months, ending around September 6. The cloudiest month is July, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 70% 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%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecFeb 27 · 74%Jul 25 · 27%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastclearercloudierclearer
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan7030
Feb7129
Mar7030
Apr5842
May6238
Jun4060
Jul3070
Aug3862
Sep6535
Oct6337
Nov5149
Dec6931

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, Chuka barely changes through the year: days stay near 12 hours of light in every season.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan12.06:386:39
Feb12.06:446:44
Mar12.06:396:39
Apr12.06:306:29
May12.06:266:25
Jun12.06:306:29
Jul12.06:366:35
Aug12.06:346:33
Sep12.06:246:24
Oct12.06:146:15
Nov12.06:146:15
Dec12.06:256:26

Sunny days

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

Chuka averages about 11 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 3 and 17 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 4.3 months, from around Dec 2 to Apr 11. The sunniest month is February, with roughly 16 sunny days (bright).

The greyest month is July, down near 4 sunny days — about 77% fewer than the February peak.

05101520JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecsunniergreyersunniergloomymixedbrightFeb 2717 daysJul 223 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan16Bright
Feb15Bright
Mar16Bright
Apr10Mixed
May11Mixed
Jun6Gloomy
Jul4Gloomy
Aug6Gloomy
Sep12Mixed
Oct11Mixed
Nov8Gloomy
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 Chuka, how humid it feels changes dramatically over the year.

The more humid part of the year lasts 2.8 months, from around March 10 to June 1. The muggiest month is April, when the air feels humid, muggy or worse about 91% of the time.

The most comfortable stretch runs from around June 2 to October 18, and July is the most comfortable month — the air is dry or comfortable 98% of the time.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecJul 15 · 99%Apr 24 · 5%muggycomfortablehumiddryhumidcomfortablehumid
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)Humid (%)Muggy (%)
Jan1645363
Feb2247283
Mar936496
Apr097020
May124678
Jun1168210
Jul346420
Aug415720
Sep415540
Oct1446381
Nov111818
Dec425655

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 Chuka is typically calm, near 7 km/h, and varies little with the seasons.

The windier part of the year lasts 5.2 months, from around May 11 to Oct 14. The windiest month is August, averaging about 10 km/h (calm).

The calmer part of the year runs from around Oct 15 to May 10, with November the calmest month at about 5 km/h.

051015JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDeccalmerwindiercalmercalmlight breezeAug 12 · 10 km/hNov 16 · 5 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan7calm
Feb7calm
Mar6calm
Apr6calm
May8calm
Jun9calm
Jul9calm
Aug10calm
Sep9calm
Oct7calm
Nov5calm
Dec6calm

Best time to visit Chuka

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

Around early October, Chuka 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 times of year to visit Chuka for general outdoor tourist activities run from mid May to mid October and again from early December to mid March, with a peak score in the second week of July.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timebest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationJul 12 · 7.7

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
Jan7.3good
Feb6.7good
Mar6.0good
Apr5.3fair
May6.3good
Jun7.3good
Jul7.6ideal
Aug7.4good
Sep7.2good
Oct6.0good
Nov5.3fair
Dec6.7good

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 Chuka for hot-weather activities run from mid May to mid October and again from mid December to late March, with a peak score in the last week of February.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationFeb 25 · 8.2

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 Chuka, 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.

Chuka packs about the same all year — highs hold near 29°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 March, Chuka sees daytime highs around 29°C and nights near 19°C. Pack light clothes and sun protection. Worth having: rain gear. About 9 days see rain.

UV index (midday) in Chuka 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 Chuka peaks around March 17 at about 16 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near June 18 at about 11 (extreme).

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

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecExtremeMar 17UV 16Jun 18UV 11
UV index (midday)Level
Jan15Extreme
Feb15Extreme
Mar16Extreme
Apr15Extreme
May12Extreme
Jun10Extreme
Jul11Extreme
Aug12Extreme
Sep14Extreme
Oct14Extreme
Nov13Extreme
Dec13Extreme

Average hourly UV index in Chuka

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)
Jan86.5
Feb8.57
Mar8.56.5
Apr8.56.5
May86
Jun7.55.5
Jul7.55.5
Aug86
Sep86
Oct86.5
Nov86.5
Dec86

Air quality in Chuka 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 Chuka is worst in February — around 32 µg/m³ PM2.5 (moderate), about 1.7× the cleanest month (September, 19 µg/m³).

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

010203040JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecModerateFeb 1832 µg/m³Sep 1819 µg/m³
PM2.5 (µg/m³)Level
Jan30Moderate
Feb32Moderate
Mar31Moderate
Apr28Moderate
May25Moderate
Jun28Moderate
Jul27Moderate
Aug21Moderate
Sep19Moderate
Oct20Moderate
Nov29Moderate
Dec32Moderate
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free dayFrost-free year round

Chuka 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. Chuka banks about 4,541 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)
Jan382
Feb372
Mar428
Apr397
May393
Jun353
Jul346
Aug359
Sep384
Oct405
Nov356
Dec365

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.

Chuka receives about 5.6 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — bright — with a clear seasonal swing between 4.6 and 6.6 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 4.1 months, from around Dec 16 to Apr 18. The brightest month is February, averaging about 6.5 kWh/m² (intense).

The dimmest month is July, down near 4.6 kWh/m² — roughly 29% less than the February peak.

012345678JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightintenseFeb 216.6 kWhJul 204.6 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan6.1Intense
Feb6.6Intense
Mar6.3Intense
Apr5.7Bright
May5.5Bright
Jun4.8Bright
Jul4.6Bright
Aug5.1Bright
Sep6.1Intense
Oct6.0Intense
Nov5.1Bright
Dec5.6Bright

Where is Chuka?

Chuka sits at 0.3°S, 37.6°E, 1,452 m above sea level, in Kenya. The nearest listed city is Embu, 31 km away.

KaruriMurang’aMaua

Topography around Chuka

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Chuka has significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 253 m around an average of 1,425 m above sea level; within 16 km, very significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 1,337 m; within 80 km, extreme variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 4,746 m.

The land around Chuka is covered by trees (83%) within 3 km, trees (66%) and shrubs (22%) within 16 km, and shrubs (41%) and trees (27%) within 80 km.

3 km
253 m
16 km
1,337 m
80 km
4,746 m
treesshrubsgrasslandcroplandartificial surfaceswaterwetland
Nearby: Embu 31 km · Meru 42 km · Kerugoya 45 km · Wanguru 51 km · Karatina 60 km · Karuri 66 km · Murang’a 70 km · Maua 71 km

Kenya travel facts

Travel advisory
Level 2
Exercise Increased Caution
Power plugs
Type G
240 V · 50 Hz
Prices
≈ 34% of US
price level, 2025
GDP per capita
$2,363
2025
Happiness
4.7 / 10
World Happiness, 2025
Homicide rate
4.9
per 100k, 2022
Road deaths
28.3
per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group
Lower middle
World Bank
English
High
EF EPI 593
Religion
Christian 86%Muslim 11%other 2%none 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 Chuka (-0.3332°, 37.6459°, elevation 1,452 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).