Winter Weather in Christmas Island Christmas Island

Daily high temperatures are around 81°F, rarely falling below 78°F or exceeding 84°F. The lowest daily average high temperature is 80°F on August 22.

Daily low temperatures are around 77°F, rarely falling below 73°F or exceeding 80°F.

For reference, on March 22, the hottest day of the year, temperatures in Christmas Island typically range from 78°F to 84°F, while on August 28, the coldest day of the year, they range from 75°F to 80°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.

© OpenStreetMap contributors

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The winter in Christmas Island experiences essentially constant cloud cover, with the percentage of time that the sky is overcast or mostly cloudy remaining about 58% throughout the season. The lowest chance of overcast or mostly cloudy conditions is 54% on July 31.

The clearest day of the winter is July 31, with clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy conditions 46% of the time.

For reference, on February 5, the cloudiest day of the year, the chance of overcast or mostly cloudy conditions is 75%, while on July 31, the clearest day of the year, the chance of clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy skies is 46%.

A wet day is one with at least 0.04 inches of liquid or liquid-equivalent precipitation. In Christmas Island, the chance of a wet day over the course of the winter is very rapidly decreasing, starting the season at 24% and ending it at 4%.

For reference, the year's highest daily chance of a wet day is 55% on February 5, and its lowest chance is 4% on September 4.

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 Christmas Island is very rapidly decreasing, starting the season at 2.5 inches, when it rarely exceeds 6.5 inches or falls below 0.1 inches, and ending the season at 0.2 inches, when it rarely exceeds 0.6 inches or falls below -0.0 inches.

The lowest average 31-day accumulation is 0.2 inches on August 26.

Over the course of the winter in Christmas Island, the length of the day is gradually increasing. From the start to the end of the season, the length of the day increases by 21 minutes, implying an average daily increase of 14 seconds, and weekly increase of 1 minute, 38 seconds.

The shortest day of the winter is June 20, with 11 hours, 31 minutes of daylight and the longest day is August 31, with 11 hours, 54 minutes of daylight.

The latest sunrise of the winter in Christmas Island is 6:16 AM on July 12 and the earliest sunrise is 16 minutes earlier at 6:00 AM on August 31.

The earliest sunset is 5:41 PM on June 1 and the latest sunset is 13 minutes later at 5:54 PM on August 21.

Daylight saving time is not observed in Christmas Island during 2024.

For reference, on December 21, the longest day of the year, the Sun rises at 5:33 AM and sets 12 hours, 45 minutes later, at 6:17 PM, while on June 20, the shortest day of the year, it rises at 6:13 AM and sets 11 hours, 31 minutes later, at 5:44 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 Christmas Island is gradually decreasing during the winter, falling from 100% to 97% over the course of the season.

The lowest chance of a muggy day during the winter is 96% on August 18.

For reference, on January 20, the muggiest day of the year, there are muggy conditions 100% of the time, while on August 17, the least muggy day of the year, there are muggy conditions 96% 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 Christmas Island is increasing during the winter, increasing from 15.4 miles per hour to 17.0 miles per hour over the course of the season.

For reference, on August 4, the windiest day of the year, the daily average wind speed is 17.5 miles per hour, while on December 30, the calmest day of the year, the daily average wind speed is 9.6 miles per hour.

The highest daily average wind speed during the winter is 17.5 miles per hour on August 9.

The hourly average wind direction in Christmas Island throughout the winter is predominantly from the east, with a peak proportion of 96% on August 7.

Christmas Island 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 Christmas Island is decreasing during the winter, falling by 4°F, from 83°F to 79°F, over the course of the season.

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 Christmas Island 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 Christmas Island are very rapidly decreasing during the winter, decreasing by 8,049°F, from 9,727°F to 1,678°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 Christmas Island is increasing during the winter, rising by 1.1 kWh, from 5.0 kWh to 6.2 kWh, over the course of the season.

The lowest average daily incident shortwave solar energy during the winter is 4.9 kWh on June 13.

For the purposes of this report, the geographical coordinates of Christmas Island are -10.500 deg latitude, 105.667 deg longitude, and 0 ft elevation.

The topography within 2 miles of Christmas Island is essentially flat, with a maximum elevation change of 0 feet and an average elevation above sea level of 0 feet. Within 10 miles is also essentially flat (0 feet). Within 50 miles is also essentially flat (0 feet).

The area within 2 miles of Christmas Island is covered by trees (57%) and water (30%), within 10 miles by water (87%) and trees (10%), and within 50 miles by water (99%).