Tarawa, Kiribati climate

Af Tropical rainforest

Tarawa has a remarkably steady tropical climate (Tropical rainforest, Köppen Af). The hottest month is September with an average daily high near 89°F, while the coldest is March averaging around 78°F at night. Around 62 inches of precipitation falls each year, peaking in March (7.7 inches) and easing off in November (3.0 inches).

☀️ All year

Hot

Daytime highs near 89°F most of the year.

🌙 Nights

Stays warm

Even the coolest nights stay near 78°F.

🌧️ Rain

Very wet

About 62 in of rain a year.

Wettest in March

⛅ Sky & trend

Often cloudy

Cloudy skies much of the year.

Temperature & precipitation

Daily high–low temperature range with the monthly average, plus monthly precipitation · 1991–2020 normals · hover a month for the exact figures

Hours of sunshine per day

Estimated sunny hours each month — daylight length × clear-sky fraction · 1991–2020 monthly cloud cover (NASA POWER)

Tarawa climate normals (1991–2020)

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Avg high (°F)	88	88	88	88	88	88	88	88	89	89	89	88
Avg temp (°F)	83	83	83	83	83	83	83	83	84	83	84	83
Avg low (°F)	78	78	78	78	78	78	78	78	78	78	78	78
Precipitation (in)	7.5	5.5	7.7	6.9	5.3	4.5	4.6	3.5	3.8	4.0	3.0	6.0

Jan – Jun	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun
Avg high (°F)	88	88	88	88	88	88
Avg temp (°F)	83	83	83	83	83	83
Avg low (°F)	78	78	78	78	78	78
Precipitation (in)	7.5	5.5	7.7	6.9	5.3	4.5

Jul – Dec	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Avg high (°F)	88	88	89	89	89	88
Avg temp (°F)	83	83	84	83	84	83
Avg low (°F)	78	78	78	78	78	78
Precipitation (in)	4.6	3.5	3.8	4.0	3.0	6.0

Sky & atmosphere

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Cloud cover (%)	74	73	70	69	62	62	62	58	56	56	62	70
Relative humidity (%)	80	81	82	83	82	81	79	78	77	78	78	80
Wind speed (mph)	11.2	11.7	11.0	10.3	9.3	9.1	8.9	9.0	9.4	8.9	9.0	10.1

Jan – Jun	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun
Cloud cover (%)	74	73	70	69	62	62
Relative humidity (%)	80	81	82	83	82	81
Wind speed (mph)	11.2	11.7	11.0	10.3	9.3	9.1

Jul – Dec	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Cloud cover (%)	62	58	56	56	62	70
Relative humidity (%)	79	78	77	78	78	80
Wind speed (mph)	8.9	9.0	9.4	8.9	9.0	10.1

Methodology & sources

Temperature & precipitation — 1991–2020 normals computed from 28 years of daily observations at Bonriki Intl, a weather station, about 20 km from the city centre. The underlying daily records come from NOAA's global station network.

Cloud, humidity, wind & sunshine — modelled estimates from NASA POWER, NASA's satellite-and-reanalysis climatology. This is the standard global source for atmospheric variables, which are not measured at most weather stations.

How we build these numbers →