Climate and average weather in Kalutara

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

Best: mid December to late March

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Kalutara typically varies from 24°C to 30°C, and is rarely below 23°C or above 31°C. April is the hottest month of the year, while August is the coldest.

Based on the travel score, the best time of year to visit Kalutara for warm-weather activities is from mid December to late March.

Hottest
Apr
30°
Coldest
Aug
25°
Wettest
Oct
350 mm
Driest
Feb
64 mm
Rain / yr
2797 mm
275 wet days
Daylight
11.6–12.4 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
7 m
6.6°N
Clearest
Mar
52% cloud

Kalutara is city in Western Province, Sri Lanka.

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

Kalutara 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 late March.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

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

Temperatures in Kalutara stay fairly even through the year, without a distinct hot or cool season. The warmest month is April, with an average high of 30°C and low of 26°C; the coolest is August, with an average low of 25°C and high of 28°C.

Days typically run about 4°C warmer than nights year-round.

20°25°30°35°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan2924
Feb2924
Mar3025
Apr3026
May2926
Jun2826
Jul2825
Aug2825
Sep2825
Oct2825
Nov2825
Dec2824

How hot and cold Kalutara 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, Kalutara feels like about 36°C (around April 30). About 177 days a year carry some heat stress, peaking in April.

20°25°30°35°40°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Feels-like high (°C)Air high (°C)Feels-like low (°C)Air low (°C)
Jan32292424
Feb32292424
Mar34302525
Apr36302626
May35292626
Jun34282626
Jul32282525
Aug32282525
Sep32282525
Oct32282525
Nov32282425
Dec31282424

Average hourly temperature in Kalutara

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 April afternoons, near 30°C, and coldest before dawn in August, near 25°C.

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

Kalutara 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°7911.111.75.5
Feb29° / 24°649.911.85.4
Mar30° / 25°7914.3124.7
Apr30° / 26°18724.712.13.4
May29° / 26°33429.712.33.0
Jun28° / 26°33128.812.43.1
Jul28° / 25°29428.912.33.4
Aug28° / 25°26728.812.23.5
Sep28° / 25°29227.7123.6
Oct28° / 25°35027.711.93.5
Nov28° / 25°3362411.73.8
Dec28° / 24°18419.111.64.5

Chance of rain

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

Kalutara gets about 2797 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 7.5 months, from around Apr 9 to Nov 23, peaking in May at about 97% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Jan 23.

October is the wettest month by volume, with 350 mm over about 28 wet days; February is the driest, with 64 mm.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%110%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdrierwetterdriermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetMay 26 · 97%Jan 23 · 33%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan3711
Feb3510
Mar4714
Apr8125
May9630
Jun9629
Jul9329
Aug9329
Sep9228
Oct9028
Nov8024
Dec6119

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Kalutara collects about 2797 mm of rain across 275 wet days — roughly 233 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. October is the wettest month with 350 mm, while February is the driest at just 64 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 36% of the year’s total.

050100150200250300350400JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec796479187334331294267292350336184
Rainfall (mm)Rain days
Jan7911
Feb6410
Mar7914
Apr18725
May33430
Jun33129
Jul29429
Aug26729
Sep29228
Oct35028
Nov33624
Dec18419

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Kalutara, 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 6 and lasts for 4.7 months, ending around April 27. The clearest month is March, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 61% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around April 28 and lasts for 7.3 months, ending around December 5. 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%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecMar 9 · 63%Jun 5 · 13%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastclearercloudierclearer
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan5050
Feb5842
Mar6139
Apr4258
May2278
Jun1684
Jul1585
Aug1684
Sep1882
Oct2080
Nov2377
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 31, 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)
Jan11.76:306:09
Feb11.86:316:18
Mar12.06:216:18
Apr12.16:066:15
May12.35:576:15
Jun12.45:596:22
Jul12.36:056:26
Aug12.26:086:21
Sep12.06:036:06
Oct11.96:005:51
Nov11.76:055:46
Dec11.66:185:55

Sunny days

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

Kalutara averages about 5 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 1 and 13 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 4.6 months, from around Dec 8 to Apr 25. The sunniest month is March, with roughly 12 sunny days (mixed).

The greyest month is June, down near 1 sunny days — about 90% fewer than the March peak.

051015JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecsunniergreyergloomymixedMar 1113 daysJun 41 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan9Mixed
Feb10Mixed
Mar12Mixed
Apr6Gloomy
May2Gloomy
Jun1Gloomy
Jul1Gloomy
Aug1Gloomy
Sep2Gloomy
Oct2Gloomy
Nov3Gloomy
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.

Kalutara 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 (%)
Jan13843
Feb8857
Mar17524
Apr02971
May0397
Jun01090
Jul03565
Aug04654
Sep05248
Oct07030
Nov18910
Dec7884

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 Kalutara is typically calm, near 11 km/h, and varies moderately with the seasons.

The windier part of the year lasts 5.3 months, from around May 7 to Oct 13. The windiest month is June, averaging about 16 km/h (light breeze).

The calmer part of the year runs from around Oct 14 to May 6, with February the calmest month at about 7 km/h.

05101520JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDeccalmerwindiercalmercalmlight breezeJun 20 · 16 km/hFeb 25 · 7 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan8calm
Feb7calm
Mar7calm
Apr8calm
May13light breeze
Jun16light breeze
Jul16light breeze
Aug15light breeze
Sep13light breeze
Oct11calm
Nov9calm
Dec9calm

Hazard calendar for Kalutara

In seasonPeak

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

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

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

Best time to visit Kalutara

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

Around mid March, Kalutara 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 Kalutara for general outdoor tourist activities is from mid December to late March, with a peak score in the third week of January.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationJan 21 · 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
Jan5.4fair
Feb5.4fair
Mar4.7fair
Apr3.4poor
May3.0poor
Jun3.1poor
Jul3.4poor
Aug3.5fair
Sep3.6fair
Oct3.5poor
Nov3.8fair
Dec4.5fair

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 Kalutara for hot-weather activities is from late December to late March, with a peak score in the third week of February.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationFeb 19 · 7.0

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 Kalutara, 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.

Kalutara packs about the same all year — highs hold near 30°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 April, Kalutara sees daytime highs around 30°C and nights near 26°C. Pack light clothes and rain gear. Worth having: sun protection. About 25 days see rain.

Sea temperature near Kalutara

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 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
Jan28Warm
Feb28Tropical
Mar29Tropical
Apr30Tropical
May29Tropical
Jun28Tropical
Jul28Warm
Aug28Warm
Sep28Warm
Oct28Tropical
Nov29Tropical
Dec28Tropical

UV index (midday) in Kalutara 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 Kalutara peaks around April 17 at about 13 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near December 21 at about 10 (very high).

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

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecExtremeVery highApr 17UV 13Dec 21UV 10
UV index (midday)Level
Jan10Very high
Feb12Extreme
Mar12Extreme
Apr14Extreme
May12Extreme
Jun11Extreme
Jul11Extreme
Aug13Extreme
Sep13Extreme
Oct12Extreme
Nov11Extreme
Dec10Very high

Average hourly UV index in Kalutara

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)
Jan75
Feb7.56
Mar7.56
Apr86.5
May86
Jun85.5
Jul86
Aug86.5
Sep86
Oct7.56
Nov7.55
Dec75

Air quality in Kalutara 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 Kalutara is worst in January — around 84 µg/m³ PM2.5 (unhealthy), about 2.8× the cleanest month (July, 29 µg/m³).

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

0306090JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecUnhealthyPoorModeratePoorUnhealthyJan 1483 µg/m³Jul 2129 µg/m³
PM2.5 (µg/m³)Level
Jan84Unhealthy
Feb78Unhealthy
Mar73Unhealthy
Apr62Unhealthy
May44Poor
Jun31Moderate
Jul29Moderate
Aug30Moderate
Sep35Poor
Oct52Poor
Nov74Unhealthy
Dec81Unhealthy
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free dayFrost-free year round

Kalutara 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. Kalutara banks about 6,111 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)
Jan503
Feb468
Mar538
Apr529
May541
Jun509
Jul515
Aug511
Sep494
Oct509
Nov491
Dec503

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.

Kalutara receives about 5.0 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — bright — with a clear seasonal swing between 4.5 and 6.1 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 3.9 months, from around Jan 6 to May 3. The brightest month is March, averaging about 6.0 kWh/m² (intense).

The dimmest month is November, down near 4.5 kWh/m² — roughly 26% less than the March peak.

01234567JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightintenseMar 186.1 kWhNov 94.5 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan5.3Bright
Feb5.8Bright
Mar6.1Intense
Apr5.6Bright
May4.7Bright
Jun4.6Bright
Jul4.7Bright
Aug4.9Bright
Sep4.9Bright
Oct4.7Bright
Nov4.5Bright
Dec4.7Bright

Where is Kalutara?

Kalutara sits at 6.6°N, 80.0°E, 7 m above sea level, in Sri Lanka. The nearest listed city is Beruwala, 12 km away.

HomagamaMaharagamaDehiwala-Mount LaviniaSri Jayewardenepura Kotte

Topography around Kalutara

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Kalutara has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 45 m around an average of 6 m above sea level; within 16 km, significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 277 m; within 80 km, very significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 2,145 m.

The land around Kalutara is covered by water (48%) and trees (41%) within 3 km, water (48%) and trees (46%) within 16 km, and trees (60%) and water (37%) within 80 km.

3 km
45 m
16 km
277 m
80 km
2,145 m
treesgrasslandcroplandartificial surfaceswater
Nearby: Beruwala 12 km · Panadura 16 km · Bentota 18 km · Moratuwa 23 km · Homagama 29 km · Maharagama 30 km · Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia 30 km · Sri Jayewardenepura Kotte 34 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 Kalutara (6.5831°, 79.9593°, elevation 7 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).