Climate and average weather in Makurdi

In Makurdi, the summers are humid, sweltering, dry, and partly cloudy and the winters are hot and mostly cloudy.

Best: mid September to late November

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Makurdi typically varies from 23°C to 37°C, and is rarely below 20°C or above 40°C. March is the hottest month of the year, while August is the coldest.

Based on the travel score, the best times of year to visit Makurdi for warm-weather activities are from early June to early July and mid September to late November.

Hottest
Mar
37°
Coldest
Aug
23°
Wettest
Aug
211 mm
Driest
Jan
1 mm
Rain / yr
917 mm
127 wet days
Daylight
11.5–12.5 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
92 m
7.7°N
Clearest
Dec
32% cloud

Makurdi is city in Nigeria.

Density
476/km²
people per km²
Founded
1927

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

Makurdi 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 September to late November.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

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

The hot season lasts 3.0 months, from January 16 to April 17, with daily high temperatures above 35°C. The hottest month of the year in Makurdi is March, with an average high of 37°C and low of 27°C.

The cool season lasts 4.0 months, from June 17 to October 17, with daily high temperatures below 31°C. The coldest month of the year in Makurdi is August, 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 13°C) in December.

20°25°30°35°40°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan3623
Feb3725
Mar3727
Apr3626
May3325
Jun3124
Jul3024
Aug2923
Sep3024
Oct3124
Nov3424
Dec3523

How hot and cold Makurdi 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, Makurdi feels like about 41°C (around April 4). Nearly every day a year carries some heat stress, and 65 of them tip into dangerous heat (feels-like above 39°C), peaking in April.

20°25°30°35°40°45°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdangerous heat
Feels-like high (°C)Air high (°C)Feels-like low (°C)Air low (°C)
Jan36362323
Feb37372525
Mar40372727
Apr40362626
May38332525
Jun35312424
Jul33302424
Aug33292323
Sep34302324
Oct35312424
Nov36342424
Dec35352323

Average hourly temperature in Makurdi

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 37°C, and coldest before dawn in August, near 23°C.

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

Makurdi 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
Jan36° / 23°10.311.62.8
Feb37° / 25°40.711.71.8
Mar37° / 27°13211.91.5
Apr36° / 26°426.112.22.2
May33° / 25°9013.112.33.0
Jun31° / 24°12217.912.43.4
Jul30° / 24°17323.812.43.4
Aug29° / 23°21124.912.33.4
Sep30° / 24°17122.6123.3
Oct31° / 24°8413.811.83.9
Nov34° / 24°61.411.63.8
Dec35° / 23°10.211.63.1

Chance of rain

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

Makurdi gets about 917 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 5.6 months, from around May 5 to Oct 22, peaking in August at about 84% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Dec 10.

August is the wettest month by volume, with 211 mm over about 25 wet days; January is the driest, with 1 mm.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdrierwetterdriermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetAug 29 · 84%Dec 10 · 0%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan10
Feb31
Mar72
Apr216
May4213
Jun6018
Jul7624
Aug8025
Sep7523
Oct4314
Nov61
Dec10

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Makurdi collects about 917 mm of rain across 127 wet days — roughly 76 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. August is the wettest month with 211 mm, while January is the driest at just 1 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 60% of the year’s total.

050100150200250JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec141342901221732111718461
Rainfall (mm)Rain days
Jan10
Feb41
Mar132
Apr426
May9013
Jun12218
Jul17324
Aug21125
Sep17123
Oct8414
Nov61
Dec10

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Makurdi, 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 30 and lasts for 5.3 months, ending around April 9. The clearest month is December, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 78% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around April 10 and lasts for 6.7 months, ending around October 29. The cloudiest month is August, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 91% 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 21 · 82%Aug 26 · 9%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastclearercloudierclearer
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan6931
Feb5941
Mar4258
Apr3070
May1882
Jun1486
Jul1189
Aug991
Sep1387
Oct2575
Nov5545
Dec7822

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 22, brings about 12 h 30 min of light; the shortest, around December 22, only 11 h 30 min — a swing of roughly 1 hour.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan11.66:476:23
Feb11.76:486:33
Mar11.96:376:34
Apr12.26:216:31
May12.36:126:33
Jun12.46:136:40
Jul12.46:196:44
Aug12.36:226:38
Sep12.06:196:21
Oct11.86:166:06
Nov11.66:226:00
Dec11.66:356:09

Sunny days

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

Makurdi averages about 7 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 0 and 21 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 4.4 months, from around Nov 2 to Mar 15. The sunniest month is December, with roughly 20 sunny days (bright).

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

0510152025JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecsunniergreyersunniergloomymixedbrightbrilliantDec 2121 daysJul 210 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan16Bright
Feb12Mixed
Mar8Gloomy
Apr4Gloomy
May1Gloomy
Jun1Gloomy
Jul0Gloomy
Aug1Gloomy
Sep0Gloomy
Oct2Gloomy
Nov12Mixed
Dec20Bright

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

The more humid part of the year lasts 8.5 months, from around March 9 to November 22. The muggiest month is April, when the air feels humid, muggy or worse about 100% of the time.

The most comfortable stretch runs from around November 23 to March 8, and December is the most comfortable month — the air is dry or comfortable 61% of the time.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecDec 31 · 81%Apr 11 · 0%miserablecomfortablehumidoppressivemuggydrycomfortablehumidcomfortable
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)Humid (%)Muggy (%)Oppressive (%)Miserable (%)
Jan627101930
Feb4251031110
Mar103843361
Apr00117765
May00018316
Jun0000946
Jul0001981
Aug0001991
Sep0000991
Oct0001936
Nov74724563
Dec529112080

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 Makurdi is typically calm, near 8 km/h, and varies little with the seasons.

The windier part of the year lasts 6.0 months, from around Dec 19 to Jun 18. The windiest month is April, averaging about 10 km/h (calm).

The calmer part of the year runs from around Jun 19 to Dec 18, with September the calmest month at about 7 km/h.

051015JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwindiercalmercalmlight breezeApr 9 · 10 km/hSep 24 · 7 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan9calm
Feb9calm
Mar10calm
Apr10calm
May9calm
Jun8calm
Jul8calm
Aug8calm
Sep7calm
Oct7calm
Nov7calm
Dec8calm

Hazard calendar for Makurdi

In seasonPeak

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

Makurdi's monsoon runs June–September, when most of the year's rain falls.

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

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

Best time to visit Makurdi

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

Around late September, Makurdi is still near the start of its best-weather window — great conditions with the peak-season crowds not yet at full swing.

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 Makurdi for general outdoor tourist activities run from early June to mid August and again from mid September to late November, with a peak score in the last week of October.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationOct 31 · 4.2

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
Jan2.8poor
Feb1.8poor
Mar1.5poor
Apr2.2poor
May3.0poor
Jun3.4poor
Jul3.4poor
Aug3.4poor
Sep3.4poor
Oct3.9fair
Nov3.7fair
Dec3.1poor

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 Makurdi for hot-weather activities is from mid October to late January, with a peak score in the third week of November.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationNov 15 · 7.3

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 Makurdi, 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 March (highs near 37°C), the essentials are light clothes and sun protection. In the cold season around August (highs near 29°C), pack light clothes and rain gear.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In March, Makurdi sees daytime highs around 37°C and nights near 27°C. Pack light clothes and sun protection.

UV index (midday) in Makurdi 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 Makurdi peaks around September 17 at about 12 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near December 20 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 highSep 17UV 12Dec 20UV 8
UV index (midday)Level
Jan8Very high
Feb9Very high
Mar11Extreme
Apr11Extreme
May10Very high
Jun11Extreme
Jul11Extreme
Aug11Extreme
Sep12Extreme
Oct12Extreme
Nov10Very high
Dec8Very high

Average hourly UV index in Makurdi

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 September 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
Feb74.5
Mar7.55.5
Apr7.55.5
May7.55
Jun85.5
Jul86
Aug86
Sep86
Oct7.55.5
Nov75
Dec6.53.5

Air quality in Makurdi 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 Makurdi is worst in January — around 130 µg/m³ PM2.5 (unhealthy), about 4.3× the cleanest month (July, 30 µg/m³).

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

0306090120150JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecUnhealthyPoorModeratePoorUnhealthyJan 16128 µg/m³Jul 1730 µg/m³
PM2.5 (µg/m³)Level
Jan130Unhealthy
Feb109Unhealthy
Mar74Unhealthy
Apr58Unhealthy
May37Poor
Jun33Moderate
Jul30Moderate
Aug33Moderate
Sep34Moderate
Oct46Poor
Nov61Unhealthy
Dec112Unhealthy
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free dayFrost-free year round

Makurdi 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. Makurdi banks about 6,833 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around March.

02,0004,0006,000JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°C·days)
Jan600
Feb588
Mar682
Apr631
May596
Jun528
Jul516
Aug508
Sep501
Oct538
Nov559
Dec587

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.

Makurdi receives about 5.0 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — bright — with a clear seasonal swing between 4.0 and 6.2 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 5.6 months, from around Nov 4 to Apr 23. The brightest month is February, averaging about 6.2 kWh/m² (intense).

The dimmest month is August, down near 4.0 kWh/m² — roughly 36% less than the February peak.

01234567JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbrighterdimmerbrighterdimmoderatebrightintenseFeb 146.2 kWhAug 174.0 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan6.0Intense
Feb6.2Intense
Mar6.0Intense
Apr5.3Bright
May4.5Bright
Jun4.1Bright
Jul4.1Bright
Aug3.9Moderate
Sep4.2Bright
Oct4.3Bright
Nov5.4Bright
Dec5.8Bright

Where is Makurdi?

Makurdi sits at 7.7°N, 8.5°E, 92 m above sea level, in Nigeria. The nearest listed city is Igbor, 33 km away.

DomaLafiaKatsina-AlaOtukpaOgojaNasarawa

Topography around Makurdi

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Makurdi has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 66 m around an average of 81 m above sea level; within 16 km, only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 118 m; within 80 km, significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 458 m.

The land around Makurdi is covered by artificial surfaces (63%) within 3 km, cropland (46%) and shrubs (21%) within 16 km, and cropland (48%) and shrubs (22%) within 80 km.

3 km
66 m
16 km
118 m
80 km
458 m
treesshrubsgrasslandcroplandartificial surfaceswaterwetland
Nearby: Igbor 33 km · Gboko 70 km · Doma 76 km · Lafia 85 km · Katsina-Ala 105 km · Otukpa 118 km · Ogoja 123 km · Nasarawa 127 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 Makurdi (7.7337°, 8.5214°, elevation 92 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).