Climate and average weather in Popondetta

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

Best: mid May to late October

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Popondetta typically varies from 22°C to 29°C, and is rarely below 21°C or above 31°C. February is the hottest month of the year, while July is the coldest.

Based on the travel score, the best time of year to visit Popondetta for warm-weather activities is from mid May to late October.

Hottest
Feb
29°
Coldest
Jul
22°
Wettest
Mar
516 mm
Driest
Jul
158 mm
Rain / yr
3670 mm
307 wet days
Daylight
11.5–12.5 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
106 m
8.8°S
Clearest
Aug
73% cloud

Popondetta is city.

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

Popondetta 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 May to late October.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

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

Temperatures in Popondetta stay fairly even through the year, without a distinct hot or cool season. The warmest month is February, with an average high of 29°C and low of 24°C; the coolest is July, with an average low of 22°C and high of 27°C.

Days typically run about 5°C warmer than nights year-round.

20°25°30°35°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan2924
Feb2924
Mar2924
Apr2924
May2823
Jun2723
Jul2722
Aug2722
Sep2722
Oct2823
Nov2923
Dec2924

How hot and cold Popondetta 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, Popondetta feels like about 34°C (around January 29). About 148 days a year carry some heat stress, peaking in January.

20°25°30°35°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Feels-like high (°C)Air high (°C)Feels-like low (°C)Air low (°C)
Jan33292424
Feb34292424
Mar33292424
Apr32292324
May31282323
Jun30272323
Jul28272222
Aug27272222
Sep30272222
Oct31282323
Nov32292323
Dec33292424

Average hourly temperature in Popondetta

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 29°C, and coldest before dawn in July, near 22°C.

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

Popondetta 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
Jan29° / 24°49729.812.52.9
Feb29° / 24°46827.112.32.8
Mar29° / 24°5163012.12.9
Apr29° / 24°31526.911.83.2
May28° / 23°22625.111.63.8
Jun27° / 23°19122.311.54.4
Jul27° / 22°15821.811.54.6
Aug27° / 22°17021.611.74.7
Sep27° / 22°19521.811.94.5
Oct28° / 23°21624.612.24.0
Nov29° / 23°28926.312.43.4
Dec29° / 24°43029.212.53.0

Chance of rain

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

Popondetta gets about 3670 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 6.1 months, from around Nov 3 to May 6, peaking in February at about 97% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Aug 13.

March is the wettest month by volume, with 516 mm over about 30 wet days; July is the driest, with 158 mm.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%110%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwetterdrierwettermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetFeb 13 · 97%Aug 13 · 68%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan9630
Feb9727
Mar9630
Apr9027
May8125
Jun7422
Jul7122
Aug6922
Sep7322
Oct8025
Nov8826
Dec9429

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Popondetta collects about 3670 mm of rain across 307 wet days — roughly 306 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. March is the wettest month with 516 mm, while July is the driest at just 158 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 40% of the year’s total.

050100150200250300350400450500550600JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec497468516315226191158170195216289430
Rainfall (mm)Rain days
Jan49730
Feb46827
Mar51630
Apr31527
May22625
Jun19122
Jul15822
Aug17022
Sep19522
Oct21625
Nov28926
Dec43029

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Popondetta, 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 May 11 and lasts for 5.9 months, ending around November 7. The clearest month is August, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 28% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around November 8 and lasts for 6.0 months, ending around May 10. The cloudiest month is March, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 94% 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%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecAug 12 · 29%Mar 8 · 4%mostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastcloudierclearercloudier
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan793
Feb793
Mar694
Apr1189
May2080
Jun2476
Jul2575
Aug2872
Sep2575
Oct2278
Nov1684
Dec991

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 January 1, brings about 12 h 30 min of light; the shortest, around May 27, 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)
Jan12.56:036:30
Feb12.36:136:30
Mar12.16:156:19
Apr11.86:136:01
May11.66:155:51
Jun11.56:235:52
Jul11.56:275:59
Aug11.76:206:02
Sep11.96:036:00
Oct12.25:465:58
Nov12.45:406:05
Dec12.55:486:18

Sunny days

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

Popondetta averages about 2 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 0 and 4 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 5.7 months, from around May 8 to Oct 26. The sunniest month is September, with roughly 4 sunny days (gloomy).

The greyest month is March, down near 0 sunny days — about 86% fewer than the September peak.

0510JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgreyersunniergreyergloomymixedSep 94 daysMar 90 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan1Gloomy
Feb1Gloomy
Mar0Gloomy
Apr1Gloomy
May3Gloomy
Jun3Gloomy
Jul3Gloomy
Aug3Gloomy
Sep4Gloomy
Oct2Gloomy
Nov1Gloomy
Dec1Gloomy

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.

Popondetta 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%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecmiserableoppressivemuggy
Muggy (%)Oppressive (%)Miserable (%)
Jan06040
Feb05743
Mar06634
Apr08119
May1917
Jun6931
Jul12880
Aug20800
Sep17820
Oct9910
Nov1927
Dec07228

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 Popondetta is steady company: average speeds sit near 4 km/hcalm — in every month of the year, with no meaningful windy or calm season.

0510JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDeccalmAug 2 · 4 km/hMay 25 · 3 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan4calm
Feb4calm
Mar3calm
Apr3calm
May3calm
Jun3calm
Jul4calm
Aug4calm
Sep4calm
Oct4calm
Nov4calm
Dec4calm

Hazard calendar for Popondetta

In seasonPeak

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

Popondetta sits in the South Indian Ocean cyclone belt; the season peaks January–March.

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

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

Best time to visit Popondetta

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

Around late May, Popondetta 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 time of year to visit Popondetta for general outdoor tourist activities is from mid May to late October, with a peak score in the second week of August.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationAug 12 · 4.8

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
Jan2.9poor
Feb2.8poor
Mar2.9poor
Apr3.2poor
May3.8fair
Jun4.4fair
Jul4.6fair
Aug4.7fair
Sep4.5fair
Oct4.0fair
Nov3.4poor
Dec3.0poor

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 Popondetta for hot-weather activities is from early April to mid December, with a peak score in the second week of August.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationAug 14 · 4.8

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 Popondetta, 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.

Popondetta packs about the same all year — highs hold near 29°C. Across the year the things worth having are light clothes, rain gear and sun protection.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In February, Popondetta sees daytime highs around 29°C and nights near 24°C. Pack light clothes and rain gear. Worth having: sun protection. About 27 days see rain.

Sea temperature near Popondetta

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 22 km away) is warmest in January at about 30°C and coldest in August 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
Jan30Tropical
Feb30Tropical
Mar30Tropical
Apr30Tropical
May29Tropical
Jun29Tropical
Jul28Warm
Aug28Warm
Sep28Warm
Oct28Tropical
Nov29Tropical
Dec30Tropical

UV index (midday) in Popondetta 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 Popondetta peaks around March 12 at about 16 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near June 18 at about 10 (very high).

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

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecExtremeExtremeMar 12UV 16Jun 18UV 10
UV index (midday)Level
Jan15Extreme
Feb16Extreme
Mar16Extreme
Apr14Extreme
May11Extreme
Jun10Very high
Jul11Extreme
Aug12Extreme
Sep15Extreme
Oct15Extreme
Nov14Extreme
Dec14Extreme

Average hourly UV index in Popondetta

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 8.5 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)
Jan8.57
Feb8.57
Mar8.57
Apr86
May7.55.5
Jun74.5
Jul7.55.5
Aug7.56
Sep8.56.5
Oct86.5
Nov86.5
Dec8.56.5
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free dayFrost-free year round

Popondetta 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. Popondetta banks about 5,689 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)
Jan506
Feb458
Mar503
Apr479
May484
Jun452
Jul453
Aug451
Sep447
Oct477
Nov476
Dec502

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.

Popondetta receives about 4.9 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — bright — with a clear seasonal swing between 4.0 and 5.5 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 6.5 months, from around Aug 30 to Mar 14. The brightest month is November, averaging about 5.5 kWh/m² (bright).

The dimmest month is June, down near 4.0 kWh/m² — roughly 26% less than the November peak.

01234567JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbrighterdimmerbrighterdimmoderatebrightintenseNov 15.5 kWhJun 254.0 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan5.1Bright
Feb5.1Bright
Mar4.9Bright
Apr4.7Bright
May4.4Bright
Jun4.0Bright
Jul4.1Bright
Aug4.6Bright
Sep5.2Bright
Oct5.5Bright
Nov5.5Bright
Dec5.2Bright

Where is Popondetta?

Popondetta sits at 8.8°S, 148.2°E, 106 m above sea level, in Papua New Guinea. The nearest listed city is Port Moresby, 143 km away.

Port MoresbyBuloloLaeKimbeGorokaMadangMount HagenDaru

Topography around Popondetta

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Popondetta has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 119 m around an average of 109 m above sea level; within 16 km, large variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 803 m; within 80 km, extreme variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 3,979 m.

The land around Popondetta is covered by trees (61%) and grassland (38%) within 3 km, trees (86%) within 16 km, and trees (70%) and water (27%) within 80 km.

3 km
119 m
16 km
803 m
80 km
3,979 m
treesgrasslandartificial surfaceswatermangroves
Nearby: Port Moresby 143 km · Bulolo 247 km · Lae 265 km · Kimbe 415 km · Goroka 433 km · Madang 478 km · Mount Hagen 547 km · Daru 553 km

Papua New Guinea travel facts

Travel advisory
Level 3
Reconsider Travel
Power plugs
Type I
240 V · 50 Hz
Prices
≈ 58% of US
price level, 2025
GDP per capita
$3,020
2025
Homicide rate
9.3
per 100k, 2010
Road deaths
12.6
per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group
Lower middle
World Bank
Religion
Protestant 64%Roman Catholic 26%other Christian 5%non-Christian 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 Popondetta (-8.7654°, 148.2325°, elevation 106 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).