Mbarara climate
Mbarara is warmest in February, with average highs of 27 °C, and coldest in November, when nights average 15 °C. November is the wettest month (105 mm) and July the driest (13 mm). Figures are 1991–2020 climate normals.
Across a full year Mbarara averages 717 mm of rain and 257 days above 25 °C.
Uganda · population 221,300 · 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 27 °C
- Coldest month November 15 °C
- Driest month July 13 mm
- Wettest month November 105 mm
- Least cloud July 65 % cloud
- Hottest on record February 35 °C
- Coldest on record October 13 °C
What to expectMbarara through the year
Mbarara changes little through the year. Average daily highs stay between 25 and 27 °C, so no month stands out as a season in the way it would further from the equator.
Counted across a normal year, 257 days a year reach 25 °C, 4 of them reach 30 °C. The warmest reading in the 1991–2020 record is 35 °C, in February.
Rain is strongly seasonal. November averages 105 mm against 13 mm in July — 8.1 times as much. Planning around the dry months matters more here than planning around temperature.
Month by month
| Month | Avg high | Rainfall | Cloud |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 26.3 °C | 36 mm | 69 % |
| February | 27.4 °C | 39 mm | 70 % |
| March | 26.7 °C | 67 mm | 74 % |
| April | 25.5 °C | 86 mm | 80 % |
| May | 25.2 °C | 64 mm | 71 % |
| June | 25.8 °C | 26 mm | 67 % |
| July | 26.4 °C | 13 mm | 65 % |
| August | 26.2 °C | 47 mm | 66 % |
| September | 26.0 °C | 69 mm | 68 % |
| October | 25.4 °C | 100 mm | 79 % |
| November | 24.8 °C | 105 mm | 80 % |
| December | 25.2 °C | 64 mm | 71 % |
Temperature month by month
| Month | Avg high | Avg low | Mean | Record high | Record low | Days above 25 °C | Days above 30 °C | Days below 0 °C |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 26.3 °C | 16.1 °C | 21.2 °C | 32.0 °C | 13.7 °C | 24 | 1 | 0 |
| February | 27.4 °C | 16.7 °C | 21.9 °C | 34.6 °C | 13.5 °C | 26 | 2 | 0 |
| March | 26.7 °C | 16.7 °C | 21.5 °C | 32.0 °C | 13.8 °C | 26 | 1 | 0 |
| April | 25.5 °C | 16.2 °C | 20.6 °C | 30.2 °C | 13.9 °C | 20 | 0 | 0 |
| May | 25.2 °C | 15.9 °C | 20.4 °C | 30.4 °C | 13.1 °C | 18 | 0 | 0 |
| June | 25.8 °C | 15.8 °C | 20.6 °C | 30.2 °C | 13.1 °C | 21 | 0 | 0 |
| July | 26.4 °C | 15.8 °C | 20.9 °C | 30.3 °C | 12.9 °C | 25 | 0 | 0 |
| August | 26.2 °C | 16.0 °C | 20.7 °C | 30.8 °C | 13.4 °C | 24 | 0 | 0 |
| September | 26.0 °C | 15.5 °C | 20.5 °C | 31.1 °C | 12.8 °C | 23 | 0 | 0 |
| October | 25.4 °C | 15.6 °C | 20.2 °C | 28.9 °C | 12.5 °C | 20 | 0 | 0 |
| November | 24.8 °C | 15.4 °C | 19.8 °C | 27.9 °C | 13.1 °C | 14 | 0 | 0 |
| December | 25.2 °C | 15.5 °C | 20.2 °C | 29.8 °C | 13.3 °C | 17 | 0 | 0 |
Rain, sun and wind month by month
| Month | Rainfall | Wet days | Daylight | Cloud cover | Humidity | Wind |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 36 mm | 9 | 12 h/day | 69 % | 70 % | 11 km/h |
| February | 39 mm | 9 | 12 h/day | 70 % | 67 % | 12 km/h |
| March | 67 mm | 15 | 12 h/day | 74 % | 72 % | 11 km/h |
| April | 86 mm | 19 | 12 h/day | 80 % | 78 % | 12 km/h |
| May | 64 mm | 15 | 12 h/day | 71 % | 77 % | 13 km/h |
| June | 26 mm | 6 | 12 h/day | 67 % | 68 % | 14 km/h |
| July | 13 mm | 3 | 12 h/day | 65 % | 61 % | 15 km/h |
| August | 47 mm | 11 | 12 h/day | 66 % | 68 % | 14 km/h |
| September | 69 mm | 16 | 12 h/day | 68 % | 74 % | 13 km/h |
| October | 100 mm | 22 | 12 h/day | 79 % | 78 % | 12 km/h |
| November | 105 mm | 22 | 12 h/day | 80 % | 81 % | 11 km/h |
| December | 64 mm | 15 | 12 h/day | 71 % | 76 % | 11 km/h |
How Mbarara 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mbarara | 27 °C | 15 °C | 717 mm | 257 |
| Musanze · Rwanda | 24 °C | 15 °C | 1,637 mm | 20 |
| Kigali · Rwanda | 26 °C | 14 °C | 888 mm | 175 |
| Butembo · Democratic Republic of the Congo | 25 °C | 14 °C | 1,754 mm | 32 |
Where Mbarara ranks
| Ranking | Position | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Places with the best weather in Africa in July | 49thof 50 | 92/100 |
Planning a trip? See the best time to visit Mbarara.
QuestionsCommon questions about Mbarara’s climate
When is the best time to visit Mbarara?
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 Mbarara get?
In February, the warmest month, daily highs average 27 °C. About 4 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 15 °C in November, the coldest month. Freezing nights are not part of a normal year here.
Which month is wettest in Mbarara?
November, averaging 105 mm over 22 days with rain. The driest month is July with 13 mm. The year as a whole averages 717 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 Mbarara 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
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.