February Weather in Port Moresby Papua New GuineaDaily high temperatures are around 87°F, rarely falling below 83°F or exceeding 91°F. Daily low temperatures are around 75°F, rarely falling below 73°F or exceeding 77°F. For reference, on December 13, the hottest day of the year, temperatures in Port Moresby typically range from 76°F to 88°F, while on July 31, the coldest day of the year, they range from 73°F to 83°F. The figure below shows you a compact characterization of the hourly average temperatures for the quarter of the year centered on February. The horizontal axis is the day, the vertical axis is the hour of the day, and the color is the average temperature for that hour and day. Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil (11,384 miles away) is the far-away foreign place with temperatures most similar to Port Moresby (view comparison). CloudsThe month of February in Port Moresby experiences essentially constant cloud cover, with the percentage of time that the sky is overcast or mostly cloudy remaining about 90% throughout the month. The clearest day of the month is February 18, with clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy conditions 10% of the time. For reference, on January 9, the cloudiest day of the year, the chance of overcast or mostly cloudy conditions is 92%, while on August 18, the clearest day of the year, the chance of clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy skies is 37%. PrecipitationA wet day is one with at least 0.04 inches of liquid or liquid-equivalent precipitation. In Port Moresby, the chance of a wet day over the course of February is gradually increasing, starting the month at 47% and ending it at 49%. For reference, the year's highest daily chance of a wet day is 49% on February 29, and its lowest chance is 7% on July 16. RainfallTo show variation within the month and not just the monthly total, we show the rainfall accumulated over a sliding 31-day period centered around each day. The average sliding 31-day rainfall during February in Port Moresby is gradually increasing, starting the month at 7.1 inches, when it rarely exceeds 12.5 inches or falls below 2.7 inches, and ending the month at 7.6 inches, when it rarely exceeds 13.2 inches or falls below 3.2 inches. SunOver the course of February in Port Moresby, the length of the day is essentially constant. The shortest day of the month is February 29, with 12 hours, 17 minutes of daylight and the longest day is February 1, with 12 hours, 31 minutes of daylight. The earliest sunrise of the month in Port Moresby is 6:09 AM on February 1 and the latest sunrise is 6 minutes later at 6:15 AM on February 29. The latest sunset is 6:40 PM on February 1 and the earliest sunset is 8 minutes earlier at 6:32 PM on February 29. Daylight saving time is not observed in Port Moresby during 2024. For reference, on December 21, the longest day of the year, the Sun rises at 5:49 AM and sets 12 hours, 41 minutes later, at 6:29 PM, while on June 20, the shortest day of the year, it rises at 6:25 AM and sets 11 hours, 34 minutes later, at 6:00 PM. The figure below presents a compact representation of the sun's elevation (the angle of the sun above the horizon) and azimuth (its compass bearing) for every hour of every day in the reporting period. The horizontal axis is the day of the year and the vertical axis is the hour of the day. For a given day and hour of that day, the background color indicates the azimuth of the sun at that moment. The black isolines are contours of constant solar elevation. MoonThe figure below presents a compact representation of key lunar data for February 2024. The horizontal axis is the day, the vertical axis is the hour of the day, and the colored areas indicate when the moon is above the horizon. The vertical gray bars (new Moons) and blue bars (full Moons) indicate key Moon phases. The label associated with each bar indicates the date and time that the phase is obtained, and the companion time labels indicate the rise and set times of the Moon for the nearest time interval in which the moon is above the horizon.
HumidityWe base the humidity comfort level on the dew point, as it determines whether perspiration will evaporate from the skin, thereby cooling the body. Lower dew points feel drier and higher dew points feel more humid. Unlike temperature, which typically varies significantly between night and day, dew point tends to change more slowly, so while the temperature may drop at night, a muggy day is typically followed by a muggy night. The chance that a given day will be muggy in Port Moresby is essentially constant during February, remaining around 100% throughout. For reference, on February 10, the muggiest day of the year, there are muggy conditions 100% of the time, while on August 13, the least muggy day of the year, there are muggy conditions 92% of the time. WindThis section discusses the wide-area hourly average wind vector (speed and direction) at 10 meters above the ground. The wind experienced at any given location is highly dependent on local topography and other factors, and instantaneous wind speed and direction vary more widely than hourly averages. The average hourly wind speed in Port Moresby is essentially constant during February, remaining within 0.1 miles per hour of 7.9 miles per hour throughout. For reference, on July 30, the windiest day of the year, the daily average wind speed is 12.9 miles per hour, while on March 22, the calmest day of the year, the daily average wind speed is 7.4 miles per hour. The highest daily average wind speed during February is 8.0 miles per hour on February 11. The hourly average wind direction in Port Moresby throughout February is predominantly from the west, with a peak proportion of 47% on February 22. Water TemperaturePort Moresby is located near a large body of water (e.g., ocean, sea, or large lake). This section reports on the wide-area average surface temperature of that water. The average surface water temperature in Port Moresby is essentially constant during February, remaining around 85°F throughout. Growing SeasonDefinitions of the growing season vary throughout the world, but for the purposes of this report, we define it as the longest continuous period of non-freezing temperatures (≥ 32°F) in the year (the calendar year in the Northern Hemisphere, or from July 1 until June 30 in the Southern Hemisphere). Temperatures in Port Moresby are sufficiently warm year round that it is not entirely meaningful to discuss the growing season in these terms. We nevertheless include the chart below as an illustration of the distribution of temperatures experienced throughout the year. Growing degree days are a measure of yearly heat accumulation used to predict plant and animal development, and defined as the integral of warmth above a base temperature, discarding any excess above a maximum temperature. In this report, we use a base of 50°F and a cap of 86°F. The average accumulated growing degree days in Port Moresby are rapidly increasing during February, increasing by 839°F, from 6,325°F to 7,164°F, over the course of the month. Solar EnergyThis section discusses the total daily incident shortwave solar energy reaching the surface of the ground over a wide area, taking full account of seasonal variations in the length of the day, the elevation of the Sun above the horizon, and absorption by clouds and other atmospheric constituents. Shortwave radiation includes visible light and ultraviolet radiation. The average daily incident shortwave solar energy in Port Moresby is essentially constant during February, remaining around 4.9 kWh throughout. The highest average daily incident shortwave solar energy during February is 4.9 kWh on February 18. TopographyFor the purposes of this report, the geographical coordinates of Port Moresby are -9.443 deg latitude, 147.180 deg longitude, and 259 ft elevation. The topography within 2 miles of Port Moresby contains significant variations in elevation, with a maximum elevation change of 764 feet and an average elevation above sea level of 278 feet. Within 10 miles contains significant variations in elevation (1,539 feet). Within 50 miles contains very significant variations in elevation (13,173 feet). The area within 2 miles of Port Moresby is covered by artificial surfaces (90%), within 10 miles by water (43%) and trees (18%), and within 50 miles by water (54%) and trees (37%). Data SourcesThis report illustrates the typical weather in Port Moresby, based on a statistical analysis of historical hourly weather reports and model reconstructions from January 1, 1980 to December 31, 2016. Temperature and Dew PointThere is only a single weather station, Jacksons International Airport, in our network suitable to be used as a proxy for the historical temperature and dew point records of Port Moresby. At a distance of 4 kilometers from Port Moresby, closer than our threshold of 150 kilometers, this station is deemed sufficiently nearby to be relied upon as our primary source for temperature and dew point records. The station records are corrected for the elevation difference between the station and Port Moresby according to the International Standard Atmosphere , and by the relative change present in the MERRA-2 satellite-era reanalysis between the two locations. Please note that the station records themselves may additionally have been back-filled using other nearby stations or the MERRA-2 reanalysis. Other DataAll data relating to the Sun's position (e.g., sunrise and sunset) are computed using astronomical formulas from the book, Astronomical Algorithms 2nd Edition , by Jean Meeus. All other weather data, including cloud cover, precipitation, wind speed and direction, and solar flux, come from NASA's MERRA-2 Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis . This reanalysis combines a variety of wide-area measurements in a state-of-the-art global meteorological model to reconstruct the hourly history of weather throughout the world on a 50-kilometer grid. Land Use data comes from the Global Land Cover SHARE database , published by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Elevation data comes from the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) , published by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Names, locations, and time zones of places and some airports come from the GeoNames Geographical Database . Time zones for airports and weather stations are provided by AskGeo.com . Maps are © OpenStreetMap contributors. DisclaimerThe information on this site is provided as is, without any assurances as to its accuracy or suitability for any purpose. Weather data is prone to errors, outages, and other defects. We assume no responsibility for any decisions made on the basis of the content presented on this site. We draw particular cautious attention to our reliance on the MERRA-2 model-based reconstructions for a number of important data series. While having the tremendous advantages of temporal and spatial completeness, these reconstructions: (1) are based on computer models that may have model-based errors, (2) are coarsely sampled on a 50 km grid and are therefore unable to reconstruct the local variations of many microclimates, and (3) have particular difficulty with the weather in some coastal areas, especially small islands. We further caution that our travel scores are only as good as the data that underpin them, that weather conditions at any given location and time are unpredictable and variable, and that the definition of the scores reflects a particular set of preferences that may not agree with those of any particular reader. Please review our full terms contained on our Terms of Service page. |