The climate in South Sudan

Climate zone: tropics

The climate in South Sudan is very warm, with an annual average of 35 degrees, but has few truly tropical and sticky months. It is warm or hot yearlong. The warmest and rainiest part of the country is Upper Nile. The coldest is Central Equatoria. Due to less rain, the best time for traveling is from November to March. Sometimes humidity is unpleasantly high from July to September. The most rain days occur from from May to October.

Temperature records of the last 63 years

The hottest temperature measured from 1949 to May 2012 was reported by the Wau weather station. In July 2000, the record temperature of 50.0 °C was reported here. The hottest summer from July to September, based on all 3 weather stations in South Sudan , was recorded in 2009 with an average temperature of 29.1 °C. This average temperature will normally be measured every four to six hours, thus also including the nights. Normally, this value is 26.0 degrees Celsius. The average maximum daily temperature at that time was 33.7 °C.

The coldest day in these 63 years was reported by the Renk weather station. Here the temperature dropped to 11.5 °C in January 2002. Renk lies at an altitude of 282 meters above sea level. The coldest winter (January to March) was in 1986 with an average temperature of 25.5 °C. In South Sudan, it is usual to have about 2.5 degrees more at 28.0 °C for this three-month period.

The most precipitation fell in August 1958. With 12.3 mm per day, the Wau weather station recorded the highest monthly average of the last 63 years.

Data basis and methodology

The data from the individual measuring stations are based on the archives of the German Weather Service, individual values averaged and supplemented by own elements. In order to determine a representative national average, average values were first calculated for each part of the country, which were then summarized at the national level.