Climate and average weather in Nanyuki

In Nanyuki, the weather is warm, wet, and partly cloudy and remarkably steady, with daytime highs holding near warm levels all year. The wettest stretch peaks around October.

Best: mid December to late March

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Nanyuki typically varies from 12°C to 25°C, and is rarely below 9°C or above 27°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 Nanyuki for warm-weather activities are from late May to mid July and mid December to late March.

Hottest
Mar
25°
Coldest
Jul
12°
Wettest
Oct
219 mm
Driest
Feb
33 mm
Rain / yr
1226 mm
150 wet days
Daylight
12.0–12.0 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
1,951 m
0.0°N
Clearest
Feb
49% cloud

Nanyuki is town in Laikipia County, Kenya.

Founded
1907

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

Nanyuki 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 December to late March.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

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

Temperatures in Nanyuki stay fairly even through the year, without a distinct hot or cool season. The warmest month is March, with an average high of 25°C and low of 13°C; the coolest is July, with an average low of 12°C and high of 21°C.

Days typically run about 10°C warmer than nights, with the widest day–night swing (around 13°C) in February.

10°15°20°25°30°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan2412
Feb2512
Mar2513
Apr2414
May2314
Jun2213
Jul2112
Aug2112
Sep2312
Oct2313
Nov2213
Dec2312

Average hourly temperature in Nanyuki

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 25°C, and coldest before dawn in July, near 12°C.

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

Nanyuki 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
Jan24° / 12°457.5127.5
Feb25° / 12°334.9127.6
Mar25° / 13°6610.5126.8
Apr24° / 14°21819.7125.2
May23° / 14°19915.4126.0
Jun22° / 13°429126.6
Jul21° / 12°4510.2126.3
Aug21° / 12°5410.9126.3
Sep23° / 12°418.5127.0
Oct23° / 13°21918.1125.6
Nov22° / 13°20322.4124.7
Dec23° / 12°6212.8126.4

Chance of rain

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

Nanyuki gets about 1226 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 2.3 months, from around Oct 6 to Dec 15, peaking in November at about 80% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Feb 3.

October is the wettest month by volume, with 219 mm over about 18 wet days; February is the driest, with 33 mm.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdrierwettermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetNov 5 · 80%Feb 3 · 17%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan248
Feb195
Mar3311
Apr6520
May5015
Jun309
Jul3210
Aug3611
Sep309
Oct5818
Nov7322
Dec4213

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Nanyuki collects about 1226 mm of rain across 150 wet days — roughly 102 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. October is the wettest month with 219 mm, while February is the driest at just 33 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 52% of the year’s total.

050100150200250JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec4533662181994245544121920362
Rainfall (mm)Rain days
Jan458
Feb335
Mar6611
Apr21820
May19915
Jun429
Jul4510
Aug5411
Sep419
Oct21918
Nov20322
Dec6213

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Nanyuki, 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 6 and lasts for 3.8 months, ending around March 30. The clearest month is February, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 63% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around October 11 and lasts for 1.8 months, ending around December 5. The cloudiest month is July, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 67% 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 · 65%Nov 6 · 28%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastclearercloudierclearer
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan6139
Feb6337
Mar5743
Apr3565
May4753
Jun4357
Jul3367
Aug4060
Sep5842
Oct4258
Nov3466
Dec5347

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, Nanyuki 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)
Jan12.06:416:41
Feb12.06:466:46
Mar12.06:416:41
Apr12.06:326:32
May12.06:286:28
Jun12.06:326:32
Jul12.06:376:37
Aug12.06:366:36
Sep12.06:266:26
Oct12.06:176:17
Nov12.06:176:17
Dec12.06:286:28

Sunny days

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

Nanyuki 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 3.7 months, from around Dec 10 to Apr 2. The sunniest month is February, with roughly 13 sunny days (mixed).

The greyest month is November, down near 3 sunny days — about 79% fewer than the February peak.

05101520JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecsunniergreyergloomymixedbrightFeb 2513 daysNov 42 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan12Mixed
Feb12Mixed
Mar11Mixed
Apr4Gloomy
May6Gloomy
Jun5Gloomy
Jul3Gloomy
Aug4Gloomy
Sep8Gloomy
Oct4Gloomy
Nov3Gloomy
Dec8Gloomy

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 Nanyuki, the air stays dry or comfortable essentially all year. Even in December, the muggiest month, it feels humid or worse only about 0% 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 (%)
Jan928
Feb937
Mar8911
Apr5644
May5644
Jun8317
Jul937
Aug928
Sep955
Oct8317
Nov7228
Dec8713

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

The windier part of the year lasts 5.4 months, from around May 3 to Oct 14. The windiest month is September, averaging about 8 km/h (calm).

The calmer part of the year runs from around Oct 15 to May 2, with November the calmest month at about 5 km/h.

051015JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDeccalmerwindiercalmercalmlight breezeSep 17 · 8 km/hNov 16 · 5 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan6calm
Feb6calm
Mar6calm
Apr6calm
May7calm
Jun7calm
Jul7calm
Aug8calm
Sep8calm
Oct6calm
Nov5calm
Dec5calm

Best time to visit Nanyuki

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

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

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationFeb 1 · 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
Jan7.5good
Feb7.6ideal
Mar6.8good
Apr5.3fair
May6.0good
Jun6.6good
Jul6.3good
Aug6.3good
Sep7.0good
Oct5.6good
Nov4.7fair
Dec6.4good

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

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationFeb 23 · 6.9

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 Nanyuki, 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.

Nanyuki packs about the same all year — highs hold near 25°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, Nanyuki sees daytime highs around 25°C and nights near 13°C. Pack sun protection. Worth having: light clothes and rain gear. About 11 days see rain.

UV index (midday) in Nanyuki 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 Nanyuki peaks around March 16 at about 17 (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 16UV 17Jun 19UV 11
UV index (midday)Level
Jan16Extreme
Feb16Extreme
Mar17Extreme
Apr16Extreme
May13Extreme
Jun11Extreme
Jul12Extreme
Aug12Extreme
Sep14Extreme
Oct15Extreme
Nov14Extreme
Dec13Extreme

Average hourly UV index in Nanyuki

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
Feb8.57
Mar8.57
Apr8.57
May86
Jun85.5
Jul7.55.5
Aug86
Sep86.5
Oct8.56.5
Nov86.5
Dec86.5

Air quality in Nanyuki 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 Nanyuki is worst in June — around 34 µg/m³ PM2.5 (moderate), and holds fairly steady the rest of the year.

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

010203040JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecModerateJun 2334 µg/m³Oct 1224 µg/m³
PM2.5 (µg/m³)Level
Jan27Moderate
Feb31Moderate
Mar28Moderate
Apr27Moderate
May28Moderate
Jun34Moderate
Jul34Moderate
Aug28Moderate
Sep25Moderate
Oct24Moderate
Nov27Moderate
Dec28Moderate
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free dayFrost-free year round

Nanyuki 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. Nanyuki banks about 2,818 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around March.

01,0002,0003,000JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°C·days)
Jan237
Feb234
Mar277
Apr263
May255
Jun221
Jul205
Aug209
Sep225
Oct241
Nov222
Dec229

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.

Nanyuki receives about 5.9 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — bright — with a clear seasonal swing between 5.0 and 6.9 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 3.7 months, from around Dec 20 to Apr 12. The brightest month is February, averaging about 6.8 kWh/m² (intense).

The dimmest month is July, down near 5.1 kWh/m² — roughly 26% less than the February peak.

012345678JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightintenseFeb 286.9 kWhJul 225.0 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan6.4Intense
Feb6.9Intense
Mar6.7Intense
Apr5.8Bright
May5.6Bright
Jun5.3Bright
Jul5.0Bright
Aug5.4Bright
Sep6.3Intense
Oct6.0Intense
Nov5.3Bright
Dec5.8Bright

Where is Nanyuki?

Nanyuki sits at 0.0°N, 37.1°E, 1,951 m above sea level, in Kenya. The nearest listed city is Nyeri, 49 km away.

MeruIsioloChukaMairo Inya

Topography around Nanyuki

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Nanyuki has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 133 m around an average of 1,946 m above sea level; within 16 km, large variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 896 m; within 80 km, extreme variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 4,231 m.

The land around Nanyuki is covered by grassland (34%) and artificial surfaces (27%) within 3 km, grassland (46%), trees (21%) and shrubs (20%) within 16 km, and grassland (40%), trees (25%) and shrubs (23%) within 80 km.

3 km
133 m
16 km
896 m
80 km
4,231 m
treesshrubsgrasslandcroplandartificial surfaces
Nearby: Nyeri 49 km · Tetu 52 km · Karatina 55 km · Kerugoya 61 km · Meru 65 km · Isiolo 69 km · Chuka 74 km · Mairo Inya 74 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 Nanyuki (0.0062°, 37.074°, elevation 1,951 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).