Mek'ele climate

Name: Mek'ele
Address: ET

Mek'ele is warmest in May, with average highs of 27 °C, and coldest in December, when nights average 10 °C. August is the wettest month (278 mm) and December the driest (9.7 mm). Figures are 1991–2020 climate normals.

Across a full year Mek'ele averages 832 mm of rain and 113 days above 25 °C.

Ethiopia · population 457,900 · 1991–2020 normals

Temperature below 0 °C to above 30 °C Rain band height is that month’s share of the wettest month

Warmest month May 27 °C
Coldest month December 10 °C
Driest month December 10 mm
Wettest month August 278 mm
Least cloud November 23 % cloud
Hottest on record June 32 °C
Coldest on record January 5.3 °C

What to expectMek'ele through the year

Mek'ele has a clear annual cycle: average daily highs run from 22 °C in December to 27 °C in May, a swing of 5.2 °C in mean temperature across the year.

Counted across a normal year, 113 days a year reach 25 °C, 2 of them reach 30 °C. The warmest reading in the 1991–2020 record is 32 °C, in June.

Rain is strongly seasonal. August averages 278 mm against 10 mm in December — 29 times as much. Planning around the dry months matters more here than planning around temperature.

Month by month

Month	Avg high	Rainfall	Cloud
January	22.8 °C	22 mm	38 %
February	24.2 °C	19 mm	36 %
March	25.2 °C	56 mm	38 %
April	25.7 °C	56 mm	37 %
May	27.0 °C	24 mm	35 %
June	27.0 °C	60 mm	43 %
July	23.1 °C	222 mm	64 %
August	22.6 °C	278 mm	71 %
September	24.1 °C	63 mm	40 %
October	23.8 °C	10 mm	28 %
November	23.0 °C	12 mm	23 %
December	22.4 °C	10 mm	26 %

Temperature month by month

Month	Avg high	Avg low	Mean	Record high	Record low	Days above 25 °C	Days above 30 °C
January	22.8 °C	10.7 °C	16.0 °C	27.3 °C	5.3 °C	3	0
February	24.2 °C	11.6 °C	17.1 °C	29.9 °C	5.5 °C	9	0
March	25.2 °C	13.0 °C	18.5 °C	31.0 °C	8.1 °C	16	0
April	25.7 °C	14.2 °C	19.6 °C	30.9 °C	10.5 °C	20	0
May	27.0 °C	15.4 °C	20.9 °C	30.9 °C	10.7 °C	26	1
June	27.0 °C	14.8 °C	20.5 °C	31.5 °C	11.9 °C	23	1
July	23.1 °C	14.2 °C	17.9 °C	28.5 °C	12.1 °C	3	0
August	22.6 °C	14.2 °C	17.7 °C	26.7 °C	11.6 °C	1	0
September	24.1 °C	13.7 °C	18.5 °C	27.7 °C	10.5 °C	7	0
October	23.8 °C	12.7 °C	17.9 °C	27.3 °C	9.3 °C	3	0
November	23.0 °C	11.3 °C	16.6 °C	26.5 °C	6.9 °C	1	0
December	22.4 °C	10.3 °C	15.7 °C	25.9 °C	5.8 °C	0	0

Rain, sun and wind month by month

Month	Rainfall	Wet days	Daylight	Cloud cover	Humidity	Wind
January	22 mm	5	11 h/day	38 %	66 %	14 km/h
February	19 mm	5	12 h/day	36 %	61 %	15 km/h
March	56 mm	10	12 h/day	38 %	61 %	16 km/h
April	56 mm	11	12 h/day	37 %	60 %	16 km/h
May	24 mm	5	13 h/day	35 %	50 %	16 km/h
June	60 mm	10	13 h/day	43 %	57 %	15 km/h
July	222 mm	28	13 h/day	64 %	83 %	12 km/h
August	278 mm	30	13 h/day	71 %	85 %	10 km/h
September	63 mm	10	12 h/day	40 %	67 %	13 km/h
October	10 mm	2	12 h/day	28 %	57 %	16 km/h
November	12 mm	3	12 h/day	23 %	58 %	16 km/h
December	10 mm	2	11 h/day	26 %	61 %	15 km/h

How Mek'ele compares

The same four figures for nearby destinations, so the numbers above have something to be read against. Summer high is the warmest month's average high; winter low is the coldest month's average low.

Destination	Summer high	Winter low	Rain per year	Days above 25 °C
Mek'ele	27 °C	10 °C	832 mm	113
Asmara · Eritrea	25 °C	9.5 °C	763 mm	43
Gonder · Ethiopia	27 °C	11 °C	1,916 mm	123
Dessie · Ethiopia	24 °C	6.7 °C	738 mm	7

Where Mek'ele ranks

Ranking	Position	Value
Places with the best weather in Africa in October	2ndof 50	97/100
Places with the best weather in Africa in February	4thof 50	96/100
Places with the best weather in Africa in November	4thof 50	97/100
Places with the best weather in Africa in December	5thof 50	97/100
Places with the best weather in Africa in January	5thof 50	96/100
Places with the best weather in Africa year-round	5thof 50	89/100

Planning a trip? See the best time to visit Mek'ele.

QuestionsCommon questions about Mek'ele’s climate

When is the best time to visit Mek'ele?

That depends on what you want, so the honest answer is a comparison rather than a single month. April, May, June sit closest to 20 °C on average, May is the warmest month and December the driest. The month-by-month table above has the full picture.

How hot does Mek'ele get?

In May, the warmest month, daily highs average 27 °C. About 2 days a year pass 30 °C. The highest value in the 1991–2020 record is 32 °C.

How cold does it get in winter?

Nights average 10 °C in December, the coldest month. Freezing nights are not part of a normal year here.

Which month is wettest in Mek'ele?

August, averaging 278 mm over 30 days with rain. The driest month is December with 10 mm. The year as a whole averages 832 mm.

Are these figures a forecast?

No. They are 1991–2020 climate normals: the average of thirty years, which describes what a month is usually like in Mek'ele rather than what any particular week will bring. Individual years can differ substantially from the normal.

Data sources and method

ERA5 / ERA5-Land reanalysis — Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), ECMWF. Copernicus Licence
Open-Meteo — Open-Meteo.com. CC BY 4.0
NOAA OISST v2.1 — NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory. Public domain
GeoNames — GeoNames.org. CC BY 4.0

Normal period: 1991–2020
Dataset version: era5-1991-2020-scores1.1
Last processed: 1 August 2026

Measured values come from ERA5 reanalysis and are reproduced unchanged. Calculated by us: monthly rankings, daylight hours, beach and comfort scores. Full formulas are on the methodology page.

Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026. Neither the European Commission nor ECMWF is responsible for any use that may be made of the Copernicus information or data it contains.