Winter Weather in Rukungiri UgandaDaily high temperatures are around 80°F, rarely falling below 75°F or exceeding 84°F. The highest daily average high temperature is 80°F on July 23. Daily low temperatures are around 61°F, rarely falling below 58°F or exceeding 64°F. The highest daily average low temperature is 62°F on July 31. For reference, on July 22, the hottest day of the year, temperatures in Rukungiri typically range from 62°F to 80°F, while on October 24, the coldest day of the year, they range from 60°F to 77°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. Nátaga, Colombia (7,316 miles away) is the far-away foreign place with temperatures most similar to Rukungiri (view comparison). CloudsThe winter in Rukungiri experiences rapidly decreasing cloud cover, with the percentage of time that the sky is overcast or mostly cloudy decreasing from 68% to 53%. The lowest chance of overcast or mostly cloudy conditions is 47% on August 12. The clearest day of the winter is August 12, with clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy conditions 53% of the time. For reference, on April 17, the cloudiest day of the year, the chance of overcast or mostly cloudy conditions is 84%, while on August 12, the clearest day of the year, the chance of clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy skies is 53%. PrecipitationA wet day is one with at least 0.04 inches of liquid or liquid-equivalent precipitation. In Rukungiri, the chance of a wet day over the course of the winter is very rapidly increasing, starting the season at 23% and ending it at 35%. For reference, the year's highest daily chance of a wet day is 65% on April 26, and its lowest chance is 9% on July 3. 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 winter in Rukungiri is increasing, starting the season at 1.6 inches, when it rarely exceeds 3.2 inches or falls below 0.3 inches, and ending the season at 2.2 inches, when it rarely exceeds 3.9 inches or falls below 0.7 inches. The lowest average 31-day accumulation is 0.6 inches on July 4. SunOver the course of the winter in Rukungiri, the length of the day is essentially constant. The shortest day of the winter is June 17, with 12 hours, 4 minutes of daylight and the longest day is August 31, with 12 hours, 6 minutes of daylight. The earliest sunrise of the winter in Rukungiri is 6:55 AM on June 1 and the latest sunrise is 9 minutes later at 7:04 AM on July 25. The earliest sunset is 7:00 PM on June 1 and the latest sunset is 9 minutes later at 7:09 PM on July 25. Daylight saving time is not observed in Rukungiri during 2024. For reference, on December 21, the longest day of the year, the Sun rises at 6:53 AM and sets 12 hours, 10 minutes later, at 7:03 PM, while on June 20, the shortest day of the year, it rises at 6:59 AM and sets 12 hours, 4 minutes later, at 7:04 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 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. 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 Rukungiri is essentially constant during the winter, remaining within 2% of 2% throughout. The lowest chance of a muggy day during the winter is 0% on July 21. For reference, on April 24, the muggiest day of the year, there are muggy conditions 12% of the time, while on July 21, the least muggy day of the year, there are muggy conditions 0% 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 Rukungiri is essentially constant during the winter, remaining within 0.1 miles per hour of 4.7 miles per hour throughout. For reference, on July 4, the windiest day of the year, the daily average wind speed is 4.8 miles per hour, while on October 27, the calmest day of the year, the daily average wind speed is 3.9 miles per hour. The highest daily average wind speed during the winter is 4.8 miles per hour on July 4. The wind direction in Rukungiri during the winter is predominantly out of the east from June 1 to June 4 and from August 2 to August 31 and the south from June 4 to August 2. 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 Rukungiri 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 Rukungiri are very rapidly decreasing during the winter, decreasing by 5,132°F, from 6,386°F to 1,255°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 Rukungiri is essentially constant during the winter, remaining within 0.2 kWh of 5.8 kWh throughout. The highest average daily incident shortwave solar energy during the winter is 6.0 kWh on July 19. TopographyFor the purposes of this report, the geographical coordinates of Rukungiri are -0.841 deg latitude, 29.942 deg longitude, and 5,167 ft elevation. The topography within 2 miles of Rukungiri contains significant variations in elevation, with a maximum elevation change of 564 feet and an average elevation above sea level of 5,191 feet. Within 10 miles contains significant variations in elevation (3,622 feet). Within 50 miles also contains extreme variations in elevation (10,571 feet). The area within 2 miles of Rukungiri is covered by cropland (94%), within 10 miles by cropland (78%) and grassland (17%), and within 50 miles by cropland (41%) and grassland (21%). Data SourcesThis report illustrates the typical weather in Rukungiri, 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, Kigali International Airport, in our network suitable to be used as a proxy for the historical temperature and dew point records of Rukungiri. At a distance of 127 kilometers from Rukungiri, 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 Rukungiri 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. 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. |