Kenema climate

Name: Kenema
Address: SL

Kenema is warmest in February, with average highs of 34 °C, and coldest in August, when nights average 22 °C. August is the wettest month (427 mm) and January the driest (16 mm). Figures are 1991–2020 climate normals.

Across a full year Kenema averages 2,287 mm of rain and 352 days above 25 °C.

Sierra Leone · population 255,110 · 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 34 °C
Coldest month August 22 °C
Driest month January 16 mm
Wettest month August 427 mm
Least cloud January 44 % cloud
Hottest on record February 40 °C
Coldest on record January 16 °C

What to expectKenema through the year

Kenema has a clear annual cycle: average daily highs run from 27 °C in August to 34 °C in February, a swing of 3.7 °C in mean temperature across the year.

Counted across a normal year, 352 days a year reach 25 °C, 160 of them reach 30 °C. The warmest reading in the 1991–2020 record is 40 °C, in February.

Rain is strongly seasonal. August averages 427 mm against 16 mm in January — 27 times as much. Planning around the dry months matters more here than planning around temperature.

Month by month

Month	Avg high	Rainfall	Cloud
January	32.5 °C	16 mm	44 %
February	33.8 °C	21 mm	48 %
March	33.1 °C	65 mm	64 %
April	31.5 °C	115 mm	78 %
May	30.0 °C	226 mm	88 %
June	28.6 °C	306 mm	87 %
July	27.4 °C	377 mm	91 %
August	27.1 °C	427 mm	93 %
September	27.9 °C	385 mm	90 %
October	28.6 °C	231 mm	86 %
November	29.1 °C	93 mm	77 %
December	30.4 °C	24 mm	58 %

Temperature month by month

Month	Avg high	Avg low	Mean	Record high	Record low	Days above 25 °C	Days above 30 °C
January	32.5 °C	21.7 °C	26.3 °C	37.5 °C	16.3 °C	31	28
February	33.8 °C	22.8 °C	27.2 °C	39.6 °C	18.3 °C	28	27
March	33.1 °C	23.4 °C	27.1 °C	38.9 °C	19.3 °C	31	29
April	31.5 °C	23.5 °C	26.4 °C	37.0 °C	21.0 °C	30	24
May	30.0 °C	23.1 °C	25.5 °C	34.7 °C	21.0 °C	31	16
June	28.6 °C	22.3 °C	24.5 °C	32.8 °C	19.5 °C	29	5
July	27.4 °C	21.8 °C	23.7 °C	35.8 °C	18.6 °C	27	1
August	27.1 °C	21.7 °C	23.5 °C	33.6 °C	19.1 °C	26	1
September	27.9 °C	21.9 °C	23.9 °C	32.6 °C	20.5 °C	27	2
October	28.6 °C	22.0 °C	24.4 °C	31.3 °C	20.3 °C	31	3
November	29.1 °C	22.3 °C	24.9 °C	32.5 °C	20.4 °C	30	5
December	30.4 °C	22.2 °C	25.5 °C	34.1 °C	17.2 °C	31	19

Rain, sun and wind month by month

Month	Rainfall	Wet days	Daylight	Cloud cover	Humidity	Wind
January	16 mm	3	12 h/day	44 %	72 %	11 km/h
February	21 mm	5	12 h/day	48 %	71 %	13 km/h
March	65 mm	11	12 h/day	64 %	76 %	12 km/h
April	115 mm	17	12 h/day	78 %	83 %	10 km/h
May	226 mm	26	12 h/day	88 %	88 %	9.4 km/h
June	306 mm	28	13 h/day	87 %	90 %	9.8 km/h
July	377 mm	28	13 h/day	91 %	90 %	11 km/h
August	427 mm	29	12 h/day	93 %	91 %	11 km/h
September	385 mm	29	12 h/day	90 %	91 %	9.8 km/h
October	231 mm	29	12 h/day	86 %	91 %	8.4 km/h
November	93 mm	17	12 h/day	77 %	89 %	7.7 km/h
December	24 mm	5	12 h/day	58 %	82 %	9.1 km/h

How Kenema 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
Kenema	34 °C	22 °C	2,287 mm	352
Bo · Sierra Leone	34 °C	22 °C	2,509 mm	353
Monrovia · Liberia	29 °C	23 °C	3,443 mm	356
Freetown · Sierra Leone	28 °C	24 °C	3,006 mm	360
Nzérékoré · Guinea	32 °C	20 °C	1,872 mm	345
Kindia · Guinea	36 °C	20 °C	1,716 mm	349
Manéah · Guinea	33 °C	21 °C	2,580 mm	356

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

QuestionsCommon questions about Kenema’s climate

When is the best time to visit Kenema?

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 January the driest. The month-by-month table above has the full picture.

How hot does Kenema get?

In February, the warmest month, daily highs average 34 °C. About 160 days a year pass 30 °C. The highest value in the 1991–2020 record is 40 °C.

How cold does it get in winter?

Nights average 22 °C in August, the coldest month. Freezing nights are not part of a normal year here.

Which month is wettest in Kenema?

August, averaging 427 mm over 29 days with rain. The driest month is January with 16 mm. The year as a whole averages 2,287 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 Kenema 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: 7.877°, -11.190° (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.