Jaffna climate

Name: Jaffna
Address: LK

Jaffna is warmest in April, with average highs of 31 °C, and coldest in January, when nights average 24 °C. November is the wettest month (306 mm) and March the driest (23 mm). Figures are 1991–2020 climate normals.

Across a full year Jaffna averages 1,106 mm of rain and 365 days above 25 °C.

Sri Lanka · population 169,102 · 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 April 31 °C
Coldest month January 24 °C
Driest month March 23 mm
Wettest month November 306 mm
Least cloud March 38 % cloud
Hottest on record April 35 °C
Coldest on record February 20 °C
Warmest sea April 30 °C

What to expectJaffna through the year

Jaffna has a clear annual cycle: average daily highs run from 27 °C in January to 31 °C in April, a swing of 4.0 °C in mean temperature across the year.

Counted across a normal year, 365 days a year reach 25 °C, 161 of them reach 30 °C. The warmest reading in the 1991–2020 record is 35 °C, in April.

Rain is strongly seasonal. November averages 306 mm against 23 mm in March — 13 times as much. Planning around the dry months matters more here than planning around temperature.

The sea off Jaffna is warmest in April at 30 °C and coldest in January at 27 °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	27.0 °C	62 mm	55 %
February	28.3 °C	25 mm	44 %
March	30.4 °C	23 mm	38 %
April	31.5 °C	48 mm	50 %
May	31.2 °C	62 mm	63 %
June	30.6 °C	28 mm	80 %
July	30.5 °C	32 mm	83 %
August	30.2 °C	50 mm	80 %
September	30.1 °C	70 mm	73 %
October	29.0 °C	212 mm	73 %
November	27.7 °C	306 mm	74 %
December	26.9 °C	187 mm	66 %

Temperature month by month

Month	Avg high	Avg low	Mean	Record high	Record low	Days above 25 °C	Days above 30 °C
January	27.0 °C	24.1 °C	25.4 °C	30.0 °C	20.2 °C	31	0
February	28.3 °C	24.5 °C	26.2 °C	32.9 °C	19.9 °C	28	2
March	30.4 °C	25.6 °C	27.8 °C	34.3 °C	20.6 °C	31	19
April	31.5 °C	27.1 °C	29.2 °C	35.2 °C	24.5 °C	30	26
May	31.2 °C	28.0 °C	29.4 °C	34.2 °C	25.2 °C	31	28
June	30.6 °C	27.8 °C	29.0 °C	33.3 °C	25.6 °C	30	24
July	30.5 °C	27.4 °C	28.7 °C	34.1 °C	25.1 °C	31	22
August	30.2 °C	27.0 °C	28.4 °C	32.9 °C	24.9 °C	31	18
September	30.1 °C	26.7 °C	28.2 °C	32.8 °C	24.2 °C	30	16
October	29.0 °C	25.8 °C	27.4 °C	31.8 °C	22.9 °C	31	6
November	27.7 °C	24.9 °C	26.3 °C	30.9 °C	22.3 °C	30	0
December	26.9 °C	24.5 °C	25.6 °C	29.4 °C	20.3 °C	31	0

Rain, sun and wind month by month

Month	Rainfall	Wet days	Daylight	Cloud cover	Humidity	Wind	Sea temp
January	62 mm	7	12 h/day	55 %	75 %	24 km/h	26.6 °C
February	25 mm	4	12 h/day	44 %	74 %	22 km/h	27.4 °C
March	23 mm	4	12 h/day	38 %	74 %	20 km/h	28.9 °C
April	48 mm	8	12 h/day	50 %	76 %	21 km/h	30.2 °C
May	62 mm	8	13 h/day	63 %	78 %	32 km/h	29.7 °C
June	28 mm	6	13 h/day	80 %	77 %	35 km/h	29.1 °C
July	32 mm	8	13 h/day	83 %	76 %	32 km/h	28.9 °C
August	50 mm	10	12 h/day	80 %	77 %	31 km/h	28.6 °C
September	70 mm	12	12 h/day	73 %	78 %	30 km/h	28.7 °C
October	212 mm	21	12 h/day	73 %	81 %	22 km/h	28.9 °C
November	306 mm	22	12 h/day	74 %	83 %	22 km/h	28.4 °C
December	187 mm	16	12 h/day	66 %	79 %	25 km/h	27.1 °C

How Jaffna 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
Jaffna	31 °C	24 °C	1,106 mm	365
Kāraikkudi · India	37 °C	20 °C	987 mm	363
Thanjavur · India	38 °C	20 °C	962 mm	362
Kumbakonam · India	38 °C	21 °C	952 mm	362
Tiruchirappalli · India	38 °C	20 °C	812 mm	363

Where Jaffna ranks

Ranking	Position	Value
Warmest sea temperatures in Asia in April	7th of 50	30 °C
Warmest sea temperatures in the world in April	7th of 50	30 °C
Best beach destinations in Asia year-round	28th of 50	79/100
Best beach destinations in Asia in June	29th of 50	84/100
Best beach destinations in Asia in February	43rd of 50	96/100
Best beach destinations in Asia in May	43rd of 50	76/100

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

QuestionsCommon questions about Jaffna’s climate

When is the best time to visit Jaffna?

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

How hot does Jaffna get?

In April, the warmest month, daily highs average 31 °C. About 161 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 24 °C in January, the coldest month. Freezing nights are not part of a normal year here.

Which month is wettest in Jaffna?

November, averaging 306 mm over 22 days with rain. The driest month is March with 23 mm. The year as a whole averages 1,106 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 Jaffna 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: 9.668°, 80.007° (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.