December Weather in Buka Papua New Guinea

Daily high temperatures are around 84°F, rarely falling below 83°F or exceeding 86°F.

Daily low temperatures are around 82°F, rarely falling below 80°F or exceeding 83°F. The highest daily average low temperature is 82°F on December 13.

For reference, on November 30, the hottest day of the year, temperatures in Buka typically range from 82°F to 84°F, while on August 21, the coldest day of the year, they range from 81°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 December. 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.

San Andrés, Colombia (8,575 miles away) is the far-away foreign place with temperatures most similar to Buka (view comparison).

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The month of December in Buka experiences essentially constant cloud cover, with the percentage of time that the sky is overcast or mostly cloudy remaining about 86% throughout the month.

The clearest day of the month is December 2, with clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy conditions 15% of the time.

For reference, on February 6, the cloudiest day of the year, the chance of overcast or mostly cloudy conditions is 90%, while on August 18, the clearest day of the year, the chance of clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy skies is 23%.

A wet day is one with at least 0.04 inches of liquid or liquid-equivalent precipitation. In Buka, the chance of a wet day over the course of December is rapidly increasing, starting the month at 57% and ending it at 63%.

For reference, the year's highest daily chance of a wet day is 74% on July 9, and its lowest chance is 56% on November 28.

Rainfall

To 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 December in Buka is rapidly increasing, starting the month at 6.2 inches, when it rarely exceeds 10.5 inches or falls below 2.1 inches, and ending the month at 7.3 inches, when it rarely exceeds 13.4 inches or falls below 3.3 inches.

Over the course of December in Buka, the length of the day is essentially constant. The shortest day of the month is December 1, with 12 hours, 25 minutes of daylight and the longest day is December 22, with 12 hours, 26 minutes of daylight.

The earliest sunrise of the month in Buka is 6:17 AM on December 1 and the latest sunrise is 13 minutes later at 6:31 AM on December 31.

The earliest sunset is 6:42 PM on December 1 and the latest sunset is 15 minutes later at 6:57 PM on December 31.

Daylight saving time is not observed in Buka during 2024.

For reference, on December 21, the longest day of the year, the Sun rises at 6:26 AM and sets 12 hours, 26 minutes later, at 6:52 PM, while on June 20, the shortest day of the year, it rises at 6:48 AM and sets 11 hours, 49 minutes later, at 6:37 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.

The figure below presents a compact representation of key lunar data for December 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.

We 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 Buka is essentially constant during December, remaining around 100% throughout.

For reference, on January 1, the muggiest day of the year, there are muggy conditions 100% of the time, while on November 5, the least muggy day of the year, there are muggy conditions 100% of the time.

This 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 Buka is gradually increasing during December, increasing from 7.1 miles per hour to 8.0 miles per hour over the course of the month.

For reference, on August 23, the windiest day of the year, the daily average wind speed is 11.4 miles per hour, while on December 5, the calmest day of the year, the daily average wind speed is 7.0 miles per hour.

The lowest daily average wind speed during December is 7.0 miles per hour on December 5.

The wind direction in Buka during December is predominantly out of the east from December 1 to December 8, the north from December 8 to December 16, and the west from December 16 to December 31.

Buka 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 Buka is essentially constant during December, remaining around 86°F throughout.

The highest average surface water temperature during December is 86°F on December 13.

Definitions 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 Buka 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 Buka are very rapidly increasing during December, increasing by 990°F, from 4,939°F to 5,929°F, over the course of the month.

This 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 Buka is essentially constant during December, remaining within 0.1 kWh of 4.5 kWh throughout.

For the purposes of this report, the geographical coordinates of Buka are -5.433 deg latitude, 154.671 deg longitude, and 7 ft elevation.

The topography within 2 miles of Buka contains only modest variations in elevation, with a maximum elevation change of 184 feet and an average elevation above sea level of 37 feet. Within 10 miles contains only modest variations in elevation (1,535 feet). Within 50 miles contains very significant variations in elevation (8,921 feet).

The area within 2 miles of Buka is covered by trees (53%) and water (37%), within 10 miles by water (69%) and trees (26%), and within 50 miles by water (86%) and trees (11%).