Climate and average weather in Batticaloa

In Batticaloa, 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 December.

Best: early January to early April

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Batticaloa typically varies from 25°C to 32°C, and is rarely below 24°C or above 33°C. June is the hottest month of the year, while January is the coldest.

Based on the travel score, the best time of year to visit Batticaloa for warm-weather activities is from early January to early April.

Hottest
Jun
32°
Coldest
Jan
25°
Wettest
Dec
302 mm
Driest
Jul
24 mm
Rain / yr
1285 mm
149 wet days
Daylight
11.6–12.4 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
17 m
7.7°N
Clearest
Mar
45% cloud

Batticaloa is city in Eastern Province, Sri Lanka.

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

Batticaloa 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 early April.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

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

Temperatures in Batticaloa stay fairly even through the year, without a distinct hot or cool season. The warmest month is June, with an average high of 32°C and low of 28°C; the coolest is January, with an average low of 25°C and high of 27°C.

Days typically run about 3°C warmer than nights year-round.

20°25°30°35°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan2725
Feb2725
Mar2926
Apr3027
May3128
Jun3228
Jul3228
Aug3127
Sep3027
Oct2926
Nov2825
Dec2725

How hot and cold Batticaloa 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, Batticaloa feels like about 39°C (around May 22). About 232 days a year carry some heat stress, peaking in May.

20°25°30°35°40°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdangerous heat
Feels-like high (°C)Air high (°C)Feels-like low (°C)Air low (°C)
Jan27272525
Feb30272525
Mar32292626
Apr37302727
May39312828
Jun37322828
Jul36322828
Aug36312727
Sep35302727
Oct33292626
Nov31282525
Dec28272525

Average hourly temperature in Batticaloa

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 June afternoons, near 32°C, and coldest before dawn in January, near 25°C.

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

Batticaloa 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
Jan27° / 25°17115.511.65.6
Feb27° / 25°8811.211.76.2
Mar29° / 26°528.311.96.1
Apr30° / 27°5910.512.25.0
May31° / 28°519.412.34.4
Jun32° / 28°255.412.44.2
Jul32° / 28°245.812.44.3
Aug31° / 27°317.512.34.5
Sep30° / 27°4811.1124.5
Oct29° / 26°15218.811.84.2
Nov28° / 25°28323.511.64.1
Dec27° / 25°30221.611.64.7

Chance of rain

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

Batticaloa gets about 1285 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 4.7 months, from around Sep 22 to Feb 10, peaking in November at about 79% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Jun 24.

December is the wettest month by volume, with 302 mm over about 22 wet days; July is the driest, with 24 mm.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwetterdrierwettermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetNov 20 · 79%Jun 24 · 13%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan5116
Feb3811
Mar288
Apr3411
May309
Jun185
Jul186
Aug258
Sep3611
Oct6119
Nov7824
Dec7022

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Batticaloa collects about 1285 mm of rain across 149 wet days — roughly 107 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. December is the wettest month with 302 mm, while July is the driest at just 24 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 59% of the year’s total.

050100150200250300350JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec1718852595125243148152283302
Rainfall (mm)Rain days
Jan17116
Feb8811
Mar528
Apr5911
May519
Jun255
Jul246
Aug318
Sep4811
Oct15219
Nov28324
Dec30222

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Batticaloa, 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 4.6 months, ending around May 13. The clearest month is March, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 67% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around May 14 and lasts for 7.4 months, ending around December 25. The cloudiest month is July, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 80% 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%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecMar 22 · 68%Jul 23 · 19%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastclearercloudier
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan4753
Feb5743
Mar6733
Apr5545
May3862
Jun2476
Jul2080
Aug2476
Sep3466
Oct3565
Nov2971
Dec3565

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 16, 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)
Jan11.66:256:00
Feb11.76:256:10
Mar11.96:146:11
Apr12.25:586:09
May12.35:496:10
Jun12.45:506:17
Jul12.45:576:21
Aug12.36:006:15
Sep12.05:565:59
Oct11.85:535:43
Nov11.65:595:38
Dec11.66:135:46

Sunny days

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

Batticaloa averages about 7 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 3 and 15 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 4.7 months, from around Dec 28 to May 18. The sunniest month is March, with roughly 15 sunny days (mixed).

The greyest month is July, down near 3 sunny days — about 81% fewer than the March peak.

05101520JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecsunniergreyergloomymixedbrightMar 2315 daysJul 133 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan8Gloomy
Feb10Mixed
Mar15Mixed
Apr12Mixed
May7Gloomy
Jun4Gloomy
Jul3Gloomy
Aug4Gloomy
Sep5Gloomy
Oct5Gloomy
Nov4Gloomy
Dec6Gloomy

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.

Batticaloa 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 98% 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 (%)
Jan225703
Feb223706
Mar086229
Apr001981
May001486
Jun006535
Jul028117
Aug017821
Sep006732
Oct007029
Nov027622
Dec012799

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 Batticaloa is typically calm, near 12 km/h, and varies moderately with the seasons.

The windier part of the year lasts 3.8 months, from around Nov 18 to Mar 12. The windiest month is January, averaging about 16 km/h (light breeze).

The calmer part of the year runs from around Jul 28 to Nov 17, with October the calmest month at about 10 km/h.

05101520JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwindiercalmerwindiercalmlight breezeJan 3 · 17 km/hOct 14 · 9 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan16light breeze
Feb14light breeze
Mar12calm
Apr10calm
May10calm
Jun12calm
Jul12light breeze
Aug11calm
Sep10calm
Oct10calm
Nov12calm
Dec16light breeze

Hazard calendar for Batticaloa

In seasonPeak

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

Batticaloa sits in the North Indian Ocean cyclone zone; the season peaks May and October–November.

Batticaloa's monsoon runs October–January, when most of the year's rain falls.

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

Best time to visit Batticaloa

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

Around late March, Batticaloa 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 time of year to visit Batticaloa for general outdoor tourist activities is from late December to mid April, with a peak score in the last week of February.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationFeb 24 · 6.4

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
Jan5.6good
Feb6.2good
Mar6.1good
Apr5.0fair
May4.4fair
Jun4.2fair
Jul4.3fair
Aug4.5fair
Sep4.5fair
Oct4.2fair
Nov4.1fair
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 time of year to visit Batticaloa for hot-weather activities is from early February to late September, with a peak score in the last week of March.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationMar 22 · 7.6

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 Batticaloa, 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.

Batticaloa packs about the same all year — highs hold near 32°C. Across the year the things worth having are light clothes, sun protection and rain gear.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In June, Batticaloa sees daytime highs around 32°C and nights near 28°C. Pack light clothes. Worth having: sun protection. About 5 days see rain.

Sea temperature near Batticaloa

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 20 km away) is warmest in May at about 30°C and coldest in January near 27°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
Jan27Warm
Feb28Warm
Mar29Tropical
Apr30Tropical
May30Tropical
Jun30Tropical
Jul29Tropical
Aug29Tropical
Sep29Tropical
Oct29Tropical
Nov29Tropical
Dec28Warm

UV index (midday) in Batticaloa 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 Batticaloa peaks around April 16 at about 14 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near December 20 at about 10 (very high).

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

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecExtremeApr 16UV 14Dec 20UV 10
UV index (midday)Level
Jan10Extreme
Feb12Extreme
Mar13Extreme
Apr14Extreme
May13Extreme
Jun11Extreme
Jul11Extreme
Aug13Extreme
Sep13Extreme
Oct12Extreme
Nov11Extreme
Dec10Very high

Average hourly UV index in Batticaloa

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)
Jan7.55
Feb86
Mar86.5
Apr86.5
May8.56.5
Jun86
Jul86
Aug86
Sep86
Oct86
Nov7.55.5
Dec7.55

Air quality in Batticaloa 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 Batticaloa is worst in May — around 25 µg/m³ PM2.5 (moderate), and holds fairly steady the rest of the year.

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

0102030JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecModerateMay 2125 µg/m³Dec 2118 µg/m³
PM2.5 (µg/m³)Level
Jan19Moderate
Feb19Moderate
Mar20Moderate
Apr19Moderate
May25Moderate
Jun23Moderate
Jul23Moderate
Aug23Moderate
Sep22Moderate
Oct22Moderate
Nov20Moderate
Dec18Moderate
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free dayFrost-free year round

Batticaloa 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. Batticaloa banks about 6,532 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around June.

02,0004,0006,000JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°C·days)
Jan492
Feb456
Mar535
Apr552
May601
Jun595
Jul607
Aug593
Sep558
Oct547
Nov499
Dec497

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.

Batticaloa receives about 5.6 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — bright — with a clear seasonal swing between 4.1 and 6.5 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 7.9 months, from around Feb 16 to Oct 13. The brightest month is March, averaging about 6.4 kWh/m² (intense).

The dimmest month is December, down near 4.2 kWh/m² — roughly 34% less than the March peak.

012345678JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmerbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightintenseMar 246.5 kWhDec 164.1 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan4.7Bright
Feb5.6Bright
Mar6.4Intense
Apr6.3Intense
May6.2Intense
Jun6.0Bright
Jul5.9Bright
Aug6.1Intense
Sep6.1Intense
Oct5.5Bright
Nov4.5Bright
Dec4.2Bright

Where is Batticaloa?

Batticaloa sits at 7.7°N, 81.7°E, 17 m above sea level, in Sri Lanka. The nearest listed city is Eravur Town, 12 km away.

KalmunaiAmparaVakaraiPolonnaruwaPottuvilSigiriyaBadulla

Topography around Batticaloa

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Batticaloa has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 19 m around an average of 3 m above sea level; within 16 km, only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 44 m; within 80 km, large variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 844 m.

The land around Batticaloa is covered by water (33%) and grassland (21%) within 3 km, water (53%) and cropland (22%) within 16 km, and water (40%) and trees (35%) within 80 km.

3 km
19 m
16 km
44 m
80 km
844 m
treesgrasslandcroplandartificial surfacesbare terrainwatermangroves
Nearby: Eravur Town 12 km · Kalmunai 37 km · Ampara 46 km · Vakarai 55 km · Polonnaruwa 80 km · Pottuvil 94 km · Sigiriya 107 km · Badulla 107 km

Sri Lanka travel facts

Travel advisory
Level 2
Exercise Increased Caution
Power plugs
Type D / G / M
230 V · 50 Hz
Prices
≈ 27% of US
price level, 2025
GDP per capita
$5,002
2025
Happiness
4.0 / 10
World Happiness, 2025
Safe drinking water
47%
of population, 2024
Homicide rate
3.3
per 100k, 2019
Road deaths
19.7
per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group
Upper middle
World Bank
English
Low
EF EPI 486
Religion
Buddhist 70%Hindu 13%Muslim 10%Roman Catholic 6%

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 Batticaloa (7.7102°, 81.6924°, elevation 17 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. 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).