Spring Weather in Goroka Papua New GuineaDaily high temperatures are around 74°F, rarely falling below 70°F or exceeding 80°F. The highest daily average high temperature is 74°F on September 28. Daily low temperatures are around 60°F, rarely falling below 57°F or exceeding 63°F. For reference, on September 16, the hottest day of the year, temperatures in Goroka typically range from 60°F to 74°F, while on July 30, the coldest day of the year, they range from 59°F to 72°F. The figure below shows you a compact characterization of the hourly average spring temperatures. 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. Tobosi, Costa Rica (9,061 miles away) is the far-away foreign place with temperatures most similar to Goroka (view comparison). CloudsThe spring in Goroka experiences increasing cloud cover, with the percentage of time that the sky is overcast or mostly cloudy increasing from 83% to 95%. The clearest day of the spring is September 3, with clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy conditions 17% of the time. For reference, on January 22, the cloudiest day of the year, the chance of overcast or mostly cloudy conditions is 97%, while on August 15, the clearest day of the year, the chance of clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy skies is 19%. PrecipitationA wet day is one with at least 0.04 inches of liquid or liquid-equivalent precipitation. In Goroka, the chance of a wet day over the course of the spring is very rapidly increasing, starting the season at 27% and ending it at 36%. For reference, the year's highest daily chance of a wet day is 49% on February 10, and its lowest chance is 25% on August 22. RainfallTo show variation within the season and not just the monthly totals, we show the rainfall accumulated over a sliding 31-day period centered around each day. The average sliding 31-day rainfall during the spring in Goroka is very rapidly increasing, starting the season at 3.4 inches, when it rarely exceeds 7.2 inches or falls below 0.1 inches, and ending the season at 7.3 inches, when it rarely exceeds 14.2 inches or falls below 2.3 inches. SunOver the course of the spring in Goroka, the length of the day is gradually increasing. From the start to the end of the season, the length of the day increases by 27 minutes, implying an average daily increase of 18 seconds, and weekly increase of 2 minutes, 7 seconds. The shortest day of the spring is September 1, with 12 hours, 0 minutes of daylight and the longest day is November 30, with 12 hours, 27 minutes of daylight. The latest sunrise of the spring in Goroka is 6:18 AM on September 1 and the earliest sunrise is 27 minutes earlier at 5:51 AM on November 13. The earliest sunset is 6:11 PM on October 21 and the latest sunset is 9 minutes later at 6:20 PM on November 30. Daylight saving time is not observed in Goroka during 2024. For reference, on December 21, the longest day of the year, the Sun rises at 6:02 AM and sets 12 hours, 29 minutes later, at 6:30 PM, while on June 20, the shortest day of the year, it rises at 6:26 AM and sets 11 hours, 46 minutes later, at 6:13 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 the spring of 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 Goroka is increasing during the spring, rising from 1% to 8% over the course of the season. For reference, on April 24, the muggiest day of the year, there are muggy conditions 14% of the time, while on August 19, the least muggy day of the year, there are muggy conditions 1% 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 Goroka is essentially constant during the spring, remaining within 0.1 miles per hour of 2.1 miles per hour throughout. For reference, on September 4, the windiest day of the year, the daily average wind speed is 2.2 miles per hour, while on November 29, the calmest day of the year, the daily average wind speed is 2.0 miles per hour. The highest daily average wind speed during the spring is 2.2 miles per hour on September 4. The lowest daily average wind speed during the spring is 2.0 miles per hour on November 29. The wind direction in Goroka during the spring is predominantly out of the east from September 1 to October 21 and the north from October 21 to November 30. 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 Goroka 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 Goroka are very rapidly increasing during the spring, increasing by 1,442°F, from 905°F to 2,347°F, over the course of the season. 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 Goroka is gradually decreasing during the spring, falling by 0.7 kWh, from 5.1 kWh to 4.4 kWh, over the course of the season. The highest average daily incident shortwave solar energy during the spring is 5.2 kWh on September 4. TopographyFor the purposes of this report, the geographical coordinates of Goroka are -6.083 deg latitude, 145.387 deg longitude, and 5,187 ft elevation. The topography within 2 miles of Goroka contains very significant variations in elevation, with a maximum elevation change of 1,083 feet and an average elevation above sea level of 5,103 feet. Within 10 miles contains very significant variations in elevation (7,156 feet). Within 50 miles also contains extreme variations in elevation (14,623 feet). The area within 2 miles of Goroka is covered by trees (41%), cropland (29%), shrubs (18%), and grassland (11%), within 10 miles by trees (59%) and cropland (15%), and within 50 miles by trees (77%). Data SourcesThis report illustrates the typical weather in Goroka, based on a statistical analysis of historical hourly weather reports and model reconstructions from January 1, 1980 to December 31, 2016. Goroka is further than 200 kilometers from the nearest reliable weather station, so the weather-related data on this page were taken entirely from NASA's MERRA-2 satellite-era reanalysis . 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. The temperature and dew point estimates are corrected for the difference between the reference elevation of the MERRA-2 grid cell and the elevation of Goroka, according to the International Standard Atmosphere . All 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. 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. |