Climate and average weather in Kitui

In Kitui, the weather is hot, wet, and partly cloudy 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 Kitui typically varies from 16°C to 29°C, and is rarely below 15°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 Kitui for warm-weather activities are from mid January to early February and mid May to mid October.

Hottest
Mar
29°
Coldest
Jul
16°
Wettest
Nov
199 mm
Driest
Jul
4 mm
Rain / yr
805 mm
134 wet days
Daylight
11.9–12.1 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
1,154 m
1.4°S
Clearest
Feb
51% cloud

Kitui is municipality in Kitui County, Kenya.

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

Kitui 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 Kitui, from 1991–2020 of climate data. The shaded bands show the range most days fall in — 10th to 90th percentile.

Temperatures in Kitui 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 16°C and high of 25°C.

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

10°15°20°25°30°35°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan2718
Feb2918
Mar2919
Apr2819
May2618
Jun2617
Jul2516
Aug2616
Sep2717
Oct2818
Nov2719
Dec2618

Average hourly temperature in Kitui

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 16°C.

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

Kitui 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°6911.212.16.4
Feb29° / 18°497.6125.9
Mar29° / 19°9517124.8
Apr28° / 19°13523.2124.5
May26° / 18°5712.811.96.2
Jun26° / 17°72.411.97.5
Jul25° / 16°41.511.97.7
Aug26° / 16°51.5127.7
Sep27° / 17°72.1127.5
Oct28° / 18°499.7126.1
Nov27° / 19°19924.112.14.5
Dec26° / 18°1292112.15.1

Chance of rain

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

Kitui gets about 805 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 2.9 months, from around Oct 20 to Jan 15, peaking in November at about 86% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Jul 16.

November is the wettest month by volume, with 199 mm over about 24 wet days; July is the driest, with 4 mm.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdrierwettermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetNov 26 · 86%Jul 16 · 4%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan3711
Feb298
Mar5417
Apr7623
May4113
Jun92
Jul52
Aug52
Sep72
Oct3310
Nov7724
Dec6821

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Kitui collects about 805 mm of rain across 134 wet days — roughly 67 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. November is the wettest month with 199 mm, while July is the driest at just 4 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 57% of the year’s total.

050100150200250JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec69499513557745749199129
Rainfall (mm)Rain days
Jan6911
Feb498
Mar9517
Apr13523
May5713
Jun72
Jul42
Aug52
Sep72
Oct4910
Nov19924
Dec12921

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Kitui, 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 December 3 and lasts for 4.7 months, ending around April 24. The clearest month is February, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 65% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around May 30 and lasts for 3.4 months, ending around September 8. The cloudiest month is July, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 77% 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%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecMar 2 · 67%Jul 22 · 20%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastclearercloudierclearer
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan6337
Feb6535
Mar6436
Apr5149
May5149
Jun3070
Jul2377
Aug3169
Sep5545
Oct5644
Nov4555
Dec5842

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, Kitui barely changes through the year: days stay near 12 h 06 min of light in every season.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan12.16:356:39
Feb12.06:416:44
Mar12.06:376:38
Apr12.06:296:27
May11.96:266:22
Jun11.96:316:26
Jul11.96:366:31
Aug12.06:336:31
Sep12.06:236:22
Oct12.06:126:14
Nov12.16:116:15
Dec12.16:226:26

Sunny days

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

Kitui averages about 7 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 2 and 13 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 3.9 months, from around Dec 13 to Apr 11. The sunniest month is January, with roughly 11 sunny days (mixed).

The greyest month is July, down near 2 sunny days — about 79% fewer than the January peak.

051015JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecsunniergreyergloomymixedJan 2613 daysJul 202 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan11Mixed
Feb11Mixed
Mar11Mixed
Apr7Gloomy
May6Gloomy
Jun3Gloomy
Jul2Gloomy
Aug4Gloomy
Sep9Mixed
Oct8Mixed
Nov4Gloomy
Dec7Gloomy

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

The more humid part of the year lasts 7.3 months, from around October 22 to June 1. The muggiest month is April, when the air feels humid, muggy or worse about 99% of the time.

The most comfortable stretch runs from around June 2 to October 21, and July 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%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecJul 19 · 98%Apr 13 · 1%muggyhumidcomfortabledryhumidcomfortablehumid
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)Humid (%)Muggy (%)
Jan3185722
Feb2245717
Mar0114841
Apr013960
May0136720
Jun663301
Jul217540
Aug276940
Sep236790
Oct744427
Nov065143
Dec154847

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 Kitui is typically calm, near 10 km/h, and varies moderately with the seasons.

The windier part of the year lasts 5.9 months, from around May 1 to Oct 27. The windiest month is August, averaging about 13 km/h (light breeze).

The calmer part of the year runs from around Oct 28 to Apr 30, with December the calmest month at about 7 km/h.

05101520JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDeccalmerwindiercalmercalmlight breezeAug 21 · 13 km/hDec 5 · 7 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan7calm
Feb8calm
Mar8calm
Apr9calm
May11calm
Jun12light breeze
Jul13light breeze
Aug13light breeze
Sep13light breeze
Oct11calm
Nov8calm
Dec7calm

Hazard calendar for Kitui

In seasonPeak

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

Kitui's rainy season runs November–December, 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 Kitui

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

Around early October, Kitui 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 Kitui for general outdoor tourist activities run from mid January to early February and again from mid May to mid October, with a peak score in the third week of July.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationJul 15 · 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
Jan6.3good
Feb5.9good
Mar4.8fair
Apr4.5fair
May6.2good
Jun7.5good
Jul7.7ideal
Aug7.7ideal
Sep7.5ideal
Oct6.1good
Nov4.5fair
Dec5.1fair

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

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationSep 23 · 8.0

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 Kitui, 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.

Kitui 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, Kitui sees daytime highs around 29°C and nights near 19°C. Pack light clothes, rain gear and sun protection. About 17 days see rain.

UV index (midday) in Kitui 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 Kitui peaks around March 17 at about 16 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near June 17 at about 10 (extreme).

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

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecExtremeMar 17UV 16Jun 17UV 10
UV index (midday)Level
Jan15Extreme
Feb15Extreme
Mar16Extreme
Apr15Extreme
May12Extreme
Jun10Very high
Jul11Extreme
Aug12Extreme
Sep13Extreme
Oct14Extreme
Nov13Extreme
Dec13Extreme

Average hourly UV index in Kitui

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
May7.55.5
Jun7.55
Jul7.55.5
Aug86
Sep86
Oct86.5
Nov86.5
Dec86

Air quality in Kitui 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 Kitui is worst in December — around 20 µg/m³ PM2.5 (moderate), about 2.5× the cleanest month (October, 8 µg/m³).

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

0102030JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecModerateGoodModerateGoodModerateDec 2220 µg/m³Oct 118 µg/m³
PM2.5 (µg/m³)Level
Jan19Moderate
Feb17Moderate
Mar14Moderate
Apr14Moderate
May11Good
Jun13Moderate
Jul14Moderate
Aug11Good
Sep9Good
Oct8Good
Nov13Moderate
Dec20Moderate
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free dayFrost-free year round

Kitui 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. Kitui banks about 4,512 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)
Jan388
Feb380
Mar433
Apr400
May382
Jun338
Jul331
Aug341
Sep364
Oct402
Nov374
Dec378

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.

Kitui receives about 5.5 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — bright — with a clear seasonal swing between 4.6 and 6.5 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 4.2 months, from around Dec 19 to Apr 24. 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 226.5 kWhJul 164.6 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan6.0Intense
Feb6.5Intense
Mar6.2Intense
Apr5.7Bright
May5.3Bright
Jun4.7Bright
Jul4.5Bright
Aug4.9Bright
Sep5.9Bright
Oct6.1Intense
Nov5.1Bright
Dec5.4Bright

Where is Kitui?

Kitui sits at 1.4°S, 38.0°E, 1,154 m above sea level, in Kenya. The nearest listed city is Mwingi, 48 km away.

Makueni BomaKinoiMachakosEmaliMakindu

Topography around Kitui

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Kitui has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 112 m around an average of 1,132 m above sea level; within 16 km, large variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 910 m; within 80 km, very significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 1,659 m.

The land around Kitui is covered by trees (41%) and shrubs (29%) within 3 km, shrubs (47%) and trees (21%) within 16 km, and shrubs (60%) within 80 km.

3 km
112 m
16 km
910 m
80 km
1,659 m
treesshrubsgrasslandcroplandartificial surfacesbare terrainwater
Nearby: Mwingi 48 km · Mwala 62 km · Wote 63 km · Makueni Boma 65 km · Kinoi 78 km · Machakos 85 km · Emali 99 km · Makindu 104 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 Kitui (-1.367°, 38.0106°, elevation 1,154 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).