Gulu climate

Name: Gulu
Address: UG

Gulu is warmest in February, with average highs of 33 °C, and coldest in July, when nights average 18 °C. August is the wettest month (194 mm) and January the driest (17 mm). Figures are 1991–2020 climate normals.

Across a full year Gulu averages 1,471 mm of rain and 349 days above 25 °C.

Uganda · population 177,400 · 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 33 °C
Coldest month July 18 °C
Driest month January 17 mm
Wettest month August 194 mm
Least cloud January 55 % cloud
Hottest on record February 38 °C
Coldest on record August 16 °C

What to expectGulu through the year

Gulu has a clear annual cycle: average daily highs run from 26 °C in July to 33 °C in February, a swing of 5.3 °C in mean temperature across the year.

Counted across a normal year, 349 days a year reach 25 °C, 98 of them reach 30 °C. The warmest reading in the 1991–2020 record is 38 °C, in February.

Rain is strongly seasonal. August averages 194 mm against 17 mm in January — 12 times as much. Planning around the dry months matters more here than planning around temperature.

Month by month

Month	Avg high	Rainfall	Cloud
January	31.6 °C	17 mm	55 %
February	32.8 °C	19 mm	57 %
March	31.6 °C	91 mm	65 %
April	28.7 °C	191 mm	76 %
May	27.3 °C	179 mm	69 %
June	26.8 °C	130 mm	65 %
July	26.4 °C	154 mm	65 %
August	26.6 °C	194 mm	64 %
September	27.5 °C	157 mm	62 %
October	27.7 °C	187 mm	74 %
November	28.2 °C	121 mm	68 %
December	29.9 °C	31 mm	55 %

Temperature month by month

Month	Avg high	Avg low	Mean	Record high	Record low	Days above 25 °C	Days above 30 °C
January	31.6 °C	20.4 °C	25.9 °C	36.0 °C	16.0 °C	31	24
February	32.8 °C	21.3 °C	26.9 °C	37.8 °C	18.0 °C	28	25
March	31.6 °C	20.8 °C	25.9 °C	37.6 °C	17.4 °C	31	22
April	28.7 °C	19.7 °C	23.6 °C	36.8 °C	17.0 °C	29	6
May	27.3 °C	19.0 °C	22.7 °C	31.1 °C	16.8 °C	30	0
June	26.8 °C	18.3 °C	22.2 °C	30.6 °C	15.9 °C	28	0
July	26.4 °C	17.8 °C	21.7 °C	29.4 °C	15.8 °C	27	0
August	26.6 °C	17.8 °C	21.8 °C	29.8 °C	15.7 °C	28	0
September	27.5 °C	18.3 °C	22.4 °C	33.1 °C	16.4 °C	29	1
October	27.7 °C	18.6 °C	22.6 °C	32.6 °C	16.5 °C	29	2
November	28.2 °C	18.7 °C	23.0 °C	32.8 °C	16.0 °C	29	4
December	29.9 °C	19.2 °C	24.4 °C	35.2 °C	16.4 °C	31	14

Rain, sun and wind month by month

Month	Rainfall	Wet days	Daylight	Cloud cover	Humidity	Wind
January	17 mm	3	12 h/day	55 %	45 %	14 km/h
February	19 mm	4	12 h/day	57 %	43 %	14 km/h
March	91 mm	12	12 h/day	65 %	57 %	13 km/h
April	191 mm	21	12 h/day	76 %	75 %	11 km/h
May	179 mm	23	12 h/day	69 %	81 %	9.4 km/h
June	130 mm	19	12 h/day	65 %	80 %	8.3 km/h
July	154 mm	22	12 h/day	65 %	80 %	8.4 km/h
August	194 mm	24	12 h/day	64 %	81 %	8.7 km/h
September	157 mm	20	12 h/day	62 %	79 %	9.4 km/h
October	187 mm	21	12 h/day	74 %	78 %	9.9 km/h
November	121 mm	13	12 h/day	68 %	73 %	11 km/h
December	31 mm	5	12 h/day	55 %	57 %	13 km/h

How Gulu 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
Gulu	33 °C	18 °C	1,471 mm	349
Yei · South Sudan	34 °C	19 °C	1,425 mm	359
Juba · South Sudan	37 °C	21 °C	973 mm	365
Kasangati · Uganda	27 °C	16 °C	1,763 mm	151
Bunia · Democratic Republic of the Congo	28 °C	17 °C	1,094 mm	284
Kira · Uganda	27 °C	16 °C	1,974 mm	154

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

QuestionsCommon questions about Gulu’s climate

When is the best time to visit Gulu?

That depends on what you want, so the honest answer is a comparison rather than a single month. June, July, August 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 Gulu get?

In February, the warmest month, daily highs average 33 °C. About 98 days a year pass 30 °C. The highest value in the 1991–2020 record is 38 °C.

How cold does it get in winter?

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

Which month is wettest in Gulu?

August, averaging 194 mm over 24 days with rain. The driest month is January with 17 mm. The year as a whole averages 1,471 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 Gulu 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.