Climate and average weather in Ngerulmud

In Ngerulmud, 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 July.

Best: early January to late April

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

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

Hottest
May
28°
Coldest
Feb
26°
Wettest
Jul
341 mm
Driest
Mar
152 mm
Rain / yr
3003 mm
287 wet days
Daylight
11.6–12.4 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
72 m
7.5°N
Clearest
Apr
64% cloud

Ngerulmud is capital of Palau.

Founded
2006

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

Ngerulmud 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 Ngerulmud, from 1991–2020 of climate data. The shaded bands show the range most days fall in — 10th to 90th percentile.

Temperatures in Ngerulmud stay fairly even through the year, without a distinct hot or cool season. The warmest month is May, 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 27°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
Feb2726
Mar2826
Apr2826
May2826
Jun2826
Jul2826
Aug2826
Sep2826
Oct2826
Nov2826
Dec2826

How hot and cold Ngerulmud 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, Ngerulmud feels like about 33°C (around May 2). About 197 days a year carry some heat stress, peaking in May.

24°26°28°30°32°34°36°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Feels-like high (°C)Air high (°C)Feels-like low (°C)Air low (°C)
Jan31282626
Feb31272626
Mar31282626
Apr32282626
May33282626
Jun33282626
Jul32282626
Aug32282626
Sep32282626
Oct32282626
Nov33282626
Dec33282626

Average hourly temperature in Ngerulmud

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 May 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

Ngerulmud 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°22322.111.64.5
Feb27° / 26°19419.111.84.8
Mar28° / 26°15218.411.95.1
Apr28° / 26°17020.312.24.7
May28° / 26°26925.812.33.7
Jun28° / 26°3372812.43.4
Jul28° / 26°3412712.43.7
Aug28° / 26°27625.212.24.0
Sep28° / 26°27024.2124.1
Oct28° / 26°25424.911.83.9
Nov28° / 26°25425.511.73.7
Dec28° / 26°26526.111.63.8

Chance of rain

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

Ngerulmud gets about 3003 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 8.0 months, from around Apr 30 to Dec 30, peaking in June at about 95% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Mar 11.

July is the wettest month by volume, with 341 mm over about 27 wet days; March is the driest, with 152 mm.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%110%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdrierwettermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetJun 21 · 95%Mar 11 · 60%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan7222
Feb6719
Mar6118
Apr6820
May8326
Jun9328
Jul8727
Aug8225
Sep8024
Oct8125
Nov8526
Dec8326

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Ngerulmud collects about 3003 mm of rain across 287 wet days — roughly 250 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. July is the wettest month with 341 mm, while March is the driest at just 152 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 32% of the year’s total.

050100150200250300350400JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec223194152170269337341276270254254265
Rainfall (mm)Rain days
Jan22322
Feb19419
Mar15218
Apr17020
May26926
Jun33728
Jul34127
Aug27625
Sep27024
Oct25425
Nov25426
Dec26526

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Ngerulmud, 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 26 and lasts for 4.3 months, ending around May 6. The clearest month is April, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 42% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around May 28 and lasts for 5.1 months, ending around October 30. The cloudiest month is July, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 85% 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%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecApr 6 · 45%Jul 29 · 14%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastclearercloudier
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan3565
Feb3565
Mar3961
Apr4258
May2872
Jun1981
Jul1585
Aug2080
Sep2179
Oct2674
Nov3070
Dec3070

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 18, 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)
Jan11.66:235:59
Feb11.86:236:09
Mar11.96:136:10
Apr12.25:576:07
May12.35:486:08
Jun12.45:496:15
Jul12.45:556:19
Aug12.25:586:13
Sep12.05:555:57
Oct11.85:525:41
Nov11.75:575:36
Dec11.66:115:45

Sunny days

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

Ngerulmud averages about 5 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 2 and 8 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 6.3 months, from around Oct 28 to May 7. The sunniest month is April, with roughly 8 sunny days (gloomy).

The greyest month is June, down near 2 sunny days — about 68% fewer than the April peak.

051015JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecsunniergreyersunniergloomymixedApr 68 daysJun 242 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan6Gloomy
Feb6Gloomy
Mar7Gloomy
Apr7Gloomy
May5Gloomy
Jun2Gloomy
Jul2Gloomy
Aug3Gloomy
Sep3Gloomy
Oct5Gloomy
Nov5Gloomy
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.

Ngerulmud 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 (%)
Jan14951
Feb06634
Mar16138
Apr03466
May02377
Jun03565
Jul05347
Aug05644
Sep05149
Oct03862
Nov02377
Dec02377

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 Ngerulmud is typically light breeze, near 19 km/h, and varies a lot with the seasons.

The windier part of the year lasts 4.5 months, from around Dec 3 to Apr 19. The windiest month is February, averaging about 24 km/h (breezy).

The calmer part of the year runs from around Apr 20 to Jul 29, with May the calmest month at about 16 km/h.

051015202530JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwindiercalmerwindiercalmlight breezebreezywindyFeb 3 · 25 km/hMay 30 · 14 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan24breezy
Feb24breezy
Mar23breezy
Apr20light breeze
May16light breeze
Jun15light breeze
Jul17light breeze
Aug18light breeze
Sep18light breeze
Oct17light breeze
Nov17light breeze
Dec21breezy

Hazard calendar for Ngerulmud

In seasonPeak

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

Ngerulmud 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 Ngerulmud

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

Around mid January, Ngerulmud 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 Ngerulmud for general outdoor tourist activities run from late August to late September and again from late December to late April, with a peak score in the third week of March.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationMar 16 · 5.1

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
Jan4.5fair
Feb4.8fair
Mar5.1fair
Apr4.7fair
May3.7fair
Jun3.4poor
Jul3.7fair
Aug4.0fair
Sep4.1fair
Oct3.9fair
Nov3.7fair
Dec3.9fair

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 Ngerulmud for hot-weather activities run from late August to early November and again from late December to late May, with a peak score in the last week of March.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationMar 31 · 5.4

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 Ngerulmud, 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.

Ngerulmud 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 May, Ngerulmud 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 Ngerulmud

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

The sea at the nearest coast (about 14 km away) is warmest in June 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°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwarmtropicalcomfortable to swim
Sea temperature (°C)Comfort
Jan28Tropical
Feb28Tropical
Mar28Tropical
Apr29Tropical
May29Tropical
Jun30Tropical
Jul29Tropical
Aug29Tropical
Sep29Tropical
Oct29Tropical
Nov29Tropical
Dec29Tropical

UV index (midday) in Ngerulmud 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 Ngerulmud peaks around March 23 at about 15 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near December 14 at about 11 (extreme).

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

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecExtremeMar 23UV 15Dec 14UV 11
UV index (midday)Level
Jan12Extreme
Feb13Extreme
Mar15Extreme
Apr15Extreme
May13Extreme
Jun12Extreme
Jul13Extreme
Aug14Extreme
Sep12Extreme
Oct14Extreme
Nov11Extreme
Dec11Extreme

Average hourly UV index in Ngerulmud

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 6.5 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)
Jan7.55.5
Feb86
Mar86.5
Apr8.56.5
May8.56.5
Jun86
Jul86
Aug86.5
Sep86
Oct86
Nov7.55.5
Dec7.55.5
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free dayFrost-free year round

Ngerulmud 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. Ngerulmud banks about 6,224 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around May.

02,0004,0006,000JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°C·days)
Jan524
Feb468
Mar522
Apr514
May536
Jun513
Jul527
Aug528
Sep513
Oct531
Nov517
Dec532

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.

Ngerulmud receives about 5.3 kWh/m² a day of solar energy — bright — and it stays remarkably steady, holding between 4.7 and 6.1 kWh/m² all year. For solar panels, output here is a flat line, not a seasonal wave.

01234567JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmoderatebrightintenseApr 36.1 kWhDec 154.7 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan5.1Bright
Feb5.5Bright
Mar6.0Bright
Apr6.0Intense
May5.5Bright
Jun4.9Bright
Jul5.0Bright
Aug5.2Bright
Sep5.4Bright
Oct5.3Bright
Nov5.0Bright
Dec4.7Bright

Where is Ngerulmud?

Ngerulmud sits at 7.5°N, 134.6°E, 72 m above sea level, in Palau. The nearest listed city is Koror, 24 km away.

Koror

Topography around Ngerulmud

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Ngerulmud has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 97 m around an average of 20 m above sea level; within 16 km, only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 230 m; within 80 km, only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 224 m.

The land around Ngerulmud is covered by water (46%) and trees (37%) within 3 km, water (61%) and trees (32%) within 16 km, and water (96%) within 80 km.

3 km
97 m
16 km
230 m
80 km
224 m
treesgrasslandartificial surfaceswatermangroves
Nearby: Koror 24 km · Manay 892 km · Hinatuan 918 km · Bislig 918 km · Daruba 927 km · Mati 929 km · Manokwari 932 km · Tagbina 937 km

Palau travel facts

Travel advisory
Level 1
Exercise Normal Precautions
Power plugs
Type A / B
120 V · 60 Hz
Prices
≈ 85% of US
price level, 2025
GDP per capita
$19,532
2025
Safe drinking water
91%
of population, 2024
Homicide rate
11.2
per 100k, 2018
Road deaths
4.8
per 100k/yr, 2013
Income group
High
World Bank
Religion
Roman Catholic 47%Protestant 31%other 12%Modekngei 5%

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 Ngerulmud (7.5008°, 134.6238°, elevation 72 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).