Palu, Indonesia climate

BWh Hot desert

Palu has a remarkably steady tropical climate (Hot desert, Köppen BWh). The hottest month is October with an average daily high near 34°C, while the coldest is July averaging around 23°C at night. Precipitation totals about 345 mm a year and is strongly seasonal — January alone averages 59 mm while May barely receives 14 mm.

☀️ Summers

Hot

Highs near 34°C in October.

About 217 days a year above 32 °C

❄️ Winters

Mild

Lows near 23°C in July.

🌧️ Rain

Fairly dry

About 345 mm of rain a year.

Wettest in January

⛅ Sky & trend

Often grey

Overcast skies dominate much of the year.

+0.4 °C vs 50 years ago

Temperature & precipitation

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

Clear vs cloudy days

Share of days each month that are clear, partly cloudy or cloudy · 1991–2020 · hover a month for the day counts

Palu climate normals (1991–2020)

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Avg high (°C)	33	33	34	33	34	33	33	33	34	34	33	33
Avg temp (°C)	28	28	28	28	29	28	28	28	28	29	29	28
Avg low (°C)	23	23	23	23	23	23	23	23	23	23	23	23
Precipitation (mm)	59	14	21	23	14	41	40	18	43	16	38	19

Jan – Jun	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun
Avg high (°C)	33	33	34	33	34	33
Avg temp (°C)	28	28	28	28	29	28
Avg low (°C)	23	23	23	23	23	23
Precipitation (mm)	59	14	21	23	14	41

Jul – Dec	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Avg high (°C)	33	33	34	34	33	33
Avg temp (°C)	28	28	28	29	29	28
Avg low (°C)	23	23	23	23	23	23
Precipitation (mm)	40	18	43	16	38	19

How often — frequency of weather events

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Days with measurable rain (days)	1	1	1	1	1	2	2	1	1	1	2	0.9
Days with high ≥ 32°C (days)	16	16	17	19	20	17	16	18	20	20	19	18

Jan – Jun	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun
Days with measurable rain (days)	1	1	1	1	1	2
Days with high ≥ 32°C (days)	16	16	17	19	20	17

Jul – Dec	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Days with measurable rain (days)	2	1	1	1	2	0.9
Days with high ≥ 32°C (days)	16	18	20	20	19	18

Sky & atmosphere

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Cloud cover (%)	86	85	81	78	75	78	75	71	73	78	83	88
Clear days (≤ 30% cloud)	1	0.9	1	1	2	2	2	2	2	1	0.9	0.5
Partly cloudy days (30–70%)	4	4	6	7	8	7	9	11	9	7	5	4
Cloudy days (≥ 70%)	26	23	24	22	21	22	20	18	19	22	24	26
Relative humidity (%)	88	87	87	89	90	90	89	87	85	86	88	88
Wind speed (km/h)	1.9	1.9	1.8	1.6	1.5	1.4	1.4	1.4	1.5	1.6	1.7	1.9

Jan – Jun	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun
Cloud cover (%)	86	85	81	78	75	78
Clear days (≤ 30% cloud)	1	0.9	1	1	2	2
Partly cloudy days (30–70%)	4	4	6	7	8	7
Cloudy days (≥ 70%)	26	23	24	22	21	22
Relative humidity (%)	88	87	87	89	90	90
Wind speed (km/h)	1.9	1.9	1.8	1.6	1.5	1.4

Jul – Dec	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Cloud cover (%)	75	71	73	78	83	88
Clear days (≤ 30% cloud)	2	2	2	1	0.9	0.5
Partly cloudy days (30–70%)	9	11	9	7	5	4
Cloudy days (≥ 70%)	20	18	19	22	24	26
Relative humidity (%)	89	87	85	86	88	88
Wind speed (km/h)	1.4	1.4	1.5	1.6	1.7	1.9

Methodology & sources

Temperature & precipitation — 1991–2020 normals computed from 23 years of daily observations at Mutiara, a weather station, about 5 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 →