Climate and average weather in Meru

In Meru, 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: early May to late October

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Meru typically varies from 16°C to 28°C, and is rarely below 14°C or above 30°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 Meru for warm-weather activities are from early January to late March and early May to late October.

Hottest
Mar
28°
Coldest
Jul
16°
Wettest
Nov
112 mm
Driest
Jul
10 mm
Rain / yr
478 mm
94 wet days
Daylight
12.0–12.0 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
1,579 m
0.0°N
Clearest
Sep
41% cloud

Meru is town in Kenya.

Founded
1911

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

Meru 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 May to late October.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

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

Temperatures in Meru stay fairly even through the year, without a distinct hot or cool season. The warmest month is March, with an average high of 28°C and low of 18°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, with the widest day–night swing (around 11°C) in February.

10°15°20°25°30°35°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan2716
Feb2817
Mar2818
Apr2718
May2618
Jun2517
Jul2516
Aug2516
Sep2717
Oct2718
Nov2517
Dec2516

Average hourly temperature in Meru

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 28°C, and coldest before dawn in July, near 16°C.

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

Meru 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° / 16°397.5127.2
Feb28° / 17°204.8127.1
Mar28° / 18°428.8126.5
Apr27° / 18°8413.8126.0
May26° / 18°377.3127.2
Jun25° / 17°132.8127.8
Jul25° / 16°101.8128.0
Aug25° / 16°112.2127.9
Sep27° / 17°102.1127.9
Oct27° / 18°439.2126.8
Nov25° / 17°11220.6125.3
Dec25° / 16°5513.2126.5

Chance of rain

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

Meru gets about 478 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 2.9 months, from around Oct 14 to Jan 10, peaking in November at about 69% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Jul 8.

November is the wettest month by volume, with 112 mm over about 21 wet days; July is the driest, with 10 mm.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdrierwettermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetNov 17 · 69%Jul 8 · 5%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan248
Feb185
Mar289
Apr4614
May257
Jun93
Jul62
Aug82
Sep82
Oct319
Nov6521
Dec4313

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Meru collects about 478 mm of rain across 94 wet days — roughly 40 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. November is the wettest month with 112 mm, while July is the driest at just 10 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 53% of the year’s total.

0255075100125150JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec3920428437131011104311255
Rainfall (mm)Rain days
Jan398
Feb205
Mar429
Apr8414
May377
Jun133
Jul102
Aug112
Sep102
Oct439
Nov11221
Dec5513

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Meru, 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 29 and lasts for 1.9 months, ending around October 25. The clearest month is September, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 74% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around June 4 and lasts for 2.8 months, ending around August 28. The cloudiest month is July, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 58% 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 26 · 78%Jul 27 · 39%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastcloudierclearercloudier
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan6931
Feb7129
Mar7030
Apr5941
May6832
Jun4951
Jul4258
Aug5149
Sep7426
Oct6832
Nov5248
Dec6733

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, Meru 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)
Jan12.06:396:39
Feb12.06:446:44
Mar12.06:396:39
Apr12.06:306:30
May12.06:266:26
Jun12.06:306:30
Jul12.06:356:35
Aug12.06:336:34
Sep12.06:246:24
Oct12.06:146:14
Nov12.06:156:15
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.

Meru 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 31 to Oct 21. The sunniest month is September, with roughly 15 sunny days (bright).

The greyest month is July, down near 6 sunny days — about 59% fewer than the September peak.

05101520JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgreyersunniergreyergloomymixedbrightSep 2517 daysJul 256 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan15Bright
Feb15Bright
Mar16Bright
Apr11Mixed
May14Mixed
Jun9Mixed
Jul6Gloomy
Aug8Mixed
Sep15Bright
Oct13Mixed
Nov8Mixed
Dec13Mixed

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

The more humid part of the year lasts 2.5 months, from around March 12 to May 26. The muggiest month is April, when the air feels humid, muggy or worse about 78% of the time.

The most comfortable stretch runs from around May 27 to October 20, and July 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%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecJul 12 · 100%Apr 24 · 16%humidcomfortabledryhumidcomfortablehumid
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)Humid (%)Muggy (%)
Jan2151271
Feb2949211
Mar1643401
Apr121735
May340542
Jun2169100
Jul524800
Aug584110
Sep574120
Oct2548280
Nov223741
Dec838531

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 Meru is typically calm, near 9 km/h, and varies moderately with the seasons.

The windier part of the year lasts 5.9 months, from around Apr 28 to Oct 23. The windiest month is August, averaging about 12 km/h (light breeze).

The calmer part of the year runs from around Oct 24 to Apr 27, with November the calmest month at about 6 km/h.

05101520JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDeccalmerwindiercalmercalmlight breezeAug 13 · 12 km/hNov 30 · 5 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan6calm
Feb6calm
Mar6calm
Apr8calm
May10calm
Jun11calm
Jul12calm
Aug12light breeze
Sep12calm
Oct10calm
Nov6calm
Dec5calm

Best time to visit Meru

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

Around mid October, Meru 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 Meru for general outdoor tourist activities run from early May to late October and again from mid December to late March, with a peak score in the first week of July.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationJul 1 · 8.0

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
Feb7.1good
Mar6.5good
Apr6.0good
May7.2good
Jun7.8ideal
Jul8.0ideal
Aug7.9ideal
Sep7.9ideal
Oct6.7good
Nov5.3fair
Dec6.5good

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

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationSep 21 · 8.3

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 Meru, 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.

Meru packs about the same all year — highs hold near 28°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, Meru sees daytime highs around 28°C and nights near 18°C. Pack light clothes and sun protection. Worth having: rain gear. About 9 days see rain.

UV index (midday) in Meru 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 Meru 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
Apr16Extreme
May12Extreme
Jun11Extreme
Jul12Extreme
Aug12Extreme
Sep14Extreme
Oct14Extreme
Nov13Extreme
Dec13Extreme

Average hourly UV index in Meru

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

Air quality in Meru 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 Meru 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

Meru 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. Meru banks about 4,253 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)
Jan349
Feb343
Mar400
Apr379
May376
Jun334
Jul325
Aug337
Sep359
Oct382
Nov334
Dec336

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.

Meru receives about 5.8 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — bright — with a clear seasonal swing between 5.1 and 6.7 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 1.9 months, from around Aug 28 to Oct 24. The brightest month is September, averaging about 6.4 kWh/m² (intense).

The dimmest month is July, down near 5.1 kWh/m² — roughly 20% less than the September peak.

012345678JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmerbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightintenseSep 256.7 kWhJul 215.1 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan6.2Intense
Feb6.6Intense
Mar6.3Intense
Apr5.8Bright
May5.8Bright
Jun5.3Bright
Jul5.1Bright
Aug5.5Bright
Sep6.5Intense
Oct6.2Intense
Nov5.1Bright
Dec5.6Bright

Where is Meru?

Meru sits at 0.0°N, 37.7°E, 1,579 m above sea level, in Kenya. The nearest listed city is Isiolo, 35 km away.

NanyukiEmbuKerugoyaKaratinaWanguru

Topography around Meru

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Meru has significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 418 m around an average of 1,566 m above sea level; within 16 km, very significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 1,570 m; within 80 km, extreme variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 4,755 m.

The land around Meru is covered by trees (72%) within 3 km, trees (53%) and cropland (24%) within 16 km, and shrubs (39%), grassland (26%) and trees (23%) within 80 km.

3 km
418 m
16 km
1,570 m
80 km
4,755 m
treesshrubsgrasslandcroplandartificial surfaceswetland
Nearby: Isiolo 35 km · Maua 38 km · Chuka 42 km · Nanyuki 65 km · Embu 69 km · Kerugoya 74 km · Karatina 83 km · Wanguru 88 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 Meru (0.0463°, 37.6559°, elevation 1,579 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).