Onitsha climate

Name: Onitsha
Address: NG

Onitsha is warmest in February, with average highs of 35 °C, and coldest in August, when nights average 23 °C. September is the wettest month (205 mm) and December the driest (5.2 mm). Figures are 1991–2020 climate normals.

Across a full year Onitsha averages 1,264 mm of rain and 363 days above 25 °C.

Nigeria · population 1,553,000 · 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 February 35 °C
Coldest month August 23 °C
Driest month December 5 mm
Wettest month September 205 mm
Least cloud December 50 % cloud
Hottest on record February 39 °C
Coldest on record January 16 °C

What to expectOnitsha through the year

Onitsha has a clear annual cycle: average daily highs run from 28 °C in August to 35 °C in February, a swing of 4.0 °C in mean temperature across the year.

Counted across a normal year, 363 days a year reach 25 °C, 219 of them reach 30 °C. The warmest reading in the 1991–2020 record is 39 °C, in February.

Rain is strongly seasonal. September averages 205 mm against 5 mm in December — 40 times as much. Planning around the dry months matters more here than planning around temperature.

Month by month

Month	Avg high	Rainfall	Cloud
January	34.4 °C	6 mm	54 %
February	35.0 °C	14 mm	64 %
March	33.9 °C	48 mm	78 %
April	32.1 °C	98 mm	84 %
May	30.7 °C	142 mm	84 %
June	29.1 °C	186 mm	83 %
July	28.3 °C	192 mm	86 %
August	28.4 °C	181 mm	88 %
September	28.8 °C	205 mm	87 %
October	29.4 °C	155 mm	86 %
November	30.9 °C	31 mm	71 %
December	33.1 °C	5 mm	50 %

Temperature month by month

Month	Avg high	Avg low	Mean	Record high	Record low	Days above 25 °C	Days above 30 °C
January	34.4 °C	23.0 °C	28.2 °C	37.7 °C	16.4 °C	31	31
February	35.0 °C	24.2 °C	28.8 °C	39.0 °C	17.5 °C	28	28
March	33.9 °C	24.7 °C	28.3 °C	38.8 °C	19.3 °C	31	30
April	32.1 °C	24.5 °C	27.4 °C	37.7 °C	22.4 °C	30	27
May	30.7 °C	24.1 °C	26.6 °C	34.2 °C	22.2 °C	31	23
June	29.1 °C	23.3 °C	25.5 °C	32.2 °C	21.3 °C	30	7
July	28.3 °C	22.8 °C	24.8 °C	31.4 °C	20.0 °C	30	1
August	28.4 °C	22.7 °C	24.8 °C	31.9 °C	20.4 °C	30	2
September	28.8 °C	23.0 °C	25.1 °C	31.4 °C	21.2 °C	30	5
October	29.4 °C	23.2 °C	25.5 °C	32.1 °C	21.4 °C	31	10
November	30.9 °C	23.5 °C	26.5 °C	34.5 °C	19.5 °C	30	24
December	33.1 °C	23.1 °C	27.6 °C	36.5 °C	17.5 °C	31	30

Rain, sun and wind month by month

Month	Rainfall	Wet days	Daylight	Cloud cover	Humidity	Wind
January	6 mm	1	12 h/day	54 %	61 %	14 km/h
February	14 mm	3	12 h/day	64 %	67 %	15 km/h
March	48 mm	9	12 h/day	78 %	75 %	16 km/h
April	98 mm	16	12 h/day	84 %	81 %	14 km/h
May	142 mm	23	12 h/day	84 %	85 %	12 km/h
June	186 mm	25	12 h/day	83 %	87 %	12 km/h
July	192 mm	26	12 h/day	86 %	87 %	12 km/h
August	181 mm	23	12 h/day	88 %	86 %	12 km/h
September	205 mm	27	12 h/day	87 %	87 %	12 km/h
October	155 mm	23	12 h/day	86 %	87 %	11 km/h
November	31 mm	6	12 h/day	71 %	82 %	11 km/h
December	5 mm	1	12 h/day	50 %	69 %	12 km/h

How Onitsha 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
Onitsha	35 °C	23 °C	1,264 mm	363
Atani · Nigeria	35 °C	23 °C	1,517 mm	363
Nnewi · Nigeria	34 °C	22 °C	1,945 mm	360
Awka · Nigeria	35 °C	23 °C	1,492 mm	362
Owerri · Nigeria	34 °C	22 °C	2,337 mm	360
Enugu · Nigeria	35 °C	22 °C	1,614 mm	363
Umuahia · Nigeria	34 °C	22 °C	2,012 mm	358

Where Onitsha ranks

Ranking	Position	Value
The warmest places in Africa in January	22nd of 50	34 °C
The warmest places in the world in January	23rd of 50	34 °C
The warmest places in Africa in February	41st of 50	35 °C
The warmest places in Africa in December	42nd of 50	33 °C
The warmest places in the world in February	42nd of 50	35 °C
The warmest places in the world in December	48th of 50	33 °C

Planning a trip? See the best time to visit Onitsha.

QuestionsCommon questions about Onitsha’s climate

When is the best time to visit Onitsha?

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

How hot does Onitsha get?

In February, the warmest month, daily highs average 35 °C. About 219 days a year pass 30 °C. The highest value in the 1991–2020 record is 39 °C.

How cold does it get in winter?

Nights average 23 °C in August, the coldest month. Freezing nights are not part of a normal year here.

Which month is wettest in Onitsha?

September, averaging 205 mm over 27 days with rain. The driest month is December with 5 mm. The year as a whole averages 1,264 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 Onitsha 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
Data point: 6.150°, 6.786° (the coordinates the reanalysis values are taken for)
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.