Climate and average weather in Kwale

In Kwale, the summers are muggy, sweltering, showery, and partly cloudy and the winters are hot and mostly cloudy.

Best: early November to late December

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Kwale typically varies from 23°C to 35°C, and is rarely below 18°C or above 38°C. February is the hottest month of the year, while July is the coldest.

Based on the travel score, the best times of year to visit Kwale for warm-weather activities are from early July to late August and early November to late December.

Hottest
Feb
35°
Coldest
Jul
23°
Wettest
Sep
271 mm
Driest
Dec
18 mm
Rain / yr
2005 mm
245 wet days
Daylight
11.7–12.3 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
22 m
5.7°N
Clearest
Dec
47% cloud

Kwale 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 November to late December.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

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

Temperatures in Kwale stay fairly even through the year, without a distinct hot or cool season. The warmest month is February, with an average high of 35°C and low of 24°C; the coolest is July, with an average low of 23°C and high of 29°C.

Days typically run about 9°C warmer than nights, with the widest day–night swing (around 12°C) in January.

15°20°25°30°35°40°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan3523
Feb3524
Mar3424
Apr3324
May3224
Jun3023
Jul2923
Aug2923
Sep3023
Oct3023
Nov3223
Dec3423

How hot and cold Kwale 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, Kwale feels like about 41°C (around March 26). About 357 days a year carry some heat stress, and 95 of them tip into dangerous heat (feels-like above 39°C), peaking in March.

20°25°30°35°40°45°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdangerous heat
Feels-like high (°C)Air high (°C)Feels-like low (°C)Air low (°C)
Jan37352223
Feb39352424
Mar41342424
Apr40332424
May38322424
Jun35302323
Jul32292323
Aug32292323
Sep33302323
Oct35302323
Nov37322323
Dec37342323

Average hourly temperature in Kwale

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 February afternoons, near 35°C, and coldest before dawn in July, near 23°C.

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

Kwale 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
Jan35° / 23°21511.73.1
Feb35° / 24°419.211.82.4
Mar34° / 24°12019.8122.2
Apr33° / 24°18523.612.12.4
May32° / 24°24027.612.32.4
Jun30° / 23°27028.512.32.7
Jul29° / 23°25928.412.33.1
Aug29° / 23°24026.812.23.2
Sep30° / 23°27128.5122.8
Oct30° / 23°25628.411.92.7
Nov32° / 23°8514.611.73.4
Dec34° / 23°184.611.73.7

Chance of rain

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

Kwale gets about 2005 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 7.5 months, from around Mar 22 to Nov 5, peaking in September at about 96% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Dec 27.

September is the wettest month by volume, with 271 mm over about 29 wet days; December is the driest, with 18 mm.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%110%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdrierwetterdriermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetSep 26 · 96%Dec 27 · 8%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan165
Feb349
Mar6320
Apr7824
May8928
Jun9429
Jul9128
Aug8727
Sep9529
Oct9028
Nov5015
Dec155

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Kwale collects about 2005 mm of rain across 245 wet days — roughly 167 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. September is the wettest month with 271 mm, while December is the driest at just 18 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 40% of the year’s total.

050100150200250300JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec21411201852402702592402712568518
Rainfall (mm)Rain days
Jan215
Feb419
Mar12020
Apr18524
May24028
Jun27029
Jul25928
Aug24027
Sep27129
Oct25628
Nov8515
Dec185

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Kwale, 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 November 8 and lasts for 3.9 months, ending around March 7. The clearest month is December, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 64% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around March 8 and lasts for 8.0 months, ending around November 7. The cloudiest month is September, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 97% 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%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecDec 23 · 72%Sep 8 · 3%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastclearercloudierclearer
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan5248
Feb3961
Mar1882
Apr1288
May1090
Jun892
Jul496
Aug595
Sep397
Oct694
Nov3169
Dec6436

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, Kwale barely changes through the year: days stay near 12 h 18 min of light in every season.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan11.76:526:35
Feb11.86:546:43
Mar12.06:456:43
Apr12.16:316:38
May12.36:236:38
Jun12.36:256:44
Jul12.36:316:49
Aug12.26:336:44
Sep12.06:286:30
Oct11.96:236:15
Nov11.76:276:12
Dec11.76:406:21

Sunny days

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

Kwale averages about 3 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 0 and 16 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 3.6 months, from around Nov 14 to Mar 4. The sunniest month is December, with roughly 13 sunny days (mixed).

The greyest month is June, down near 0 sunny days — about 98% fewer than the December peak.

05101520JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecsunniergreyersunniergloomymixedbrightDec 2316 daysJun 280 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan11Mixed
Feb6Gloomy
Mar2Gloomy
Apr1Gloomy
May0Gloomy
Jun0Gloomy
Jul0Gloomy
Aug0Gloomy
Sep0Gloomy
Oct0Gloomy
Nov4Gloomy
Dec14Mixed

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 Kwale, how humid it feels changes noticeably over the year.

The more humid part of the year lasts 9.2 months, from around March 1 to December 5. The muggiest month is March, when the air feels humid, muggy or worse about 99% of the time.

The most comfortable stretch runs from around December 6 to February 28, and January is the most comfortable month — the air is dry or comfortable 15% of the time.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecJan 9 · 18%Mar 19 · 0%miserableoppressivemuggyhumiddrycomfortablehumidcomfortable
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)Humid (%)Muggy (%)Oppressive (%)Miserable (%)
Jan961018526
Feb245115621
Mar01124650
Apr00002872
May00003070
Jun00007129
Jul0001954
Aug0001990
Sep0000955
Oct00007921
Nov00027325
Dec24716638

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.

Wind in Kwale is steady company: average speeds sit near 6 km/hcalm — in every month of the year, with no meaningful windy or calm season.

0510JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDeccalmAug 8 · 7 km/hOct 26 · 4 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan6calm
Feb6calm
Mar6calm
Apr6calm
May5calm
Jun5calm
Jul6calm
Aug6calm
Sep5calm
Oct5calm
Nov5calm
Dec5calm

Hazard calendar for Kwale

In seasonPeak

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

Kwale's rainy season runs April–October, when most of the year's rain falls.

Kwale sees seasonal dust haze (December–April), heaviest in February.

Rainy season
Dust
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec

Best time to visit Kwale

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

Around late December, Kwale 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 Kwale for general outdoor tourist activities run from early July to late August and again from early November to late January, with a peak score in the second week of December.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationDec 8 · 3.7

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
Jan3.1poor
Feb2.4poor
Mar2.2poor
Apr2.4poor
May2.4poor
Jun2.7poor
Jul3.1poor
Aug3.2poor
Sep2.8poor
Oct2.7poor
Nov3.3poor
Dec3.7fair

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 Kwale for hot-weather activities is from late November to late January, with a peak score in the last week of December.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationDec 23 · 7.2

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 Kwale, 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 February (highs near 35°C), the essentials are light clothes, rain gear and sun protection. In the cold season around July (highs near 29°C), pack light clothes and rain gear.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In February, Kwale sees daytime highs around 35°C and nights near 24°C. Pack light clothes. Worth having: rain gear and sun protection. About 9 days see rain.

UV index (midday) in Kwale 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 Kwale peaks around March 24 at about 12 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near January 11 at about 8 (very high).

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

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecVery highExtremeVery highExtremeVery highMar 24UV 12Jan 11UV 8
UV index (midday)Level
Jan8Very high
Feb11Extreme
Mar12Extreme
Apr12Extreme
May11Extreme
Jun11Extreme
Jul10Extreme
Aug9Very high
Sep12Extreme
Oct12Extreme
Nov10Very high
Dec8Very high

Average hourly UV index in Kwale

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 hours a day reach index 3 (protection recommended), and 6 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)
Jan6.54
Feb7.55.5
Mar86
Apr86
May86
Jun85.5
Jul7.55.5
Aug7.55
Sep86
Oct7.55.5
Nov75
Dec74

Air quality in Kwale 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 Kwale is worst in January — around 201 µg/m³ PM2.5 (very unhealthy), about 3.5× the cleanest month (August, 58 µg/m³).

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

0306090120150180210JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecVery unhealthyUnhealthyVery unhealthyJan 11201 µg/m³Aug 1058 µg/m³
PM2.5 (µg/m³)Level
Jan201Very unhealthy
Feb171Very unhealthy
Mar100Unhealthy
Apr98Unhealthy
May83Unhealthy
Jun73Unhealthy
Jul59Unhealthy
Aug58Unhealthy
Sep70Unhealthy
Oct92Unhealthy
Nov108Unhealthy
Dec197Very unhealthy
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free dayFrost-free year round

Kwale 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. Kwale banks about 6,355 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around February.

02,0004,0006,000JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°C·days)
Jan573
Feb542
Mar589
Apr547
May544
Jun496
Jul490
Aug491
Sep484
Oct517
Nov524
Dec559

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.

Kwale receives about 4.4 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — bright — with a clear seasonal swing between 3.6 and 5.4 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 6.1 months, from around Nov 9 to May 12. The brightest month is January, averaging about 5.4 kWh/m² (bright).

The dimmest month is July, down near 3.6 kWh/m² — roughly 33% less than the January peak.

01234567JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbrighterdimmerbrighterdimmoderatebrightintenseJan 95.4 kWhJul 213.6 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan5.4Bright
Feb5.3Bright
Mar5.0Bright
Apr4.7Bright
May4.3Bright
Jun3.8Moderate
Jul3.6Moderate
Aug3.7Moderate
Sep3.8Moderate
Oct4.0Bright
Nov4.5Bright
Dec5.1Bright

Where is Kwale?

Kwale sits at 5.7°N, 6.4°E, 22 m above sea level, in Nigeria. The nearest listed city is Oguta, 42 km away.

Topography around Kwale

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Kwale has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 23 m around an average of 19 m above sea level; within 16 km, only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 37 m; within 80 km, significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 383 m.

The land around Kwale is covered by grassland (49%) and artificial surfaces (26%) within 3 km, trees (58%) and grassland (38%) within 16 km, and trees (69%) and grassland (21%) within 80 km.

3 km
23 m
16 km
37 m
80 km
383 m
treesshrubsgrasslandcroplandartificial surfacesbare terrainwater
Nearby: Oguta 42 km · Atani 49 km · Ihiala 50 km · Ogwashi-Uku 53 km · Ughelli 53 km · Ozubulu 54 km · Onitsha 63 km · Asaba 64 km

Nigeria travel facts

Travel advisory
Level 3
Reconsider Travel
Power plugs
Type D / G
230 V · 50 Hz
Prices
≈ 13% of US
price level, 2025
GDP per capita
$1,224
2025
Happiness
4.8 / 10
World Happiness, 2025
Safe drinking water
30%
of population, 2024
Homicide rate
15.7
per 100k, 2023
Road deaths
20.7
per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group
Lower middle
World Bank
English
High
EF EPI 569
Religion
Muslim 54%other Christian 35%Roman Catholic 11%other 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 Kwale (5.7077°, 6.434°, elevation 22 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).