Climate and average weather in Ella

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

Best: mid December to early April

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Ella typically varies from 18°C to 30°C, and is rarely below 15°C or above 32°C. July is the hottest month of the year, while January is the coldest.

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

Hottest
Jul
30°
Coldest
Jan
18°
Wettest
Oct
277 mm
Driest
Jul
52 mm
Rain / yr
1696 mm
187 wet days
Daylight
11.6–12.4 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
0 m
6.9°N
Clearest
Mar
56% cloud

Ella 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 December to early April.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

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

Temperatures in Ella stay fairly even through the year, without a distinct hot or cool season. The warmest month is July, with an average high of 30°C and low of 22°C; the coolest is January, with an average low of 18°C and high of 24°C.

Days typically run about 8°C warmer than nights, with the widest day–night swing (around 9°C) in March.

15°20°25°30°35°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan2418
Feb2518
Mar2718
Apr2820
May2921
Jun3022
Jul3022
Aug3021
Sep3021
Oct2820
Nov2519
Dec2419

Average hourly temperature in Ella

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 July afternoons, near 30°C, and coldest before dawn in January, near 18°C.

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

Ella 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
Jan24° / 18°13115.711.65.9
Feb25° / 18°9313.311.86.1
Mar27° / 18°8412.7126.0
Apr28° / 20°17620.212.14.4
May29° / 21°14116.612.34.3
Jun30° / 22°539.912.44.7
Jul30° / 22°527.912.44.8
Aug30° / 21°711012.24.7
Sep30° / 21°12813.6124.5
Oct28° / 20°2772211.84.3
Nov25° / 19°2692411.74.3
Dec24° / 19°22121.211.65.0

Chance of rain

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

Ella gets about 1696 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 3.6 months, from around Sep 27 to Jan 13, peaking in November at about 82% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Jun 30.

October is the wettest month by volume, with 277 mm over about 22 wet days; July is the driest, with 52 mm.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdrierwettermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetNov 1 · 82%Jun 30 · 23%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan5116
Feb4713
Mar4313
Apr6620
May5317
Jun3310
Jul268
Aug3310
Sep4514
Oct7122
Nov8024
Dec6921

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Ella collects about 1696 mm of rain across 187 wet days — roughly 141 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. October is the wettest month with 277 mm, while July is the driest at just 52 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 45% of the year’s total.

050100150200250300JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec1319384176141535271128277269221
Rainfall (mm)Rain days
Jan13116
Feb9313
Mar8413
Apr17620
May14117
Jun5310
Jul528
Aug7110
Sep12814
Oct27722
Nov26924
Dec22121

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Ella, 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 24 and lasts for 4.3 months, ending around May 4. The clearest month is March, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 53% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around May 5 and lasts for 7.7 months, ending around December 23. The cloudiest month is November, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 83% 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 20 · 55%Oct 29 · 15%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastclearercloudier
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan3565
Feb4258
Mar5347
Apr3664
May2674
Jun2080
Jul1783
Aug1882
Sep2278
Oct2080
Nov1783
Dec2476

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 26, 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)
Jan11.66:266:04
Feb11.86:276:14
Mar12.06:176:14
Apr12.16:026:11
May12.35:536:11
Jun12.45:546:18
Jul12.46:016:22
Aug12.26:036:17
Sep12.05:596:01
Oct11.85:555:46
Nov11.76:015:42
Dec11.66:145:50

Sunny days

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

Ella averages about 4 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 2 and 10 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 4.1 months, from around Dec 26 to Apr 29. The sunniest month is March, with roughly 9 sunny days (mixed).

The greyest month is June, down near 2 sunny days — about 74% fewer than the March peak.

051015JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecsunniergreyergloomymixedMar 1810 daysJun 62 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan6Gloomy
Feb6Gloomy
Mar9Mixed
Apr5Gloomy
May3Gloomy
Jun2Gloomy
Jul2Gloomy
Aug2Gloomy
Sep2Gloomy
Oct2Gloomy
Nov2Gloomy
Dec3Gloomy

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.

Ella 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 April, when it feels muggy, oppressive or miserable about 89% of the time. Even in February, the mildest month, the air is dry or comfortable only 12% of the time.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecFeb 23 · 13%Apr 20 · 0%oppressivemuggyhumidcomfortablecomfortablehumid
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)Humid (%)Muggy (%)Oppressive (%)
Jan11033560
Feb11130570
Mar1931590
Apr0110854
May00107712
Jun0243532
Jul0669250
Aug0565300
Sep0646480
Oct0323740
Nov0011880
Dec0422740

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 Ella is typically calm, near 6 km/h, and varies little with the seasons.

The windier part of the year lasts 4.4 months, from around May 16 to Sep 25. The windiest month is June, averaging about 8 km/h (calm).

The calmer part of the year runs from around Sep 26 to May 15, with November the calmest month at about 4 km/h.

051015JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDeccalmerwindiercalmercalmlight breezeJun 30 · 8 km/hNov 3 · 4 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan5calm
Feb5calm
Mar5calm
Apr4calm
May6calm
Jun8calm
Jul8calm
Aug7calm
Sep6calm
Oct5calm
Nov4calm
Dec5calm

Hazard calendar for Ella

In seasonPeak

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

Ella's rainy season runs September–January, when most of the year's rain falls.

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

Best time to visit Ella

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

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

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationFeb 25 · 6.2

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
Jan5.9good
Feb6.1good
Mar5.9good
Apr4.4fair
May4.3fair
Jun4.6fair
Jul4.8fair
Aug4.7fair
Sep4.6fair
Oct4.3fair
Nov4.3fair
Dec5.0fair

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 Ella for hot-weather activities run from mid February to early April and again from early May to early October, with a peak score in the last week of June.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationJun 28 · 6.8

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 Ella, 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.

Ella packs about the same all year — highs hold near 30°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 July, Ella sees daytime highs around 30°C and nights near 22°C. Pack light clothes. Worth having: sun protection. About 8 days see rain.

UV index (midday) in Ella 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 Ella peaks around April 13 at about 14 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near December 17 at about 10 (extreme).

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

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecExtremeApr 13UV 14Dec 17UV 10
UV index (midday)Level
Jan11Extreme
Feb13Extreme
Mar14Extreme
Apr14Extreme
May14Extreme
Jun11Extreme
Jul12Extreme
Aug13Extreme
Sep13Extreme
Oct12Extreme
Nov11Extreme
Dec10Extreme

Average hourly UV index in Ella

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

Air quality in Ella 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 Ella is worst in November — around 48 µg/m³ PM2.5 (poor), about 1.8× the cleanest month (July, 27 µg/m³).

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

0204060JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecPoorModeratePoorNov 1847 µg/m³Jul 1327 µg/m³
PM2.5 (µg/m³)Level
Jan42Poor
Feb36Poor
Mar41Poor
Apr44Poor
May36Poor
Jun27Moderate
Jul27Moderate
Aug28Moderate
Sep29Moderate
Oct41Poor
Nov48Poor
Dec44Poor
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free dayFrost-free year round

Ella 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. Ella banks about 5,002 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around July.

02,0004,000JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°C·days)
Jan340
Feb321
Mar397
Apr419
May473
Jun474
Jul492
Aug485
Sep454
Oct425
Nov370
Dec354

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.

Ella receives about 5.3 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — bright — with a clear seasonal swing between 3.9 and 6.2 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 7.9 months, from around Feb 12 to Oct 10. The brightest month is March, averaging about 6.1 kWh/m² (intense).

The dimmest month is December, down near 3.9 kWh/m² — roughly 35% less than the March peak.

01234567JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmerbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightintenseMar 226.2 kWhDec 173.9 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan4.5Bright
Feb5.4Bright
Mar6.2Intense
Apr5.8Bright
May5.7Bright
Jun5.6Bright
Jul5.6Bright
Aug5.7Bright
Sep5.7Bright
Oct5.1Bright
Nov4.2Bright
Dec3.9Moderate

Where is Ella?

Ella sits at 6.9°N, 81.0°E, 0 m above sea level, in Sri Lanka. The nearest listed city is Badulla, 12 km away.

Nuwara EliyaHattonKataragamaGampolaKandyRatnapuraMatale

Topography around Ella

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Ella has large variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 902 m around an average of 1,030 m above sea level; within 16 km, very significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 1,848 m; within 80 km, extreme variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 2,505 m.

The land around Ella is covered by trees (76%) and grassland (21%) within 3 km, trees (80%) within 16 km, and trees (84%) within 80 km.

3 km
902 m
16 km
1,848 m
80 km
2,505 m
treesgrasslandcroplandartificial surfaceswater
Nearby: Badulla 12 km · Nuwara Eliya 31 km · Hatton 50 km · Kataragama 60 km · Gampola 62 km · Kandy 65 km · Ratnapura 74 km · Matale 81 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 Ella (6.8756°, 81.0463°, elevation 0 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).