Average Weather in Nkawkaw Ghana

In Nkawkaw, the wet season is oppressive and overcast, the dry season is muggy and partly cloudy, and it is hot year round. Over the course of the year, the temperature typically varies from 70°F to 96°F and is rarely below 65°F or above 101°F.

The hot season lasts for 3.0 months, from January 18 to April 17, with an average daily high temperature above 94°F. The hottest day of the year is February 19, with an average high of 96°F and low of 74°F.

The cool season lasts for 3.6 months, from June 14 to October 2, with an average daily high temperature below 87°F. The coldest day of the year is December 30, with an average low of 70°F and high of 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

In Nkawkaw, 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 Nkawkaw begins around October 8 and lasts for 4.0 months, ending around February 9. On December 25, the clearest day of the year, the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 62% of the time, and overcast or mostly cloudy 38% of the time.

The cloudier part of the year begins around February 9 and lasts for 8.0 months, ending around October 8. On April 25, the cloudiest day of the year, the sky is overcast or mostly cloudy 81% of the time, and clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 19% 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 Nkawkaw varies very significantly throughout the year.

The wetter season lasts 7.6 months, from March 21 to November 8, with a greater than 38% chance of a given day being a wet day. The chance of a wet day peaks at 73% on June 10.

The drier season lasts 4.4 months, from November 8 to March 21. The smallest chance of a wet day is 4% on January 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 73% on June 10.

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. Nkawkaw experiences extreme seasonal variation in monthly rainfall.

The rainy period of the year lasts for 10 months, from February 4 to December 13, with a sliding 31-day rainfall of at least 0.5 inches. The most rain falls during the 31 days centered around June 18, with an average total accumulation of 6.4 inches.

The rainless period of the year lasts for 1.7 months, from December 13 to February 4. The least rain falls around January 14, with an average total accumulation of 0.3 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 Nkawkaw does not vary substantially over the course of the year, staying within 30 minutes of 12 hours throughout. In 2017, the shortest day is December 21, with 11 hours, 45 minutes of daylight; the longest day is June 21, with 12 hours, 30 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 5:46 AM on May 24, and the latest sunrise is 35 minutes later at 6:21 AM on February 1. The earliest sunset is at 5:42 PM on November 12, and the latest sunset is 41 minutes later at 6:23 PM on July 15.

Daylight saving time (DST) is not observed in Nkawkaw 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.

Nkawkaw experiences significant seasonal variation in the perceived humidity.

The muggier period of the year lasts for 11 months, from February 7 to December 25, during which time the comfort level is muggy, oppressive, or miserable at least 72% of the time. The muggiest day of the year is October 1, with muggy conditions 100% of the time.

The least muggy day of the year is January 16, with muggy conditions 62% of the time.

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 Nkawkaw experiences mild seasonal variation over the course of the year.

The windier part of the year lasts for 3.4 months, from June 1 to September 14, with average wind speeds of more than 3.4 miles per hour. The windiest day of the year is August 4, with an average hourly wind speed of 4.2 miles per hour.

The calmer time of year lasts for 8.6 months, from September 14 to June 1. The calmest day of the year is December 10, with an average hourly wind speed of 2.5 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 in Nkawkaw is from the south 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 per square meter does not vary significantly over the course of the year, remaining within 0.3 kilowatt-hours of 5.0 kilowatt-hours throughout.

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 Nkawkaw are 6.551 deg latitude, -0.766 deg longitude, and 810 ft elevation.

The topography within 2 miles of Nkawkaw contains very significant variations in elevation, with a maximum elevation change of 1,844 feet and an average elevation above sea level of 910 feet. Within 10 miles contains very significant variations in elevation (1,998 feet). Within 50 miles also contains large variations in elevation (2,585 feet).

The area within 2 miles of Nkawkaw is covered by cropland (46%), trees (21%), grassland (20%), and shrubs (13%), within 10 miles by cropland (42%) and trees (31%), and within 50 miles by cropland (37%) and trees (23%).

Data Sources

This report illustrates the typical weather in Nkawkaw, 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 is only a single weather station, Kotoka International Airport, in our network suitable to be used as a proxy for the historical temperature and dew point records of Nkawkaw.

At a distance of 124 kilometers from Nkawkaw, 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 Nkawkaw 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 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.