Trincomalee, Sri Lanka climate

As Tropical savanna (dry summer)

Trincomalee has a remarkably steady tropical climate (Tropical savanna (dry summer), Köppen As). The hottest month is May with an average daily high near 35°C, while the coldest is January averaging around 27°C at night. Precipitation totals about 1636 mm a year and is strongly seasonal — December alone averages 398 mm while June barely receives 8 mm.

☀️ All year

Hot

Daytime highs near 35°C most of the year.

About 119 days a year above 32 °C

🌙 Nights

Stays warm

Even the coolest nights stay near 27°C.

🌧️ Rain

Very wet

About 1636 mm of rain a year.

Wettest in December

⛅ Sky & trend

Often cloudy

Cloudy skies much of the year.

+1.8 °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

Hours of sunshine per day

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

Trincomalee climate normals (1991–2020)

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Avg high (°C)	29	30	32	34	35	35	35	34	35	33	30	29
Avg temp (°C)	28	28	30	31	32	32	32	31	32	30	29	28
Avg low (°C)	27	27	28	29	29	29	28	28	28	28	28	27
Precipitation (mm)	120	134	61	41	98	8	47	66	101	231	331	398

Jan – Jun	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun
Avg high (°C)	29	30	32	34	35	35
Avg temp (°C)	28	28	30	31	32	32
Avg low (°C)	27	27	28	29	29	29
Precipitation (mm)	120	134	61	41	98	8

Jul – Dec	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Avg high (°C)	35	34	35	33	30	29
Avg temp (°C)	32	31	32	30	29	28
Avg low (°C)	28	28	28	28	28	27
Precipitation (mm)	47	66	101	231	331	398

How often — frequency of weather events

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Days with measurable rain (days)	5	3	2	3	3	0.8	2	3	4	8	11	10
Days with high ≥ 32°C (days)	0.0	0.6	7	15	17	17	17	17	16	10	2	0.1

Jan – Jun	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun
Days with measurable rain (days)	5	3	2	3	3	0.8
Days with high ≥ 32°C (days)	0.0	0.6	7	15	17	17

Jul – Dec	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Days with measurable rain (days)	2	3	4	8	11	10
Days with high ≥ 32°C (days)	17	17	16	10	2	0.1

Sky & atmosphere

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Cloud cover (%)	60	51	43	55	60	69	72	70	67	71	74	71
Relative humidity (%)	79	77	75	75	76	76	74	73	74	78	82	82
Wind speed (km/h)	15.6	13.9	11.7	10.8	17.2	22.9	22.5	21.3	18.6	14.1	13.0	15.7

Jan – Jun	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun
Cloud cover (%)	60	51	43	55	60	69
Relative humidity (%)	79	77	75	75	76	76
Wind speed (km/h)	15.6	13.9	11.7	10.8	17.2	22.9

Jul – Dec	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Cloud cover (%)	72	70	67	71	74	71
Relative humidity (%)	74	73	74	78	82	82
Wind speed (km/h)	22.5	21.3	18.6	14.1	13.0	15.7

Methodology & sources

Temperature — modelled for this location from ERA5-Land reanalysis, a ~9 km global grid, because no long-record weather station is close enough to use.

Precipitation — 1991–2020 normals computed from 11 years of daily observations at China Bay, a weather station, about 7 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 →