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The climate of Ethiopia: when to go to Ethiopia

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This African country is a vast and very varied country, and consequently the climate of Ethiopia also varies considerably from place to place. There are areas of extreme dryness such as the Danakil belt and the Ogaden plateaus on the border with Somalia, which alternate with areas of abundant rainfall such as the mountains of the Ethiopian plateau and the Great Rift Valley area.

Much of Ethiopia, which is located at high altitudes, above 1,500 / 2,000 meters, has a healthy and mild climate, while areas below 1,200 meters have a humid and warm tropical climate.

The climate of the Ethiopian highlands is of a tropical mountain type with mild temperatures and three well delimited seasons: a dry season, between October and February, a relatively rainy and hot season between March and May, and a major rainy season between June and September.

On the highlands, the rains vary between 700 mm per year in the Tigray, 900 mm in the Sidama, 1,100 mm per year in the area of the capital Addis Ababa, 1,500 mm per year in the Amhara and Jimma. The rainiest areas of Ethiopia are the southwestern mountainous areas of Caffa where it can exceed 2,000 mm of rain per year. On the highest mountains the climate becomes alpine.

In Danakil and Ogaden the climate is instead semi-desert torrid and dry with almost zero rainfall and very high temperatures during the day and cold at night with strong differences in both daily and seasonal temperatures.

WHEN TO GO TO ETHIOPIA

The best time for a trip to Ethiopia are the months of the dry season between October and February. The months of intense rains between June and September are to be avoided.

THE CLIMATE OF ETHIOPIA: CLIMATE TABLES

CLIMATE TABLE FOR ADDIS ABEBA

ADDIS ABEBA (2355 meters)
MonthAverage low temperature (° C)Average high temperature (°C)Precip. (mm)Precipitation days
January 7,423,513 3
February8,724,530 5
March10,525,458 7
April11,124,882 10
May10,825,284 10
June10,623,4138 20
July11,120,7280 27
August11,020,7290 26
September10,721,7149 18
October8,722,727 4
November6,723,07 1
December7,022,97 1
YEAR9,523,21165 132

CLIMATE TABLE FOR AWASSA

AWASSA (1708 meters)
MonthAverage low temperature (° C)Average high temperature (°C)Precip. (mm)Precipitation days
January112929 5
February123044 8
March1330100 16
April1428147 16
May1427133 16
June142699 15
July1424128 19
August1425125 20
September1325140 22
October122792 14
November102830 5
December102824 4
YEAR12,627,31091 160

CLIMATE TABLE FOR JIMMA

JIMMA (1780 meters)
MonthAverage low temperature (° C)Average high temperature (°C)Precip. (mm)Precipitation days
January182840 5
February192955 10
March202895 14
April2027140 15
May2026160 18
June1924215 24
July1924215 25
August1925211 25
September1927185 22
October192790 18
November182855 10
December172835 5
YEAR18,926,81500 191

CLIMATE TABLE FOR DIRE DAWA

DIRE DAWA (1276 meters)
MonthAverage low temperature (° C)Average high temperature (°C)Precip. (mm)Precipitation days
January15,529,416,6
February16,631,555,2
March19,134,161,6
April20,432,774,8
May22,334,845,5
June22,835,915,6
July21,234,383,9
August20,232,987,7
September20,733,639,8
October18,733,624,8
November15,931,659,9
December15,029,617,8
YEAR19,032,8583,2

CLIMATE TABLE FOR BAHIR DAR

BAHIR DAR (1800 meters)
MonthAverage low temperature (° C)Average high temperature (°C)Precip. (mm)Precipitation days
January8292 1
February9312 1
March113212 2
April133228 3
May133280 10
June1329205 18
July1326396 28
August1325375 28
September1226211 20
October122787 10
November102812 3
December8286 1
YEAR11,328,81416 125

CLIMATE TABLE FOR MACALLÈ

MEK’ELE (MACALLÈ) (2084 meters)
MonthAverage low temperature (° C)Average high temperature (°C)Precip. (mm)Precipitation days
January162336
February172410
March182530
April192646
May202736
June202730
July1823201
August1723216
September182536
October172410
November162330
December152241
YEAR1824706

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