Winter Weather in Port Moresby Papua New Guinea

Daily high temperatures are around 84°F, rarely falling below 80°F or exceeding 88°F. The lowest daily average high temperature is 83°F on August 1.

Daily low temperatures are around 74°F, rarely falling below 71°F or exceeding 77°F. The lowest daily average low temperature is 73°F on July 31.

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 winter 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.

Natal, Brazil (11,384 miles away) is the far-away foreign place with temperatures most similar to Port Moresby (view comparison).

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The winter in Port Moresby experiences decreasing cloud cover, with the percentage of time that the sky is overcast or mostly cloudy decreasing from 74% to 65%. The lowest chance of overcast or mostly cloudy conditions is 63% on August 18.

The clearest day of the winter is August 18, with clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy conditions 37% 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%.

A 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 the winter is very rapidly decreasing, starting the season at 17% and ending it at 9%.

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.

Rainfall

To 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 winter in Port Moresby is decreasing, starting the season at 1.7 inches, when it rarely exceeds 3.7 inches or falls below 0.1 inches, and ending the season at 0.7 inches, when it rarely exceeds 2.3 inches or falls below -0.0 inches.

Over the course of the winter in Port Moresby, the length of the day is gradually increasing. From the start to the end of the season, the length of the day increases by 19 minutes, implying an average daily increase of 12 seconds, and weekly increase of 1 minute, 27 seconds.

The shortest day of the winter is June 20, with 11 hours, 34 minutes of daylight and the longest day is August 31, with 11 hours, 55 minutes of daylight.

The latest sunrise of the winter in Port Moresby is 6:28 AM on July 14 and the earliest sunrise is 15 minutes earlier at 6:14 AM on August 31.

The earliest sunset is 5:57 PM on June 1 and the latest sunset is 12 minutes later at 6:09 PM on August 17.

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.

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

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 Port Moresby is gradually decreasing during the winter, falling from 99% to 94% over the course of the season.

The lowest chance of a muggy day during the winter is 92% on August 14.

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.

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 Port Moresby is increasing during the winter, increasing from 10.8 miles per hour to 12.1 miles per hour over the course of the season.

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 the winter is 12.9 miles per hour on July 31.

The hourly average wind direction in Port Moresby throughout the winter is predominantly from the south, with a peak proportion of 76% on August 6.

Port 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 gradually decreasing during the winter, falling by 3°F, from 81°F to 78°F, over the course of the season.

The lowest average surface water temperature during the winter is 77°F on August 16.

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 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 very rapidly decreasing during the winter, decreasing by 8,258°F, from 9,950°F to 1,692°F, over the course of the season.

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 Port Moresby is increasing during the winter, rising by 1.3 kWh, from 4.8 kWh to 6.1 kWh, over the course of the season.

For 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%).