Average Weather at Dodoma Airport Tanzania

At Dodoma Airport, the wet season is overcast, the dry season is windy and mostly clear, and it is warm year round. Over the course of the year, the temperature typically varies from 58°F to 87°F and is rarely below 55°F or above 92°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

At Dodoma Airport, the average percentage of the sky covered by clouds experiences extreme seasonal variation over the course of the year.

The clearer part of the year at Dodoma Airport begins around May 2 and lasts for 6.8 months, ending around November 25. On August 19, the clearest day of the year, the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 77% of the time, and overcast or mostly cloudy 23% of the time.

The cloudier part of the year begins around November 25 and lasts for 5.3 months, ending around May 2. On January 17, the cloudiest day of the year, the sky is overcast or mostly cloudy 80% of the time, and clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 20% 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 at Dodoma Airport varies significantly throughout the year.

The wetter season lasts 4.6 months, from December 3 to April 21, with a greater than 23% chance of a given day being a wet day. The chance of a wet day peaks at 43% on January 1.

The drier season lasts 7.4 months, from April 21 to December 3. The smallest chance of a wet day is 0% on July 20.

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 43% on January 1.

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. Dodoma Airport experiences extreme seasonal variation in monthly rainfall.

The rainy period of the year lasts for 6.0 months, from November 3 to May 4, with a sliding 31-day rainfall of at least 0.5 inches. The most rain falls during the 31 days centered around January 1, with an average total accumulation of 4.8 inches.

The rainless period of the year lasts for 6.0 months, from May 4 to November 3. The least rain falls around August 4, with an average total accumulation of 0.0 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 at Dodoma Airport does not vary substantially over the course of the year, staying within 29 minutes of 12 hours throughout. In 2017, the shortest day is June 21, with 11 hours, 46 minutes of daylight; the longest day is December 21, with 12 hours, 29 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 12, and the latest sunrise is 39 minutes later at 6:49 AM on July 17. The earliest sunset is at 6:28 PM on May 23, and the latest sunset is 34 minutes later at 7:01 PM on January 31.

Daylight saving time (DST) is not observed at Dodoma Airport 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.

Dodoma Airport experiences significant seasonal variation in the perceived humidity.

The muggier period of the year lasts for 4.9 months, from November 29 to April 25, during which time the comfort level is muggy, oppressive, or miserable at least 8% of the time. The muggiest day of the year is March 13, with muggy conditions 33% of the time.

The least muggy day of the year is August 4, when muggy conditions are essentially unheard of.

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 at Dodoma Airport experiences significant seasonal variation over the course of the year.

The windier part of the year lasts for 7.1 months, from May 3 to December 7, with average wind speeds of more than 5.4 miles per hour. The windiest day of the year is October 13, with an average hourly wind speed of 7.3 miles per hour.

The calmer time of year lasts for 4.9 months, from December 7 to May 3. The calmest day of the year is February 12, with an average hourly wind speed of 3.5 miles per hour.

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 at Dodoma Airport is from the east throughout the year.

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 2.5 months, from September 5 to November 20, with an average daily incident shortwave energy per square meter above 7.4 kWh. The brightest day of the year is October 15, with an average of 7.8 kWh.

The darker period of the year lasts for 2.4 months, from December 21 to March 3, with an average daily incident shortwave energy per square meter below 6.4 kWh. The darkest day of the year is January 5, with an average of 6.0 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 Dodoma Airport are -6.169 deg latitude, 35.749 deg longitude, and 3,714 ft elevation.

The topography within 2 miles of Dodoma Airport contains only modest variations in elevation, with a maximum elevation change of 417 feet and an average elevation above sea level of 3,700 feet. Within 10 miles contains only modest variations in elevation (1,506 feet). Within 50 miles contains very significant variations in elevation (4,423 feet).

The area within 2 miles of Dodoma Airport is covered by artificial surfaces (77%), cropland (12%), and shrubs (10%), within 10 miles by shrubs (42%) and cropland (38%), and within 50 miles by shrubs (43%) and cropland (30%).

Data Sources

This report illustrates the typical weather at Dodoma Airport, 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

Dodoma Airport has a weather station that reported reliably enough during the analysis period that we have included it in our network. When available, historical temperature and dew point measurements are taken directly from this weather station. These records are obtained from NOAA's Integrated Surface Hourly data set, falling back on ICAO METAR records as required.

There are no other weather stations in our network within 200 kilometers of this location. Consequently, in the case of missing or erroneous measurements from this station, we fall back on NASA's MERRA-2 modern-era reanalysis , adjusted according to typical seasonal and diurnal differences between this station and the wide-area MERRA-2 reconstructed values.

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.