Climate and average weather in Palikir

In Palikir, the weather is oppressive, hot, wet, and mostly cloudy and remarkably steady, with daytime highs holding near hot levels all year. The wettest stretch peaks around May.

Best: early January to late April

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Palikir typically varies from 26°C to 28°C, and is rarely below 25°C or above 29°C. November is the hottest month of the year, while February is the coldest.

Based on the travel score, the best times of year to visit Palikir for warm-weather activities are from early January to late April and early December to late December.

Hottest
Nov
28°
Coldest
Feb
26°
Wettest
May
318 mm
Driest
Feb
180 mm
Rain / yr
3279 mm
297 wet days
Daylight
11.6–12.4 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
90 m
6.9°N
Clearest
Feb
70% cloud

Palikir is capital of Federated States of Micronesia.

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

Palikir 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 January to late April.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

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

Temperatures in Palikir stay fairly even through the year, without a distinct hot or cool season. The warmest month is November, with an average high of 28°C and low of 26°C; the coolest is February, with an average low of 26°C and high of 28°C.

Days typically run about 2°C warmer than nights year-round.

24°26°28°30°32°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan2826
Feb2826
Mar2826
Apr2826
May2826
Jun2826
Jul2826
Aug2826
Sep2826
Oct2826
Nov2826
Dec2826

How hot and cold Palikir really feels

Feels-like highFeels-like lowactual air temp

The felt-temperature range through the year — heat index on the day's high (summer humidity), wind chill on the night's low (winter wind). The dashed lines are the plain thermometer; the gap is how much hotter or colder it really feels.

On the hottest afternoons, once humidity is folded in, Palikir feels like about 33°C (around December 1). About 126 days a year carry some heat stress, peaking in December.

24°26°28°30°32°34°36°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Feels-like high (°C)Air high (°C)Feels-like low (°C)Air low (°C)
Jan31282626
Feb31282626
Mar31282626
Apr32282626
May33282626
Jun32282626
Jul31282626
Aug31282626
Sep32282626
Oct32282626
Nov32282626
Dec32282626

Average hourly temperature in Palikir

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 November afternoons, near 28°C, and coldest before dawn in February, near 26°C.

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

Palikir 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
Jan28° / 26°21621.111.64.7
Feb28° / 26°18017.811.85.0
Mar28° / 26°22320.5124.7
Apr28° / 26°26523.812.14.2
May28° / 26°31826.312.33.9
Jun28° / 26°30727.212.43.7
Jul28° / 26°31628.812.43.6
Aug28° / 26°29027.312.23.8
Sep28° / 26°27426123.8
Oct28° / 26°30727.111.83.8
Nov28° / 26°29425.811.73.9
Dec28° / 26°28924.811.64.1

Chance of rain

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

Palikir gets about 3279 mm of precipitation a year. On a typical day the chance of rain is very wet, but that rises and falls sharply with the seasons.

The wetter season lasts 7.9 months, from around Apr 20 to Dec 16, peaking in July at about 93% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Feb 13.

May is the wettest month by volume, with 318 mm over about 26 wet days; February is the driest, with 180 mm.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdrierwettermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetJul 16 · 93%Feb 13 · 61%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan6821
Feb6218
Mar6821
Apr7924
May8526
Jun9027
Jul9229
Aug8827
Sep8726
Oct8727
Nov8626
Dec8025

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Palikir collects about 3279 mm of rain across 297 wet days — roughly 273 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. May is the wettest month with 318 mm, while February is the driest at just 180 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 29% of the year’s total.

050100150200250300350JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec216180223265318307316290274307294289
Rainfall (mm)Rain days
Jan21621
Feb18018
Mar22321
Apr26524
May31826
Jun30727
Jul31629
Aug29027
Sep27426
Oct30727
Nov29426
Dec28925

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Palikir, the average share of the sky covered by clouds shows moderate seasonal variation over the course of the year.

The clearer part of the year begins around November 28 and lasts for 4.3 months, ending around April 7. The clearest month is February, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 38% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around April 8 and lasts for 4.6 months, ending around August 24. The cloudiest month is July, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 74% 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 16 · 39%Jul 28 · 23%mostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastclearercloudierclearer
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan3565
Feb3862
Mar3664
Apr2971
May2674
Jun2773
Jul2674
Aug2872
Sep2971
Oct2971
Nov2872
Dec3367

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. The longest day, around May 25, brings about 12 h 24 min of light; the shortest, around January 1, only 11 h 36 min — a swing of roughly 0 h 48 min.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan11.66:486:26
Feb11.86:496:35
Mar12.06:386:36
Apr12.16:236:32
May12.36:146:33
Jun12.46:166:40
Jul12.46:226:44
Aug12.26:256:38
Sep12.06:216:23
Oct11.86:176:08
Nov11.76:226:03
Dec11.66:366:12

Sunny days

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

Palikir averages about 5 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 3 and 7 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 3.3 months, from around Jan 5 to Apr 13. The sunniest month is February, with roughly 6 sunny days (gloomy).

The greyest month is June, down near 4 sunny days — about 41% fewer than the February peak.

0510JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecsunniergreyergloomymixedFeb 217 daysJun 183 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan5Gloomy
Feb6Gloomy
Mar6Gloomy
Apr5Gloomy
May4Gloomy
Jun4Gloomy
Jul4Gloomy
Aug4Gloomy
Sep5Gloomy
Oct5Gloomy
Nov4Gloomy
Dec5Gloomy

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.

Palikir is humid all year round — on a typical day the air feels at least humid, and there is no real dry season to wait for.

The stickiest month is January, when it feels muggy, oppressive or miserable about 100% of the time. Even in January, the mildest month, the air is dry or comfortable only 0% of the time.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecmiserableoppressive
Muggy (%)Oppressive (%)Miserable (%)
Jan25741
Feb26533
Mar15643
Apr03862
May02773
Jun03565
Jul05842
Aug06634
Sep06139
Oct05446
Nov03763
Dec03367

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 Palikir is typically breezy, near 21 km/h, and varies a lot with the seasons.

The windier part of the year lasts 5.7 months, from around Nov 27 to May 18. The windiest month is February, averaging about 28 km/h (breezy).

The calmer part of the year runs from around May 19 to Nov 26, with August the calmest month at about 14 km/h.

05101520253035JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwindiercalmerwindiercalmlight breezebreezywindyFeb 2 · 29 km/hAug 26 · 14 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan28breezy
Feb28breezy
Mar26breezy
Apr24breezy
May21breezy
Jun19light breeze
Jul15light breeze
Aug14light breeze
Sep14light breeze
Oct15light breeze
Nov18light breeze
Dec25breezy

Hazard calendar for Palikir

In seasonPeak

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

Palikir sits in the Pacific typhoon belt; the season peaks July–October.

Pacific typhoon
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec

Best time to visit Palikir

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

Around late April, Palikir 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 Palikir for general outdoor tourist activities is from mid December to late April, with a peak score in the third week of February.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationFeb 15 · 5.0

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
Jan4.7fair
Feb4.9fair
Mar4.7fair
Apr4.2fair
May3.9fair
Jun3.7fair
Jul3.6fair
Aug3.8fair
Sep3.8fair
Oct3.8fair
Nov3.9fair
Dec4.2fair

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 Palikir for hot-weather activities is from late November to mid May, with a peak score in the second week of February.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationFeb 14 · 5.3

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 Palikir, 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.

Palikir packs about the same all year — highs hold near 28°C. Across the year the things worth having are light clothes, rain gear, sun protection and a windbreaker.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In November, Palikir sees daytime highs around 28°C and nights near 26°C. Pack light clothes and rain gear. Worth having: sun protection. About 26 days see rain.

Sea temperature near Palikir

Average ocean temperature at the nearest coast, month by month, banded into swim-comfort zones — the other half of the beach question.

The sea offshore is warmest in September at about 30°C and coldest in February near 28°C.

The water stays above 20°C all year — warm enough for a swim any month.

26°28°30°32°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwarmtropicalcomfortable to swim
Sea temperature (°C)Comfort
Jan29Tropical
Feb28Tropical
Mar29Tropical
Apr29Tropical
May29Tropical
Jun29Tropical
Jul29Tropical
Aug30Tropical
Sep30Tropical
Oct30Tropical
Nov29Tropical
Dec29Tropical

UV index (midday) in Palikir 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 Palikir peaks around April 12 at about 15 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near December 17 at about 11 (extreme).

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

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecExtremeApr 12UV 15Dec 17UV 11
UV index (midday)Level
Jan11Extreme
Feb14Extreme
Mar15Extreme
Apr16Extreme
May14Extreme
Jun12Extreme
Jul13Extreme
Aug14Extreme
Sep13Extreme
Oct13Extreme
Nov11Extreme
Dec10Extreme

Average hourly UV index in Palikir

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 April 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)
Jan7.55.5
Feb86.5
Mar86.5
Apr8.57
May86.5
Jun86
Jul86.5
Aug8.56.5
Sep86
Oct86
Nov7.55.5
Dec75
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free dayFrost-free year round

Palikir 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. Palikir banks about 6,198 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around December.

02,0004,0006,000JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°C·days)
Jan527
Feb473
Mar525
Apr510
May529
Jun510
Jul521
Aug524
Sep509
Oct527
Nov513
Dec530

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.

Palikir receives about 5.3 kWh/m² a day of solar energy — bright — and it stays remarkably steady, holding between 4.7 and 5.8 kWh/m² all year. For solar panels, output here is a flat line, not a seasonal wave.

01234567JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmoderatebrightintenseMar 235.8 kWhDec 114.7 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan5.3Bright
Feb5.5Bright
Mar5.8Bright
Apr5.6Bright
May5.2Bright
Jun5.2Bright
Jul5.3Bright
Aug5.5Bright
Sep5.5Bright
Oct5.2Bright
Nov4.9Bright
Dec4.8Bright

Where is Palikir?

Palikir sits at 6.9°N, 158.2°E, 90 m above sea level, in Micronesia. The nearest listed city is Yaren, 1,279 km away.

Topography around Palikir

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Palikir has significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 599 m around an average of 106 m above sea level; within 16 km, large variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 778 m; within 80 km, large variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 758 m.

The land around Palikir is covered by trees (84%) within 3 km, water (64%) and trees (30%) within 16 km, and water (96%) within 80 km.

3 km
599 m
16 km
778 m
80 km
758 m
treesgrasslandwatermangroves
Nearby: Yaren 1,279 km · Kokopo 1,413 km · Dalap-Uliga-Dorrit 1,459 km · Majuro 1,459 km · Arawa 1,491 km · Yigo Village 1,627 km · Dededo Village 1,631 km · Mangilao Village 1,631 km

Micronesia travel facts

Travel advisory
Level 1
Exercise Normal Precautions
Power plugs
Type A / B
120 V · 60 Hz
Prices
≈ 96% of US
price level, 2025
GDP per capita
$4,414
2025
Homicide rate
0.9
per 100k, 2019
Road deaths
0.2
per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group
Upper middle
World Bank

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 Palikir (6.9248°, 158.1611°, elevation 90 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. Tropical-cyclone seasons are the published climatological basin seasons (NOAA National Hurricane Center / regional warning centres). Sea temperatures are the NOAA OISST v2.1 1991–2020 monthly climatology (public domain), sampled at the nearest ocean point. UV index is derived from CAMS (Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service) clear-sky UV data — contains modified Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service information. Topography is sampled from the Copernicus DEM GLO-90 elevation model (© ESA/Airbus) and ESA WorldCover 2021 land cover (CC BY 4.0).