Climate and average weather in Kalaw

In Kalaw, the summers are hot, fairly dry, and clear and the winters are warm and clear.

Best: early January to early March

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Kalaw typically varies from 10°C to 31°C, and is rarely below 8°C or above 34°C. April is the hottest month of the year, while December is the coldest.

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

Hottest
Apr
31°
Coldest
Dec
12°
Wettest
Aug
357 mm
Driest
Feb
4 mm
Rain / yr
1842 mm
180 wet days
Daylight
10.7–13.3 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
1,323 m
20.6°N
Clearest
Feb
13% cloud

Kalaw is human settlement in Myanmar.

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

Kalaw 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 early March.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

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

Temperatures in Kalaw stay fairly even through the year, without a distinct hot or cool season. The warmest month is April, with an average high of 31°C and low of 19°C; the coolest is December, with an average low of 12°C and high of 24°C.

Days typically run about 10°C warmer than nights, with the widest day–night swing (around 15°C) in February.

10°15°20°25°30°35°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan2410
Feb2712
Mar2915
Apr3119
May2920
Jun2721
Jul2621
Aug2621
Sep2720
Oct2719
Nov2615
Dec2412

Average hourly temperature in Kalaw

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 April afternoons, near 31°C, and coldest before dawn in December, near 12°C.

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

Kalaw 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° / 10°91.210.99.3
Feb27° / 12°40.811.38.8
Mar29° / 15°71.211.97.1
Apr31° / 19°25412.55.5
May29° / 20°19020.2134.1
Jun27° / 21°30529.213.23.3
Jul26° / 21°32130.213.13.3
Aug26° / 21°35730.412.73.3
Sep27° / 20°34128.612.13.5
Oct27° / 19°22124.811.54.4
Nov26° / 15°507.1117.5
Dec24° / 12°12210.88.9

Chance of rain

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

Kalaw gets about 1842 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 5.8 months, from around May 9 to Nov 2, peaking in July at about 98% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Mar 7.

August is the wettest month by volume, with 357 mm over about 30 wet days; February is the driest, with 4 mm.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%110%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdrierwetterdriermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetJul 4 · 98%Mar 7 · 2%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan41
Feb21
Mar41
Apr154
May6420
Jun9729
Jul9830
Aug9830
Sep9529
Oct7825
Nov267
Dec72

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Kalaw collects about 1842 mm of rain across 180 wet days — roughly 153 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. August is the wettest month with 357 mm, while February is the driest at just 4 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 55% of the year’s total.

050100150200250300350400JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec947251903053213573412215012
Rainfall (mm)Rain days
Jan91
Feb41
Mar71
Apr254
May19020
Jun30529
Jul32130
Aug35730
Sep34129
Oct22125
Nov507
Dec122

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Kalaw, 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 October 27 and lasts for 6.6 months, ending around May 15. The clearest month is February, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 94% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around May 16 and lasts for 5.4 months, ending around October 26. The cloudiest month is August, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 99% 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%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecJan 24 · 95%Aug 9 · 0%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastclearercloudierclearer
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan937
Feb946
Mar9010
Apr8713
May5149
Jun793
Jul298
Aug199
Sep892
Oct3664
Nov7624
Dec8614

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 June 19, brings about 13 h 18 min of light; the shortest, around December 19, only 10 h 42 min — a swing of roughly 2 h 36 min.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan10.96:475:39
Feb11.36:395:57
Mar11.96:186:09
Apr12.55:506:18
May13.05:316:29
Jun13.25:276:41
Jul13.15:356:44
Aug12.75:476:29
Sep12.15:556:02
Oct11.56:035:34
Nov11.06:195:19
Dec10.86:375:23

Sunny days

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

Kalaw averages about 13 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 0 and 27 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 6.3 months, from around Nov 2 to May 11. The sunniest month is January, with roughly 26 sunny days (brilliant).

The greyest month is June, down near 1 sunny days — about 97% fewer than the January peak.

051015202530JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecsunniergreyersunniergloomymixedbrightbrilliantJan 2427 daysJun 230 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan27Brilliant
Feb24Brilliant
Mar26Brilliant
Apr23Bright
May11Mixed
Jun1Gloomy
Jul0Gloomy
Aug0Gloomy
Sep1Gloomy
Oct6Gloomy
Nov18Bright
Dec23Bright

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

The more humid part of the year lasts 6.8 months, from around April 24 to November 16. The muggiest month is June, when the air feels humid, muggy or worse about 100% of the time.

The most comfortable stretch runs from around November 17 to April 23, and January is the most comfortable month — the air is dry or comfortable 98% of the time.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecJan 30 · 100%Jun 4 · 0%oppressivemuggyhumidcomfortabledrycomfortablehumidcomfortable
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)Humid (%)Muggy (%)Oppressive (%)
Jan8810200
Feb936000
Mar7322500
Apr193729150
May17166512
Jun0006139
Jul0006337
Aug0005842
Sep0006733
Oct0210817
Nov102836260
Dec54331220

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 Kalaw is typically calm, near 6 km/h, and varies little with the seasons.

The windier part of the year lasts 6.1 months, from around Feb 16 to Aug 20. The windiest month is June, averaging about 7 km/h (calm).

The calmer part of the year runs from around Aug 21 to Feb 15, with October the calmest month at about 4 km/h.

051015JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDeccalmerwindiercalmercalmlight breezeJun 25 · 8 km/hOct 9 · 4 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan5calm
Feb6calm
Mar7calm
Apr7calm
May7calm
Jun7calm
Jul7calm
Aug6calm
Sep5calm
Oct4calm
Nov4calm
Dec5calm

Hazard calendar for Kalaw

In seasonPeak

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

Kalaw's monsoon runs May–October, when most of the year's rain falls.

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

Best time to visit Kalaw

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

Around late February, Kalaw 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 Kalaw for general outdoor tourist activities is from mid November to early March, with a peak score in the third week of January.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationJan 18 · 9.4

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
Jan9.3ideal
Feb8.8ideal
Mar7.1good
Apr5.5fair
May4.1fair
Jun3.3poor
Jul3.3poor
Aug3.3poor
Sep3.5poor
Oct4.4fair
Nov7.4good
Dec8.9ideal

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 Kalaw for hot-weather activities is from late November to late April, with a peak score in the first week of March.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationMar 7 · 9.3

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 Kalaw, 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.

For a warm-season trip around April (highs near 31°C), the essentials are light clothes and sun protection. In the cold season around December (highs near 24°C), pack light clothes and sun protection.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In April, Kalaw sees daytime highs around 31°C and nights near 19°C. Pack light clothes and sun protection. About 4 days see rain.

UV index (midday) in Kalaw 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 Kalaw peaks around August 11 at about 13 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near December 20 at about 7 (high).

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

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecVery highExtremeExtremeVery highAug 11UV 13Dec 20UV 7
UV index (midday)Level
Jan7Very high
Feb9Very high
Mar10Very high
Apr9Very high
May13Extreme
Jun9Very high
Jul13Extreme
Aug13Extreme
Sep12Extreme
Oct10Very high
Nov8Very high
Dec7High

Average hourly UV index in Kalaw

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 August the burn window is concentrated in the middle of the day: about 8 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)
Jan63
Feb74.5
Mar7.55
Apr7.55
May8.56.5
Jun85.5
Jul8.56.5
Aug86.5
Sep86
Oct75
Nov6.54
Dec62.5

Air quality in Kalaw 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 Kalaw is worst in March — around 76 µg/m³ PM2.5 (unhealthy), about 7.7× the cleanest month (July, 10 µg/m³).

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

020406080JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecModeratePoorUnhealthyModerateGoodModerateMar 1772 µg/m³Jul 1910 µg/m³
PM2.5 (µg/m³)Level
Jan28Moderate
Feb46Poor
Mar76Unhealthy
Apr47Poor
May23Moderate
Jun12Moderate
Jul10Good
Aug11Good
Sep12Moderate
Oct14Moderate
Nov17Moderate
Dec22Moderate
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free dayFrost-free year round

Kalaw 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. Kalaw banks about 4,397 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around May.

01,0002,0003,0004,000JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°C·days)
Jan227
Feb261
Mar383
Apr444
May460
Jun418
Jul418
Aug416
Sep406
Oct398
Nov318
Dec247

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.

Kalaw receives about 5.0 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — bright — with a clear seasonal swing between 3.7 and 7.0 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 4.6 months, from around Jan 14 to Jun 1. The brightest month is April, averaging about 6.9 kWh/m² (intense).

The dimmest month is August, down near 3.8 kWh/m² — roughly 45% less than the April peak.

012345678JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightintenseApr 87.0 kWhAug 53.7 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan5.1Bright
Feb5.9Bright
Mar6.7Intense
Apr7.0Intense
May5.9Bright
Jun4.5Bright
Jul3.9Moderate
Aug3.7Moderate
Sep4.1Bright
Oct4.3Bright
Nov4.5Bright
Dec4.5Bright

Where is Kalaw?

Kalaw sits at 20.6°N, 96.6°E, 1,323 m above sea level, in Myanmar. The nearest listed city is Aungban, 8.0 km away.

Topography around Kalaw

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Kalaw has significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 480 m around an average of 1,365 m above sea level; within 16 km, very significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 1,480 m; within 80 km, very significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 2,319 m.

The land around Kalaw is covered by grassland (46%) and trees (41%) within 3 km, trees (38%), grassland (35%) and cropland (26%) within 16 km, and cropland (40%), trees (32%) and grassland (26%) within 80 km.

3 km
480 m
16 km
1,480 m
80 km
2,319 m
treesgrasslandcroplandartificial surfaceswater
Nearby: Aungban 8.0 km · Heho 29 km · Nyaung Shwe 39 km · Yamethin 50 km · Taunggyi 52 km · Pyawbwe 54 km · Lawksawk 75 km · Wundwin 76 km

Myanmar travel facts

Travel advisory
Level 4
Do Not Travel
Power plugs
Type A / C / D / F / G / I
230 V · 50 Hz
Prices
≈ 38% of US
price level, 2025
GDP per capita
$1,489
2025
Happiness
4.3 / 10
World Happiness, 2025
Safe drinking water
60%
of population, 2024
Homicide rate
2.6
per 100k, 2023
Road deaths
20.4
per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group
Lower middle
World Bank
English
Very low
EF EPI 444
Religion
Buddhist 88%Christian 6%Muslim 4%Animist 1%

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 Kalaw (20.6346°, 96.5645°, elevation 1,323 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).