Climate and average weather in Masaka

In Masaka, the weather is humid, warm, wet, and partly cloudy and remarkably steady, with daytime highs holding near warm levels all year. The wettest stretch peaks around April.

Best: late May to late August

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Masaka typically varies from 17°C to 27°C, and is rarely below 15°C or above 30°C. February is the hottest month of the year, while May is the coldest.

Based on the travel score, the best time of year to visit Masaka for warm-weather activities is from late May to late August.

Hottest
Feb
27°
Coldest
May
18°
Wettest
Apr
143 mm
Driest
Jul
39 mm
Rain / yr
1155 mm
227 wet days
Daylight
12.0–12.0 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
1,292 m
0.3°S
Clearest
Jul
63% cloud

Masaka is City in Uganda.

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

Masaka 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 late August.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

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

Temperatures in Masaka stay fairly even through the year, without a distinct hot or cool season. The warmest month is February, with an average high of 27°C and low of 18°C; the coolest is May, with an average low of 18°C and high of 25°C.

Days typically run about 8°C warmer than nights year-round.

15°20°25°30°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan2718
Feb2718
Mar2718
Apr2618
May2518
Jun2517
Jul2517
Aug2617
Sep2617
Oct2618
Nov2618
Dec2618

Average hourly temperature in Masaka

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 27°C, and coldest before dawn in May, near 18°C.

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

Masaka 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° / 18°7816.8125.4
Feb27° / 18°7716.1125.2
Mar27° / 18°11720.9124.7
Apr26° / 18°14324.2124.2
May25° / 18°11221.7124.9
Jun25° / 17°5613126.1
Jul25° / 17°398.9126.8
Aug26° / 17°7915.8125.7
Sep26° / 17°10321.6124.8
Oct26° / 18°12524.5124.3
Nov26° / 18°13323.9124.3
Dec26° / 18°9519.7125.1

Chance of rain

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

Masaka gets about 1155 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 Aug 29 to Dec 15, peaking in November at about 84% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Jul 10.

April is the wettest month by volume, with 143 mm over about 24 wet days; July is the driest, with 39 mm.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdrierwettermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetNov 3 · 84%Jul 10 · 26%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan5417
Feb5716
Mar6821
Apr8024
May6922
Jun4313
Jul309
Aug5216
Sep7122
Oct7925
Nov8024
Dec6320

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Masaka collects about 1155 mm of rain across 227 wet days — roughly 96 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. April is the wettest month with 143 mm, while July is the driest at just 39 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 35% of the year’s total.

0255075100125150175JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec787711714311256397910312513395
Rainfall (mm)Rain days
Jan7817
Feb7716
Mar11721
Apr14324
May11222
Jun5613
Jul399
Aug7916
Sep10322
Oct12525
Nov13324
Dec9520

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Masaka, 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 May 20 and lasts for 4.1 months, ending around September 22. The clearest month is July, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 46% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around March 14 and lasts for 2.2 months, ending around May 19. The cloudiest month is April, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 87% 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%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecJul 15 · 48%Apr 20 · 11%mostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastcloudierclearercloudier
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan3466
Feb3466
Mar2773
Apr1387
May2674
Jun3862
Jul4654
Aug4258
Sep3466
Oct1981
Nov1684
Dec3169

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, Masaka 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)
Jan12.07:027:03
Feb12.07:077:08
Mar12.07:037:03
Apr12.06:546:53
May12.06:506:49
Jun12.06:546:53
Jul12.06:596:58
Aug12.06:576:57
Sep12.06:476:47
Oct12.06:386:38
Nov12.06:386:39
Dec12.06:496:50

Sunny days

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

Masaka averages about 4 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 1 and 7 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 4.1 months, from around May 17 to Sep 18. The sunniest month is July, with roughly 7 sunny days (gloomy).

The greyest month is April, down near 1 sunny days — about 79% fewer than the July peak.

0510JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgreyersunniergreyergloomymixedJul 117 daysApr 211 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan5Gloomy
Feb5Gloomy
Mar4Gloomy
Apr1Gloomy
May4Gloomy
Jun5Gloomy
Jul7Gloomy
Aug6Gloomy
Sep4Gloomy
Oct2Gloomy
Nov2Gloomy
Dec4Gloomy

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 Masaka, how humid it feels changes dramatically over the year.

The more humid part of the year lasts 3.9 months, from around February 9 to June 8. The muggiest month is March, when the air feels humid, muggy or worse about 100% of the time.

The most comfortable stretch runs from around June 9 to August 31, and July is the most comfortable month — the air is dry or comfortable 28% of the time.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecJul 12 · 33%Mar 13 · 0%muggyhumidcomfortablehumidcomfortablehumid
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)Humid (%)Muggy (%)
Jan154549
Feb134451
Mar002871
Apr001684
May002476
Jun096228
Jul127694
Aug011809
Sep027424
Oct005347
Nov003763
Dec014553

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 Masaka is typically calm, near 8 km/h, and varies little with the seasons.

The windier part of the year lasts 5.5 months, from around Apr 7 to Sep 21. The windiest month is July, averaging about 10 km/h (calm).

The calmer part of the year runs from around Sep 22 to Apr 6, with December the calmest month at about 7 km/h.

051015JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDeccalmerwindiercalmercalmlight breezeJul 10 · 10 km/hDec 5 · 7 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan7calm
Feb8calm
Mar8calm
Apr8calm
May9calm
Jun9calm
Jul10calm
Aug9calm
Sep8calm
Oct7calm
Nov7calm
Dec7calm

Best time to visit Masaka

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

Around mid August, Masaka 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 Masaka for general outdoor tourist activities is from late May to late August, with a peak score in the second week of July.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationJul 11 · 7.0

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
Feb5.2fair
Mar4.7fair
Apr4.3fair
May4.9fair
Jun6.1good
Jul6.8good
Aug5.7good
Sep4.8fair
Oct4.3fair
Nov4.3fair
Dec5.1fair

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 Masaka for hot-weather activities run from late May to late August and again from late December to late February, with a peak score in the second week of July.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationJul 11 · 6.5

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 Masaka, 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.

Masaka packs about the same all year — highs hold near 27°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 February, Masaka sees daytime highs around 27°C and nights near 18°C. Pack light clothes and rain gear. Worth having: sun protection. About 16 days see rain.

UV index (midday) in Masaka 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 Masaka peaks around March 16 at about 15 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near June 19 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 19UV 10
UV index (midday)Level
Jan12Extreme
Feb14Extreme
Mar16Extreme
Apr14Extreme
May12Extreme
Jun10Extreme
Jul11Extreme
Aug11Extreme
Sep13Extreme
Oct13Extreme
Nov12Extreme
Dec11Extreme

Average hourly UV index in Masaka

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 7 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
Mar8.57
Apr86.5
May86
Jun7.55
Jul7.55.5
Aug7.55.5
Sep86
Oct86
Nov86
Dec7.55.5

Air quality in Masaka 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 Masaka is worst in January — around 41 µg/m³ PM2.5 (poor), about 1.8× the cleanest month (May, 22 µg/m³).

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

0204060JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecPoorModerateJan 1740 µg/m³May 1123 µg/m³
PM2.5 (µg/m³)Level
Jan41Poor
Feb36Poor
Mar28Moderate
Apr23Moderate
May22Moderate
Jun29Moderate
Jul32Moderate
Aug32Moderate
Sep31Moderate
Oct28Moderate
Nov30Moderate
Dec35Poor
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free dayFrost-free year round

Masaka 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. Masaka banks about 4,298 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around February.

01,0002,0003,0004,000JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°C·days)
Jan380
Feb356
Mar387
Apr357
May358
Jun338
Jul345
Aug353
Sep348
Oct365
Nov348
Dec363

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.

Masaka receives about 5.3 kWh/m² a day of solar energy — bright — and it stays remarkably steady, holding between 4.7 and 5.8 kWh/m² all year. For solar panels, output here is a flat line, not a seasonal wave.

01234567JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmoderatebrightintenseFeb 125.8 kWhMay 14.7 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan5.5Bright
Feb5.8Bright
Mar5.5Bright
Apr4.9Bright
May4.9Bright
Jun5.1Bright
Jul5.2Bright
Aug5.3Bright
Sep5.6Bright
Oct5.4Bright
Nov5.1Bright
Dec5.2Bright

Where is Masaka?

Masaka sits at 0.3°S, 31.7°E, 1,292 m above sea level, in Uganda. The nearest listed city is Kalisizo, 26 km away.

LwengoKasaaliKyazangaLyantondeGombeMityana

Topography around Masaka

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Masaka has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 141 m around an average of 1,239 m above sea level; within 16 km, only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 208 m; within 80 km, significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 406 m.

The land around Masaka is covered by trees (37%) and artificial surfaces (28%) within 3 km, trees (45%) and shrubs (27%) within 16 km, and water (30%), grassland (25%) and shrubs (22%) within 80 km.

3 km
141 m
16 km
208 m
80 km
406 m
treesshrubsgrasslandcroplandartificial surfaceswaterwetland
Nearby: Kalisizo 26 km · Lukaya 28 km · Lwengo 37 km · Kasaali 38 km · Kyazanga 43 km · Lyantonde 65 km · Gombe 72 km · Mityana 89 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 Masaka (-0.3338°, 31.7341°, elevation 1,292 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).