Climate and average weather in Kitgum

In Kitgum, the summers are sweltering, dry, and partly cloudy and the winters are hot and partly cloudy.

Best: mid May to late December

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Kitgum typically varies from 19°C to 34°C, and is rarely below 18°C or above 37°C. February is the hottest month of the year, while July is the coldest.

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

Hottest
Feb
34°
Coldest
Jul
19°
Wettest
May
149 mm
Driest
Jan
10 mm
Rain / yr
1035 mm
160 wet days
Daylight
11.8–12.2 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
950 m
3.3°N
Clearest
Sep
50% cloud

Kitgum 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 December.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

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

Temperatures in Kitgum stay fairly even through the year, without a distinct hot or cool season. The warmest month is February, with an average high of 34°C and low of 22°C; the coolest is July, with an average low of 19°C and high of 28°C.

Days typically run about 11°C warmer than nights, with the widest day–night swing (around 13°C) in January.

15°20°25°30°35°40°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan3421
Feb3422
Mar3422
Apr3221
May3020
Jun2919
Jul2819
Aug2919
Sep3019
Oct3120
Nov3120
Dec3220

How hot and cold Kitgum 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, Kitgum feels like about 35°C (around February 16). About 137 days a year carry some heat stress, peaking in February.

15°20°25°30°35°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Feels-like high (°C)Air high (°C)Feels-like low (°C)Air low (°C)
Jan33342121
Feb34342222
Mar34342222
Apr32322121
May31302020
Jun30291919
Jul29281919
Aug30291919
Sep31301919
Oct31312020
Nov31312020
Dec32322020

Average hourly temperature in Kitgum

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 34°C, and coldest before dawn in July, near 19°C.

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

Kitgum 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
Jan34° / 21°102.311.83.9
Feb34° / 22°122.811.93.2
Mar34° / 22°509.1123.1
Apr32° / 21°13017.812.13.3
May30° / 20°14920.712.13.9
Jun29° / 19°12918.912.24.3
Jul28° / 19°14521.712.24.3
Aug29° / 19°13621.412.14.3
Sep30° / 19°8814.6124.5
Oct31° / 20°11115.711.94.1
Nov31° / 20°5910.911.94.3
Dec32° / 20°173.911.84.4

Chance of rain

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

Kitgum gets about 1035 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 7.3 months, from around Mar 30 to Nov 7, peaking in July at about 74% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Jan 12.

May is the wettest month by volume, with 149 mm over about 21 wet days; January is the driest, with 10 mm.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdrierwetterdriermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetJul 26 · 74%Jan 12 · 6%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan72
Feb113
Mar309
Apr6018
May6621
Jun6319
Jul7022
Aug6921
Sep5015
Oct5016
Nov3611
Dec134

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Kitgum collects about 1035 mm of rain across 160 wet days — roughly 86 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. May is the wettest month with 149 mm, while January is the driest at just 10 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 42% of the year’s total.

0255075100125150175JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec101250130149129145136881115917
Rainfall (mm)Rain days
Jan102
Feb123
Mar509
Apr13018
May14921
Jun12919
Jul14522
Aug13621
Sep8815
Oct11116
Nov5911
Dec174

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Kitgum, 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 June 22 and lasts for 3.4 months, ending around October 3. The clearest month is September, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 64% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around March 1 and lasts for 2.6 months, ending around May 19. The cloudiest month is April, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 70% 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 13 · 68%Apr 27 · 27%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastcloudierclearercloudier
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan6040
Feb5545
Mar4456
Apr3070
May4555
Jun5446
Jul5644
Aug5941
Sep6436
Oct4357
Nov4555
Dec5941

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, Kitgum barely changes through the year: days stay near 12 h 12 min of light in every season.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan11.87:036:53
Feb11.97:067:00
Mar12.06:596:57
Apr12.16:476:51
May12.16:406:49
Jun12.26:436:54
Jul12.26:496:59
Aug12.16:496:56
Sep12.06:426:43
Oct11.96:366:31
Nov11.96:386:29
Dec11.86:506:39

Sunny days

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

Kitgum averages about 9 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 3 and 14 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 2.0 months, from around Aug 4 to Oct 2. The sunniest month is September, with roughly 12 sunny days (mixed).

The greyest month is April, down near 4 sunny days — about 65% fewer than the September peak.

05101520JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgreyersunniergreyergloomymixedbrightSep 1514 daysApr 283 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan11Mixed
Feb9Mixed
Mar8Gloomy
Apr4Gloomy
May7Gloomy
Jun9Mixed
Jul9Mixed
Aug10Mixed
Sep12Mixed
Oct6Gloomy
Nov7Gloomy
Dec11Mixed

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.

In Kitgum, how humid it feels changes dramatically over the year.

The more humid part of the year lasts 7.5 months, from around April 3 to November 15. The muggiest month is June, when the air feels humid, muggy or worse about 100% of the time.

The most comfortable stretch runs from around November 16 to April 2, and February is the most comfortable month — the air is dry or comfortable 80% of the time.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecFeb 3 · 85%Jun 14 · 0%muggycomfortablehumiddrycomfortablehumidcomfortable
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)Humid (%)Muggy (%)
Jan6223132
Feb5921173
Mar31202822
Apr592363
May011188
Jun002475
Jul004060
Aug013564
Sep273755
Oct1103950
Nov8214031
Dec3830248

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

The windier part of the year lasts 5.4 months, from around Nov 8 to Apr 19. The windiest month is February, averaging about 9 km/h (calm).

The calmer part of the year runs from around Apr 20 to Nov 7, with August the calmest month at about 5 km/h.

051015JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwindiercalmerwindiercalmlight breezeFeb 12 · 9 km/hAug 2 · 5 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan8calm
Feb9calm
Mar8calm
Apr7calm
May5calm
Jun5calm
Jul5calm
Aug5calm
Sep5calm
Oct5calm
Nov7calm
Dec8calm

Hazard calendar for Kitgum

In seasonPeak

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

Kitgum's rainy season runs April–October, 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 Kitgum

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

Around late May, Kitgum 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 Kitgum for general outdoor tourist activities is from mid May to late January, with a peak score in the second week of September.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationSep 12 · 4.6

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
Jan3.9fair
Feb3.3poor
Mar3.1poor
Apr3.3poor
May3.9fair
Jun4.4fair
Jul4.3fair
Aug4.3fair
Sep4.5fair
Oct4.1fair
Nov4.3fair
Dec4.4fair

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 Kitgum for hot-weather activities run from early September to mid October and again from early November to late March, with a peak score in the third week of December.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timebest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationDec 20 · 7.4

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 Kitgum, 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.

For a warm-season trip around February (highs near 34°C), the essentials are light clothes and sun protection. In the cold season around July (highs near 28°C), pack light clothes, rain gear and sun protection.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In February, Kitgum sees daytime highs around 34°C and nights near 22°C. Pack light clothes and sun protection.

UV index (midday) in Kitgum 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 Kitgum peaks around March 16 at about 15 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near June 20 at about 10 (extreme).

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

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecExtremeMar 16UV 15Jun 20UV 10
UV index (midday)Level
Jan12Extreme
Feb14Extreme
Mar15Extreme
Apr14Extreme
May12Extreme
Jun10Extreme
Jul11Extreme
Aug13Extreme
Sep13Extreme
Oct13Extreme
Nov11Extreme
Dec11Extreme

Average hourly UV index in Kitgum

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 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
Feb86.5
Mar8.56.5
Apr86.5
May86
Jun7.55.5
Jul7.55.5
Aug86
Sep86
Oct86
Nov7.55.5
Dec7.55.5

Air quality in Kitgum 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 Kitgum is worst in January — around 71 µg/m³ PM2.5 (unhealthy), about 5.3× the cleanest month (April, 13 µg/m³).

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

020406080JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecUnhealthyModerateJan 1767 µg/m³Apr 1714 µg/m³
PM2.5 (µg/m³)Level
Jan71Unhealthy
Feb39Poor
Mar16Moderate
Apr13Moderate
May15Moderate
Jun23Moderate
Jul24Moderate
Aug19Moderate
Sep17Moderate
Oct17Moderate
Nov20Moderate
Dec37Poor
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free dayFrost-free year round

Kitgum 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. Kitgum banks about 5,686 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)
Jan528
Feb502
Mar552
Apr487
May463
Jun426
Jul422
Aug429
Sep441
Oct471
Nov463
Dec501

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.

Kitgum receives about 5.8 kWh/m² a day of solar energy — bright — and it stays remarkably steady, holding between 5.3 and 6.3 kWh/m² all year. For solar panels, output here is a flat line, not a seasonal wave.

01234567JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmoderatebrightintenseSep 196.3 kWhJul 225.3 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan6.0Bright
Feb6.2Intense
Mar6.2Intense
Apr5.8Bright
May5.7Bright
Jun5.4Bright
Jul5.3Bright
Aug5.8Bright
Sep6.3Intense
Oct5.9Bright
Nov5.7Bright
Dec5.7Bright

Where is Kitgum?

Kitgum sits at 3.3°N, 32.9°E, 950 m above sea level, in Uganda. The nearest listed city is Pajok, 79 km away.

PajokGuluOpitAbimLiraAdjumaniAnakaTorit

Topography around Kitgum

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Kitgum has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 58 m around an average of 938 m above sea level; within 16 km, only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 183 m; within 80 km, extreme variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 2,524 m.

The land around Kitgum is covered by cropland (64%) within 3 km, cropland (67%) and grassland (21%) within 16 km, and grassland (48%), cropland (23%) and shrubs (20%) within 80 km.

3 km
58 m
16 km
183 m
80 km
2,524 m
treesshrubsgrasslandcroplandartificial surfaces
Nearby: Pajok 79 km · Gulu 86 km · Opit 87 km · Abim 109 km · Lira 114 km · Adjumani 122 km · Anaka 129 km · Torit 131 km

Uganda travel facts

Travel advisory
Level 4
Do Not Travel
Power plugs
Type G
240 V · 50 Hz
Prices
≈ 35% of US
price level, 2025
GDP per capita
$1,206
2025
Happiness
4.5 / 10
World Happiness, 2025
Safe drinking water
18%
of population, 2024
Homicide rate
9
per 100k, 2023
Road deaths
29.4
per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group
Low
World Bank
English
Moderate
EF EPI 518
Religion
Protestant 45%Roman Catholic 39%Muslim 14%other 2%

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 Kitgum (3.2783°, 32.8867°, elevation 950 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).