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 93°F, while the coldest is July averaging around 73°F at night. Precipitation totals about 14 inches a year and is strongly seasonal — January alone averages 2.3 inches while May barely receives 0.54 inches.

☀️ Summers

Hot

Highs near 93°F in October.

About 217 days a year above 90 °F

❄️ Winters

Mild

Lows near 73°F in July.

🌧️ Rain

Fairly dry

About 14 in of rain a year.

Wettest in January

⛅ Sky & trend

Often grey

Overcast skies dominate much of the year.

+0.7 °F 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 (°F)	91	92	92	92	92	91	91	92	93	93	92	92
Avg temp (°F)	82	83	83	83	83	83	82	83	83	84	83	83
Avg low (°F)	74	73	74	74	74	74	73	73	73	74	74	74
Precipitation (in)	2.3	0.6	0.8	0.9	0.5	1.6	1.6	0.7	1.7	0.6	1.5	0.7

Jan – Jun	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun
Avg high (°F)	91	92	92	92	92	91
Avg temp (°F)	82	83	83	83	83	83
Avg low (°F)	74	73	74	74	74	74
Precipitation (in)	2.3	0.6	0.8	0.9	0.5	1.6

Jul – Dec	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Avg high (°F)	91	92	93	93	92	92
Avg temp (°F)	82	83	83	84	83	83
Avg low (°F)	73	73	73	74	74	74
Precipitation (in)	1.6	0.7	1.7	0.6	1.5	0.7

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 ≥ 90°F (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 ≥ 90°F (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 ≥ 90°F (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 (mph)	1.2	1.2	1.1	1.0	0.9	0.9	0.9	0.9	0.9	1.0	1.1	1.2

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 (mph)	1.2	1.2	1.1	1.0	0.9	0.9

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 (mph)	0.9	0.9	0.9	1.0	1.1	1.2

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 →