Climate and average weather in Kismayo

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

Best: late May to mid October

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Kismayo typically varies from 24°C to 33°C, and is rarely below 23°C or above 35°C. March is the hottest month of the year, while July is the coldest.

Based on the travel score, the best times of year to visit Kismayo for warm-weather activities are from late May to mid October and mid December to mid March.

Hottest
Mar
33°
Coldest
Jul
24°
Wettest
May
89 mm
Driest
Feb
2 mm
Rain / yr
423 mm
98 wet days
Daylight
12.0–12.0 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
11 m
0.4°S
Clearest
Jan
37% cloud

Kismayo is port city in the southern Lower Juba province of Somalia and capital of Jubaland.

Density
5,592/km²
people per km²

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

Kismayo 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 late May to mid October.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

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

Temperatures in Kismayo stay fairly even through the year, without a distinct hot or cool season. The warmest month is March, with an average high of 33°C and low of 26°C; the coolest is July, with an average low of 24°C and high of 29°C.

Days typically run about 6°C warmer than nights year-round.

20°25°30°35°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan3225
Feb3225
Mar3326
Apr3326
May3125
Jun3025
Jul2924
Aug3024
Sep3124
Oct3125
Nov3225
Dec3225

How hot and cold Kismayo 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, Kismayo feels like about 39°C (around April 12). About 304 days a year carry some heat stress, peaking in April.

20°25°30°35°40°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdangerous heat
Feels-like high (°C)Air high (°C)Feels-like low (°C)Air low (°C)
Jan35322525
Feb36322525
Mar38332626
Apr38332626
May35312525
Jun33302425
Jul31292424
Aug32302424
Sep33312424
Oct35312525
Nov36322525
Dec36322525

Average hourly temperature in Kismayo

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 33°C, and coldest before dawn in July, near 24°C.

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

Kismayo 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
Jan32° / 25°151.5125.3
Feb32° / 25°20.3125.1
Mar33° / 26°92.4124.3
Apr33° / 26°7314.3123.3
May31° / 25°8918.5123.8
Jun30° / 25°3310.1124.9
Jul29° / 24°217.2125.5
Aug30° / 24°197125.6
Sep31° / 24°185.3125.4
Oct31° / 25°399.3124.5
Nov32° / 25°6914124.0
Dec32° / 25°357.6124.7

Chance of rain

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

Kismayo gets about 423 mm of precipitation a year. On a typical day the chance of rain is some rain, but that rises and falls sharply with the seasons.

The wetter season lasts 3.1 months, from around Apr 4 to Jul 5, peaking in May at about 67% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Feb 14.

May is the wettest month by volume, with 89 mm over about 19 wet days; February is the driest, with 2 mm.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdrierwetterdriermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetMay 2 · 67%Feb 14 · 1%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan52
Feb10
Mar82
Apr4714
May5819
Jun3410
Jul247
Aug227
Sep185
Oct319
Nov4614
Dec248

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Kismayo collects about 423 mm of rain across 98 wet days — roughly 35 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. May is the wettest month with 89 mm, while February is the driest at just 2 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 55% of the year’s total.

0255075100125JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec1529738933211918396935
Rainfall (mm)Rain days
Jan152
Feb20
Mar92
Apr7314
May8919
Jun3310
Jul217
Aug197
Sep185
Oct399
Nov6914
Dec358

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Kismayo, 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 August 29 and lasts for 7.4 months, ending around April 11. The clearest month is December, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 81% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around April 12 and lasts for 4.6 months, ending around August 28. The cloudiest month is June, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 53% 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%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecSep 29 · 83%Jun 17 · 44%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastclearercloudierclearer
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan8020
Feb7822
Mar8020
Apr6436
May5743
Jun4753
Jul4852
Aug6040
Sep7822
Oct7723
Nov7129
Dec8119

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, Kismayo barely changes through the year: days stay near 12 hours of light in every season.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan12.06:196:20
Feb12.06:246:25
Mar12.06:196:20
Apr12.06:106:10
May12.06:076:06
Jun12.06:116:09
Jul12.06:166:15
Aug12.06:146:14
Sep12.06:046:04
Oct12.05:555:55
Nov12.05:555:56
Dec12.06:056:07

Sunny days

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

Kismayo averages about 14 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 7 and 20 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 4.5 months, from around Nov 24 to Apr 10. The sunniest month is December, with roughly 19 sunny days (bright).

The greyest month is June, down near 8 sunny days — about 58% fewer than the December peak.

0510152025JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecsunniergreyersunniergloomymixedbrightbrilliantDec 2520 daysJun 207 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan20Bright
Feb17Bright
Mar19Bright
Apr12Mixed
May10Mixed
Jun8Gloomy
Jul8Mixed
Aug12Mixed
Sep16Bright
Oct15Mixed
Nov14Mixed
Dec19Bright

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.

Kismayo 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
Humid (%)Muggy (%)Oppressive (%)Miserable (%)
Jan015823
Feb015823
Mar04887
Apr007029
May028117
Jun030700
Jul172260
Aug280180
Sep163370
Oct023761
Nov02927
Dec04888

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 Kismayo is typically light breeze, near 17 km/h, and varies moderately with the seasons.

The windier part of the year lasts 4.3 months, from around May 25 to Oct 3. The windiest month is July, averaging about 21 km/h (breezy).

The calmer part of the year runs from around Oct 4 to Dec 22, with November the calmest month at about 12 km/h.

0510152025JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDeccalmerwindiercalmercalmlight breezebreezyJul 16 · 21 km/hNov 16 · 12 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan19light breeze
Feb19light breeze
Mar16light breeze
Apr13light breeze
May16light breeze
Jun20light breeze
Jul21breezy
Aug20breezy
Sep19light breeze
Oct15light breeze
Nov12light breeze
Dec16light breeze

Best time to visit Kismayo

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

Around mid October, Kismayo 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 Kismayo for general outdoor tourist activities run from late May to mid October and again from mid December to mid March, with a peak score in the third week of August.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationAug 16 · 5.6

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
Jan5.3fair
Feb5.1fair
Mar4.4fair
Apr3.3poor
May3.8fair
Jun4.9fair
Jul5.5fair
Aug5.6good
Sep5.4fair
Oct4.5fair
Nov4.0fair
Dec4.7fair

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 Kismayo for hot-weather activities run from mid June to late October and again from early December to early April, with a peak score in the first week of February.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timebest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationFeb 3 · 8.2

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 Kismayo, 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.

Kismayo packs about the same all year — highs hold near 33°C. Across the year the things worth having are light clothes, sun protection and a windbreaker.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In March, Kismayo sees daytime highs around 33°C and nights near 26°C. Pack light clothes and sun protection.

Sea temperature near Kismayo

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

The sea offshore is warmest in April at about 29°C and coldest in August near 25°C.

The water stays above 20°C all year — warm enough for a swim any month.

24°26°28°30°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecrefreshingwarmtropicalcomfortable to swim
Sea temperature (°C)Comfort
Jan27Warm
Feb27Warm
Mar28Warm
Apr29Tropical
May28Tropical
Jun27Warm
Jul26Warm
Aug25Warm
Sep26Warm
Oct27Warm
Nov27Warm
Dec28Warm

UV index (midday) in Kismayo 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 Kismayo peaks around April 9 at about 15 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near June 19 at about 10 (very high).

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

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecExtremeExtremeApr 9UV 15Jun 19UV 10
UV index (midday)Level
Jan14Extreme
Feb14Extreme
Mar15Extreme
Apr15Extreme
May12Extreme
Jun10Very high
Jul11Extreme
Aug12Extreme
Sep13Extreme
Oct13Extreme
Nov12Extreme
Dec12Extreme

Average hourly UV index in Kismayo

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 April 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)
Jan86.5
Feb86.5
Mar86.5
Apr86.5
May7.55.5
Jun7.55
Jul7.55.5
Aug86
Sep86
Oct86
Nov86
Dec7.55.5

Air quality in Kismayo 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 Kismayo is worst in January — around 15 µg/m³ PM2.5 (moderate), about 2.6× the cleanest month (October, 6 µg/m³).

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

01020JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecModerateGoodJan 2015 µg/m³Oct 156 µg/m³
PM2.5 (µg/m³)Level
Jan15Moderate
Feb15Moderate
Mar11Good
Apr6Good
May7Good
Jun10Good
Jul10Good
Aug8Good
Sep7Good
Oct6Good
Nov8Good
Dec13Moderate
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free dayFrost-free year round

Kismayo 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. Kismayo banks about 6,574 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around April.

02,0004,0006,000JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°C·days)
Jan565
Feb517
Mar602
Apr585
May561
Jun514
Jul513
Aug516
Sep519
Oct560
Nov551
Dec571

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.

Kismayo receives about 6.0 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — bright — with a clear seasonal swing between 5.2 and 6.8 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 3.9 months, from around Dec 16 to Apr 14. The brightest month is March, averaging about 6.7 kWh/m² (intense).

The dimmest month is June, down near 5.2 kWh/m² — roughly 22% less than the March peak.

012345678JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightintenseMar 26.8 kWhJun 165.2 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan6.4Intense
Feb6.8Intense
Mar6.7Intense
Apr6.0Bright
May5.3Bright
Jun5.2Bright
Jul5.4Bright
Aug5.8Bright
Sep6.2Intense
Oct6.2Intense
Nov5.9Bright
Dec6.0Intense

Where is Kismayo?

Kismayo sits at 0.4°S, 42.5°E, 11 m above sea level, in Somalia. The nearest listed city is Jamaame, 53 km away.

JilibBu’aaleKaambooniLamuBaardheereMasalani

Topography around Kismayo

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Kismayo has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 57 m around an average of 14 m above sea level; within 16 km, only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 83 m; within 80 km, only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 84 m.

The land around Kismayo is covered by artificial surfaces (36%) and water (36%) within 3 km, water (50%) and grassland (32%) within 16 km, and shrubs (58%) and water (34%) within 80 km.

3 km
57 m
16 km
83 m
80 km
84 m
shrubsgrasslandcroplandartificial surfacesbare terrainwater
Nearby: Jamaame 53 km · Jilib 98 km · Bu’aale 160 km · Kaambooni 178 km · Lamu 280 km · Baardheere 302 km · Masalani 303 km · Hola 306 km

Somalia travel facts

Travel advisory
Level 4
Do Not Travel
Power plugs
Type C / G
220 V · 50 Hz
Prices
≈ 52% of US
price level, 2025
GDP per capita
$661
2025
Happiness
4.5 / 10
World Happiness, 2025
Road deaths
27.4
per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group
Low
World Bank
English
Very low
EF EPI 399
Religion
Muslim 100%ethnic religionist 0%

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 Kismayo (-0.3582°, 42.5454°, elevation 11 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. 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. 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).