Average Weather in Embu Kenya

In Embu, the wet season is warm and mostly cloudy and the dry season is comfortable and partly cloudy. Over the course of the year, the temperature typically varies from 58°F to 82°F and is rarely below 55°F or above 86°F.

The warm season lasts for 2.0 months, from January 31 to April 1, with an average daily high temperature above 80°F. The hottest day of the year is March 3, with an average high of 82°F and low of 61°F.

The cool season lasts for 2.5 months, from June 10 to August 26, with an average daily high temperature below 73°F. The coldest day of the year is July 27, with an average low of 58°F and high of 71°F.

The figure below shows you a compact characterization of the entire year of hourly average temperatures. The horizontal axis is the day of the year, the vertical axis is the hour of the day, and the color is the average temperature for that hour and day.

Average Hourly Temperature

The average hourly temperature, color coded into bands: frigid < 15°F < freezing < 32°F < chilly < 45°F < cold < 55°F < cool < 65°F < comfortable < 75°F < warm < 85°F < hot < 95°F < sweltering. The shaded overlays indicate night and civil twilight.

Clouds

In Embu, the average percentage of the sky covered by clouds experiences significant seasonal variation over the course of the year.

The clearer part of the year in Embu begins around June 25 and lasts for 3.6 months, ending around October 14. On September 2, the clearest day of the year, the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 57% of the time, and overcast or mostly cloudy 43% of the time.

The cloudier part of the year begins around October 14 and lasts for 8.4 months, ending around June 25. On April 2, the cloudiest day of the year, the sky is overcast or mostly cloudy 75% of the time, and clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 25% of the time.

Cloud Cover

The percentage of time spent in each cloud cover band, categorized by the percentage of the sky covered by clouds: clear < 20% < mostly clear < 40% < partly cloudy < 60% < mostly cloudy < 80% < overcast.

Precipitation

A wet day is one with at least 0.04 inches of liquid or liquid-equivalent precipitation. The chance of wet days in Embu varies very significantly throughout the year.

The wetter season lasts 7.0 months, from October 18 to May 17, with a greater than 36% chance of a given day being a wet day. The chance of a wet day peaks at 62% on April 21.

The drier season lasts 5.0 months, from May 17 to October 18. The smallest chance of a wet day is 10% on July 1.

Among wet days, we distinguish between those that experience rain alone, snow alone, or a mixture of the two. Based on this categorization, the most common form of precipitation throughout the year is rain alone, with a peak probability of 62% on April 21.

Daily Chance of Precipitation

The percentage of days in which various types of precipitation are observed, excluding trace quantities: rain alone, snow alone, and mixed (both rain and snow fell in the same day).

Rainfall

To show variation within the months and not just the monthly totals, we show the rainfall accumulated over a sliding 31-day period centered around each day of the year. Embu experiences extreme seasonal variation in monthly rainfall.

Rain falls throughout the year in Embu. The most rain falls during the 31 days centered around April 22, with an average total accumulation of 5.0 inches.

The least rain falls around July 6, with an average total accumulation of 0.5 inches.

Average Monthly Rainfall

The average rainfall (solid line) accumulated over the course of a sliding 31-day period centered on the day in question, with 25th to 75th and 10th to 90th percentile bands. The thin dotted line is the corresponding average liquid-equivalent snowfall.

Sun

The length of the day in Embu does not vary substantially over the course of the year, staying within 9 minutes of 12 hours throughout. In 2017, the shortest day is June 21, with 12 hours, 6 minutes of daylight; the longest day is December 21, with 12 hours, 9 minutes of daylight.

Hours of Daylight and Twilight

The number of hours during which the Sun is visible (black line). From bottom (most yellow) to top (most gray), the color bands indicate: full daylight, twilight (civil, nautical, and astronomical), and full night.

The earliest sunrise is at 6:09 AM on November 5, and the latest sunrise is 31 minutes later at 6:40 AM on February 12. The earliest sunset is at 6:17 PM on November 1, and the latest sunset is 31 minutes later at 6:48 PM on February 10.

Daylight saving time (DST) is not observed in Embu during 2017.

Sunrise & Sunset with Twilight

The solar day over the course of the year 2017. From bottom to top, the black lines are the previous solar midnight, sunrise, solar noon, sunset, and the next solar midnight. The day, twilights (civil, nautical, and astronomical), and night are indicated by the color bands from yellow to gray.

Humidity

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 perceived humidity level in Embu, as measured by the percentage of time in which the humidity comfort level is muggy, oppressive, or miserable, does not vary significantly over the course of the year, staying within 1% of 1% throughout.

Humidity Comfort Levels

The percentage of time spent at various humidity comfort levels, categorized by dew point: dry < 55°F < comfortable < 60°F < humid < 65°F < muggy < 70°F < oppressive < 75°F < miserable.

Wind

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 Embu does not vary significantly over the course of the year, remaining within 0.4 miles per hour of 3.6 miles per hour throughout.

Average Wind Speed

The average of mean hourly wind speeds (dark gray line), with 25th to 75th and 10th to 90th percentile bands.

The predominant average hourly wind direction in Embu varies throughout the year.

The wind is most often from the south for 5.1 months, from May 1 to October 5, with a peak percentage of 85% on July 18. The wind is most often from the east for 6.9 months, from October 5 to May 1, with a peak percentage of 73% on January 1.

Wind Direction

The percentage of hours in which the mean wind direction is from each of the four cardinal wind directions (north, east, south, and west), excluding hours in which the mean wind speed is less than 1 mph. The lightly tinted areas at the boundaries are the percentage of hours spent in the implied intermediate directions (northeast, southeast, southwest, and northwest).

Solar Energy

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 experiences some seasonal variation over the course of the year.

The brighter period of the year lasts for 2.0 months, from January 24 to March 24, with an average daily incident shortwave energy per square meter above 7.2 kWh. The brightest day of the year is March 4, with an average of 7.5 kWh.

The darker period of the year lasts for 2.3 months, from June 2 to August 12, with an average daily incident shortwave energy per square meter below 6.2 kWh. The darkest day of the year is July 19, with an average of 5.9 kWh.

Average Daily Incident Shortwave Solar Energy

The average daily shortwave solar energy reaching the ground per square meter (orange line), with 25th to 75th and 10th to 90th percentile bands.

Topography

For the purposes of this report, the geographical coordinates of Embu are -0.531 deg latitude, 37.451 deg longitude, and 4,521 ft elevation.

The topography within 2 miles of Embu contains significant variations in elevation, with a maximum elevation change of 814 feet and an average elevation above sea level of 4,519 feet. Within 10 miles contains significant variations in elevation (2,618 feet). Within 50 miles contains large variations in elevation (15,427 feet).

The area within 2 miles of Embu is covered by trees (48%), cropland (41%), and artificial surfaces (12%), within 10 miles by cropland (54%) and trees (42%), and within 50 miles by cropland (44%) and trees (36%).

Data Sources

This report illustrates the typical weather in Embu, based on a statistical analysis of historical hourly weather reports and model reconstructions from January 1, 1980 to December 31, 2016.

Temperature and Dew Point

There are 2 weather stations near enough to contribute to our estimation of the temperature and dew point in Embu.

For each station, the records are corrected for the elevation difference between that station and Embu according to the International Standard Atmosphere , and by the relative change present in the MERRA-2 satellite-era reanalysis between the two locations.

The estimated value at Embu is computed as the weighted average of the individual contributions from each station, with weights proportional to the inverse of the distance between Embu and a given station.

The stations contributing to this reconstruction are: Embu Airport (96%, 3.5 kilometers, north) and Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (3.6%, 105 kilometers, southwest).

Other Data

All data relating to the Sun's position (e.g., sunrise and sunset) are computed using astronomical formulas from the book, Astronomical Tables of the Sun, Moon and Planets , 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 aiports and weather stations are provided by AskGeo.com .

Maps are © Esri, with data from National Geographic, Esri, DeLorme, NAVTEQ, UNEP-WCMC, USGS, NASA, ESA, METI, NRCAN, GEBCO, NOAA, and iPC.