Summer Weather in Popondetta Papua New GuineaDaily high temperatures are around 88°F, rarely falling below 83°F or exceeding 92°F. The highest daily average high temperature is 88°F on January 14. Daily low temperatures are around 74°F, rarely falling below 71°F or exceeding 76°F. The highest daily average low temperature is 74°F on December 13. For reference, on January 14, the hottest day of the year, temperatures in Popondetta typically range from 74°F to 88°F, while on July 30, the coldest day of the year, they range from 72°F to 83°F. The figure below shows you a compact characterization of the hourly average summer 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. Tena, Ecuador (9,206 miles away) and Maceió, Alagoas, Brazil (11,147 miles) are the far-away foreign places with temperatures most similar to Popondetta (view comparison). CloudsThe summer in Popondetta experiences gradually increasing cloud cover, with the percentage of time that the sky is overcast or mostly cloudy increasing from 88% to 93%. The highest chance of overcast or mostly cloudy conditions is 94% on January 8. The clearest day of the summer is December 1, with clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy conditions 12% of the time. For reference, on January 8, the cloudiest day of the year, the chance of overcast or mostly cloudy conditions is 94%, while on August 18, the clearest day of the year, the chance of clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy skies is 33%. PrecipitationA wet day is one with at least 0.04 inches of liquid or liquid-equivalent precipitation. In Popondetta, the chance of a wet day over the course of the summer is very rapidly increasing, starting the season at 29% and ending it at 53%. For reference, the year's highest daily chance of a wet day is 54% on March 1, and its lowest chance is 13% on September 30. 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 summer in Popondetta is very rapidly increasing, starting the season at 4.0 inches, when it rarely exceeds 10.0 inches or falls below 0.5 inches, and ending the season at 8.6 inches, when it rarely exceeds 15.7 inches or falls below 3.7 inches. SunOver the course of the summer in Popondetta, the length of the day is gradually decreasing. From the start to the end of the season, the length of the day decreases by 19 minutes, implying an average daily decrease of 13 seconds, and weekly decrease of 1 minute, 31 seconds. The shortest day of the summer is February 28, with 12 hours, 17 minutes of daylight and the longest day is December 21, with 12 hours, 38 minutes of daylight. The earliest sunrise of the summer in Popondetta is 5:38 AM on December 1 and the latest sunrise is 33 minutes later at 6:11 AM on February 28. The earliest sunset is 6:14 PM on December 1 and the latest sunset is 21 minutes later at 6:35 PM on January 28. Daylight saving time is not observed in Popondetta during 2024. For reference, on December 21, the longest day of the year, the Sun rises at 5:46 AM and sets 12 hours, 38 minutes later, at 6:24 PM, while on June 20, the shortest day of the year, it rises at 6:20 AM and sets 11 hours, 37 minutes later, at 5:57 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 summer 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 Popondetta is essentially constant during the summer, remaining around 100% throughout. The highest chance of a muggy day during the summer is 100% on February 14. For reference, on February 5, the muggiest day of the year, there are muggy conditions 100% of the time, while on August 12, the least muggy day of the year, there are muggy conditions 87% 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 Popondetta is essentially constant during the summer, remaining within 0.2 miles per hour of 2.7 miles per hour throughout. For reference, on August 3, the windiest day of the year, the daily average wind speed is 3.4 miles per hour, while on March 11, the calmest day of the year, the daily average wind speed is 2.4 miles per hour. The wind direction in Popondetta during the summer is predominantly out of the east from December 1 to December 17 and the north from December 17 to February 28. Water TemperaturePopondetta 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 Popondetta is essentially constant during the summer, remaining around 85°F throughout. The highest average surface water temperature during the summer is 86°F on January 6. 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 Popondetta 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 Popondetta are very rapidly increasing during the summer, increasing by 2,621°F, from 4,270°F to 6,890°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 Popondetta is gradually decreasing during the summer, falling by 0.9 kWh, from 5.3 kWh to 4.4 kWh, over the course of the season. The lowest average daily incident shortwave solar energy during the summer is 4.4 kWh on February 28. TopographyFor the purposes of this report, the geographical coordinates of Popondetta are -8.765 deg latitude, 148.233 deg longitude, and 348 ft elevation. The topography within 2 miles of Popondetta contains only modest variations in elevation, with a maximum elevation change of 374 feet and an average elevation above sea level of 362 feet. Within 10 miles contains only modest variations in elevation (2,664 feet). Within 50 miles contains large variations in elevation (13,159 feet). The area within 2 miles of Popondetta is covered by trees (52%), cropland (30%), and grassland (10%), within 10 miles by trees (75%), and within 50 miles by trees (54%) and water (40%). Data SourcesThis report illustrates the typical weather in Popondetta, 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 Popondetta. At a distance of 134 kilometers from Popondetta, 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 Popondetta 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. 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