Climate and average weather in Isiolo

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

Best: late April to late October

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Isiolo typically varies from 15°C to 27°C, and is rarely below 13°C or above 29°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 Isiolo for warm-weather activities are from early January to late April and late April to late October.

Hottest
Mar
27°
Coldest
Jul
15°
Wettest
Nov
99 mm
Driest
Feb
23 mm
Rain / yr
570 mm
112 wet days
Daylight
12.0–12.0 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
1,095 m
0.4°N
Clearest
Sep
42% cloud

Isiolo is city.

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

Isiolo 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 April to late October.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

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

Temperatures in Isiolo stay fairly even through the year, without a distinct hot or cool season. The warmest month is March, with an average high of 27°C and low of 16°C; the coolest is July, with an average low of 15°C and high of 24°C.

Days typically run about 10°C warmer than nights, with the widest day–night swing (around 12°C) in February.

10°15°20°25°30°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan2615
Feb2715
Mar2716
Apr2717
May2617
Jun2516
Jul2415
Aug2515
Sep2616
Oct2616
Nov2416
Dec2515

Average hourly temperature in Isiolo

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 27°C, and coldest before dawn in July, near 15°C.

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

Isiolo 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°418.2127.3
Feb27° / 15°234.9127.4
Mar27° / 16°438.6126.9
Apr27° / 17°7611.3126.4
May26° / 17°477.5127.2
Jun25° / 16°285.6127.5
Jul24° / 15°387.8127.3
Aug25° / 15°409.1127.1
Sep26° / 16°275.7127.6
Oct26° / 16°5310126.8
Nov24° / 16°9919.8125.5
Dec25° / 15°5513.3126.6

Chance of rain

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

Isiolo gets about 570 mm of precipitation a year. On a typical day the chance of rain is often wet, but that rises and falls sharply with the seasons.

The wetter season lasts 2.6 months, from around Oct 16 to Jan 3, peaking in November at about 65% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around May 26.

November is the wettest month by volume, with 99 mm over about 20 wet days; February is the driest, with 23 mm.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdrierwettermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetNov 14 · 65%May 26 · 15%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan268
Feb195
Mar279
Apr3811
May258
Jun196
Jul248
Aug309
Sep206
Oct3410
Nov6320
Dec4313

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Isiolo collects about 570 mm of rain across 112 wet days — roughly 47 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. November is the wettest month with 99 mm, while February is the driest at just 23 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 40% of the year’s total.

0255075100125JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec412343764728384027539955
Rainfall (mm)Rain days
Jan418
Feb235
Mar439
Apr7611
May478
Jun286
Jul388
Aug409
Sep276
Oct5310
Nov9920
Dec5513

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Isiolo, 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 August 24 and lasts for 1.9 months, ending around October 21. The clearest month is September, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 75% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around June 7 and lasts for 2.6 months, ending around August 23. The cloudiest month is July, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 51% 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%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecSep 20 · 77%Jul 29 · 46%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastcloudierclearercloudier
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan6733
Feb7030
Mar6733
Apr5644
May6832
Jun5644
Jul4951
Aug5644
Sep7525
Oct6535
Nov5050
Dec6436

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, Isiolo 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)
Jan12.06:406:38
Feb12.06:456:44
Mar12.06:396:39
Apr12.06:306:30
May12.06:256:26
Jun12.06:296:31
Jul12.06:356:36
Aug12.06:336:34
Sep12.06:246:24
Oct12.06:156:14
Nov12.06:156:14
Dec12.06:266:25

Sunny days

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

Isiolo averages about 12 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 6 and 17 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 1.7 months, from around Aug 25 to Oct 16. The sunniest month is September, with roughly 16 sunny days (bright).

The greyest month is November, down near 7 sunny days — about 59% fewer than the September peak.

05101520JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgreyersunniergreyergloomymixedbrightSep 2117 daysNov 146 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan14Mixed
Feb14Bright
Mar15Mixed
Apr10Mixed
May14Mixed
Jun10Mixed
Jul8Gloomy
Aug10Mixed
Sep16Bright
Oct12Mixed
Nov6Gloomy
Dec11Mixed

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

The more humid part of the year lasts 2.0 months, from around March 20 to May 19. The muggiest month is April, when the air feels humid, muggy or worse about 25% of the time.

The most comfortable stretch runs from around May 20 to October 25, and September is the most comfortable month — the air is dry or comfortable 100% of the time.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecSep 5 · 100%Apr 29 · 68%humidcomfortabledryhumidcomfortablehumid
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)Humid (%)
Jan56395
Feb66304
Mar46468
Apr146225
May196614
Jun51472
Jul74260
Aug79210
Sep82180
Oct49474
Nov116921
Dec296210

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 Isiolo is typically calm, near 8 km/h, and varies little with the seasons.

The windier part of the year lasts 5.8 months, from around May 5 to Oct 28. The windiest month is September, averaging about 9 km/h (calm).

The calmer part of the year runs from around Oct 29 to Feb 23, with December the calmest month at about 6 km/h.

051015JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDeccalmerwindiercalmercalmlight breezeSep 29 · 9 km/hDec 1 · 6 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan7calm
Feb8calm
Mar8calm
Apr8calm
May8calm
Jun8calm
Jul8calm
Aug8calm
Sep9calm
Oct9calm
Nov7calm
Dec6calm

Best time to visit Isiolo

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

Around mid October, Isiolo 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 Isiolo for general outdoor tourist activities is from mid December to late October, with a peak score in the last week of May.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationMay 27 · 7.8

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
Jan7.2good
Feb7.4good
Mar6.9good
Apr6.4good
May7.2good
Jun7.5ideal
Jul7.3good
Aug7.1good
Sep7.5ideal
Oct6.8good
Nov5.5good
Dec6.6good

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 Isiolo for hot-weather activities is from late December to late October, with a peak score in the last week of September.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationSep 23 · 7.6

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 Isiolo, 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.

Isiolo packs about the same all year — highs hold near 27°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, Isiolo sees daytime highs around 27°C and nights near 16°C. Pack light clothes and sun protection. Worth having: rain gear. About 9 days see rain.

UV index (midday) in Isiolo 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 Isiolo peaks around March 17 at about 16 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near June 19 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 19UV 11
UV index (midday)Level
Jan15Extreme
Feb15Extreme
Mar16Extreme
Apr15Extreme
May12Extreme
Jun10Extreme
Jul11Extreme
Aug12Extreme
Sep13Extreme
Oct14Extreme
Nov13Extreme
Dec12Extreme

Average hourly UV index in Isiolo

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

Air quality in Isiolo 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 Isiolo 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

Isiolo 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. Isiolo banks about 3,881 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around April.

01,0002,0003,0004,000JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°C·days)
Jan313
Feb308
Mar362
Apr354
May356
Jun312
Jul300
Aug307
Sep322
Oct344
Nov302
Dec302

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.

Isiolo receives about 6.1 kWh/m² a day of solar energy — intense — and it stays remarkably steady, holding between 5.4 and 6.8 kWh/m² all year. For solar panels, output here is a flat line, not a seasonal wave.

012345678JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmoderatebrightintenseFeb 256.8 kWhNov 215.4 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan6.3Intense
Feb6.8Intense
Mar6.6Intense
Apr6.0Bright
May5.9Bright
Jun5.7Bright
Jul5.5Bright
Aug5.9Bright
Sep6.7Intense
Oct6.3Intense
Nov5.4Bright
Dec5.8Bright

Where is Isiolo?

Isiolo sits at 0.4°N, 37.6°E, 1,095 m above sea level, in Kenya. The nearest listed city is Meru, 35 km away.

NanyukiChukaEmbuKerugoyaGarba TulaKaratina

Topography around Isiolo

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Isiolo has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 146 m around an average of 1,107 m above sea level; within 16 km, large variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 833 m; within 80 km, extreme variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 4,636 m.

The land around Isiolo is covered by grassland (39%), artificial surfaces (25%) and shrubs (24%) within 3 km, grassland (42%) and shrubs (39%) within 16 km, and shrubs (40%) and grassland (36%) within 80 km.

3 km
146 m
16 km
833 m
80 km
4,636 m
treesshrubsgrasslandcroplandartificial surfacesbare terrain
Nearby: Meru 35 km · Maua 42 km · Nanyuki 69 km · Chuka 77 km · Embu 100 km · Kerugoya 101 km · Garba Tula 106 km · Karatina 106 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 Isiolo (0.3546°, 37.5822°, elevation 1,095 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).