Gisenyi climate

Name: Gisenyi
Address: RW

Gisenyi is warmest in February, with average highs of 23 °C, and coldest in November, when nights average 18 °C. November is the wettest month (343 mm) and July the driest (36 mm). Figures are 1991–2020 climate normals.

Across a full year Gisenyi averages 2,467 mm of rain and 9 days above 25 °C.

Rwanda · population 172,357 · 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 23 °C
Coldest month November 18 °C
Driest month July 36 mm
Wettest month November 343 mm
Least cloud July 59 % cloud
Hottest on record February 28 °C
Coldest on record June 14 °C

What to expectGisenyi through the year

Gisenyi changes little through the year. Average daily highs stay between 22 and 23 °C, so no month stands out as a season in the way it would further from the equator.

Counted across a normal year, 9 days a year reach 25 °C. The warmest reading in the 1991–2020 record is 28 °C, in February.

Rain is strongly seasonal. November averages 343 mm against 36 mm in July — 9.6 times as much. Planning around the dry months matters more here than planning around temperature.

Month by month

Month	Avg high	Rainfall	Cloud
January	23.0 °C	218 mm	79 %
February	23.4 °C	207 mm	80 %
March	23.2 °C	314 mm	83 %
April	22.8 °C	251 mm	85 %
May	22.9 °C	175 mm	76 %
June	22.9 °C	86 mm	65 %
July	23.0 °C	36 mm	59 %
August	23.3 °C	67 mm	64 %
September	23.1 °C	162 mm	75 %
October	22.5 °C	311 mm	86 %
November	22.3 °C	343 mm	87 %
December	22.5 °C	298 mm	81 %

Temperature month by month

Month	Avg high	Avg low	Mean	Record high	Record low	Days above 25 °C
January	23.0 °C	18.4 °C	20.6 °C	25.9 °C	14.7 °C	1
February	23.4 °C	18.8 °C	21.0 °C	28.2 °C	14.8 °C	2
March	23.2 °C	18.6 °C	20.8 °C	26.4 °C	14.9 °C	1
April	22.8 °C	18.4 °C	20.5 °C	26.5 °C	15.7 °C	1
May	22.9 °C	18.6 °C	20.7 °C	26.0 °C	14.9 °C	1
June	22.9 °C	18.6 °C	20.8 °C	25.8 °C	14.1 °C	0
July	23.0 °C	18.6 °C	20.8 °C	25.3 °C	14.1 °C	0
August	23.3 °C	18.7 °C	20.9 °C	25.7 °C	14.5 °C	1
September	23.1 °C	18.4 °C	20.7 °C	26.4 °C	14.7 °C	1
October	22.5 °C	18.0 °C	20.1 °C	26.7 °C	15.0 °C	1
November	22.3 °C	17.9 °C	19.9 °C	24.9 °C	15.2 °C	0
December	22.5 °C	18.1 °C	20.2 °C	25.2 °C	14.8 °C	0

Rain, sun and wind month by month

Month	Rainfall	Wet days	Daylight	Cloud cover	Humidity	Wind
January	218 mm	25	12 h/day	79 %	78 %	11 km/h
February	207 mm	23	12 h/day	80 %	78 %	11 km/h
March	314 mm	28	12 h/day	83 %	81 %	11 km/h
April	251 mm	26	12 h/day	85 %	82 %	11 km/h
May	175 mm	22	12 h/day	76 %	79 %	11 km/h
June	86 mm	14	12 h/day	65 %	75 %	11 km/h
July	36 mm	8	12 h/day	59 %	70 %	12 km/h
August	67 mm	13	12 h/day	64 %	72 %	12 km/h
September	162 mm	22	12 h/day	75 %	77 %	12 km/h
October	311 mm	28	12 h/day	86 %	82 %	12 km/h
November	343 mm	28	12 h/day	87 %	83 %	11 km/h
December	298 mm	28	12 h/day	81 %	81 %	11 km/h

How Gisenyi 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
Gisenyi	23 °C	18 °C	2,467 mm	9
Goma · Democratic Republic of the Congo	23 °C	17 °C	2,467 mm	4
Musanze · Rwanda	24 °C	15 °C	1,637 mm	20
Kigali · Rwanda	26 °C	14 °C	888 mm	175
Bukavu · Democratic Republic of the Congo	26 °C	16 °C	1,961 mm	109

Where Gisenyi ranks

Ranking	Position	Value
The coolest places in Africa in October	29thof 50	22 °C
The coolest places in Africa in September	33rdof 50	23 °C

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

QuestionsCommon questions about Gisenyi’s climate

When is the best time to visit Gisenyi?

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

How hot does Gisenyi get?

In February, the warmest month, daily highs average 23 °C. The highest value in the 1991–2020 record is 28 °C.

How cold does it get in winter?

Nights average 18 °C in November, the coldest month. Freezing nights are not part of a normal year here.

Which month is wettest in Gisenyi?

November, averaging 343 mm over 28 days with rain. The driest month is July with 36 mm. The year as a whole averages 2,467 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 Gisenyi 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.