Kismayo climate

Name: Kismayo
Address: SO

Kismayo is warmest in March, with average highs of 32 °C, and coldest in August, when nights average 23 °C. May is the wettest month (90 mm) and February the driest (1.9 mm). Figures are 1991–2020 climate normals.

Across a full year Kismayo averages 434 mm of rain and 365 days above 25 °C.

Somalia · population 234,852 · 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 March 32 °C
Coldest month August 23 °C
Driest month February 2 mm
Wettest month May 90 mm
Least cloud December 39 % cloud
Hottest on record March 35 °C
Coldest on record July 22 °C
Warmest sea April 29 °C

What to expectKismayo through the year

Kismayo has a clear annual cycle: average daily highs run from 29 °C in August to 32 °C in March, a swing of 3.1 °C in mean temperature across the year.

Counted across a normal year, 365 days a year reach 25 °C, 213 of them reach 30 °C. The warmest reading in the 1991–2020 record is 35 °C, in March.

Rain is strongly seasonal. May averages 90 mm against 2 mm in February — 48 times as much. Planning around the dry months matters more here than planning around temperature.

The sea off Kismayo is warmest in April at 29 °C and coldest in August at 25 °C. Sea temperature lags the air by a month or two, which is why late summer swims warmer than early summer at the same air temperature.

Month by month

Month	Avg high	Rainfall	Cloud
January	31.0 °C	15 mm	41 %
February	31.3 °C	2 mm	43 %
March	32.3 °C	9 mm	41 %
April	32.0 °C	73 mm	52 %
May	29.9 °C	90 mm	56 %
June	28.9 °C	37 mm	63 %
July	28.4 °C	26 mm	65 %
August	28.7 °C	23 mm	56 %
September	29.5 °C	20 mm	44 %
October	30.4 °C	40 mm	45 %
November	31.0 °C	66 mm	46 %
December	31.2 °C	34 mm	39 %

Temperature month by month

Month	Avg high	Avg low	Mean	Record high	Record low	Days above 25 °C	Days above 30 °C
January	31.0 °C	25.0 °C	27.3 °C	33.2 °C	22.5 °C	31	27
February	31.3 °C	25.1 °C	27.5 °C	34.2 °C	23.2 °C	28	27
March	32.3 °C	26.0 °C	28.5 °C	34.9 °C	23.8 °C	31	31
April	32.0 °C	26.2 °C	28.6 °C	34.7 °C	23.8 °C	30	27
May	29.9 °C	25.1 °C	27.1 °C	33.1 °C	22.8 °C	31	14
June	28.9 °C	24.3 °C	26.2 °C	32.3 °C	22.3 °C	30	4
July	28.4 °C	23.5 °C	25.5 °C	30.8 °C	21.5 °C	31	1
August	28.7 °C	23.4 °C	25.5 °C	31.4 °C	21.5 °C	31	1
September	29.5 °C	23.9 °C	26.1 °C	32.2 °C	22.3 °C	30	9
October	30.4 °C	24.7 °C	27.0 °C	32.9 °C	23.0 °C	31	21
November	31.0 °C	25.2 °C	27.6 °C	33.5 °C	22.8 °C	30	25
December	31.2 °C	25.4 °C	27.7 °C	33.8 °C	22.9 °C	31	27

Rain, sun and wind month by month

Month	Rainfall	Wet days	Daylight	Cloud cover	Humidity	Wind	Sea temp
January	15 mm	1	12 h/day	41 %	72 %	24 km/h	26.7 °C
February	2 mm	0	12 h/day	43 %	72 %	24 km/h	26.8 °C
March	9 mm	2	12 h/day	41 %	70 %	21 km/h	27.9 °C
April	73 mm	14	12 h/day	52 %	73 %	19 km/h	28.9 °C
May	90 mm	18	12 h/day	56 %	78 %	22 km/h	28.0 °C
June	37 mm	11	12 h/day	63 %	75 %	26 km/h	26.7 °C
July	26 mm	7	12 h/day	65 %	73 %	27 km/h	25.6 °C
August	23 mm	8	12 h/day	56 %	73 %	26 km/h	25.3 °C
September	20 mm	5	12 h/day	44 %	72 %	24 km/h	25.6 °C
October	40 mm	9	12 h/day	45 %	73 %	21 km/h	26.5 °C
November	66 mm	13	12 h/day	46 %	74 %	17 km/h	27.4 °C
December	34 mm	7	12 h/day	39 %	73 %	21 km/h	27.6 °C

How Kismayo 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
Kismayo	32 °C	23 °C	434 mm	365
Garissa · Kenya	36 °C	22 °C	255 mm	365
Mogadishu · Somalia	31 °C	23 °C	436 mm	365
Jomvu · Kenya	33 °C	22 °C	857 mm	363
Mombasa · Kenya	32 °C	22 °C	861 mm	361
Matuga · Kenya	31 °C	22 °C	1,006 mm	341
Mwala · Kenya	28 °C	14 °C	631 mm	200

Where Kismayo ranks

Ranking	Position	Value
Best beach destinations in Africa in January	9th of 50	93/100
Best beach destinations in Africa in February	11th of 50	92/100
Best beach destinations in Africa in March	12th of 50	87/100
Best beach destinations in Africa year-round	20th of 50	83/100
Warmest sea temperatures in Africa in April	22nd of 50	29 °C
Best beach destinations in Africa in December	29th of 50	83/100

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

QuestionsCommon questions about Kismayo’s climate

When is the best time to visit Kismayo?

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, March is the warmest month and February the driest. The month-by-month table above has the full picture.

How hot does Kismayo get?

In March, the warmest month, daily highs average 32 °C. About 213 days a year pass 30 °C. The highest value in the 1991–2020 record is 35 °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 Kismayo?

May, averaging 90 mm over 18 days with rain. The driest month is February with 2 mm. The year as a whole averages 434 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 Kismayo 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: -0.358°, 42.545° (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.