Climate and Average Weather Year Round in Lafia NigeriaIn Lafia, the wet season is oppressive and overcast, the dry season is humid and partly cloudy, and it is hot year round. Over the course of the year, the temperature typically varies from 64°F to 97°F and is rarely below 59°F or above 103°F. Based on the beach/pool score, the best time of year to visit Lafia for hot-weather activities is from early November to mid February. Average Temperature in LafiaThe hot season lasts for 2.4 months, from January 28 to April 11, with an average daily high temperature above 94°F. The hottest month of the year in Lafia is March, with an average high of 97°F and low of 75°F. The cool season lasts for 4.0 months, from June 17 to October 18, with an average daily high temperature below 86°F. The coldest month of the year in Lafia is December, with an average low of 65°F and high of 90°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. San Juan de los Morros, Venezuela (5,169 miles away); Palmas, Brazil (4,121 miles); and Someshwar, India (4,520 miles) are the far-away foreign places with temperatures most similar to Lafia (view comparison). CloudsIn Lafia, 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 Lafia begins around November 8 and lasts for 3.7 months, ending around February 27. The clearest month of the year in Lafia is December, during which on average the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 52% of the time. The cloudier part of the year begins around February 27 and lasts for 8.4 months, ending around November 8. The cloudiest month of the year in Lafia is May, during which on average the sky is overcast or mostly cloudy 84% of the time.
PrecipitationA wet day is one with at least 0.04 inches of liquid or liquid-equivalent precipitation. The chance of wet days in Lafia varies very significantly throughout the year. The wetter season lasts 6.3 months, from April 11 to October 22, with a greater than 39% chance of a given day being a wet day. The month with the most wet days in Lafia is September, with an average of 22.8 days with at least 0.04 inches of precipitation. The drier season lasts 5.7 months, from October 22 to April 11. The month with the fewest wet days in Lafia is January, with an average of 0.1 days with at least 0.04 inches of precipitation. Among wet days, we distinguish between those that experience rain alone, snow alone, or a mixture of the two. The month with the most days of rain alone in Lafia is September, with an average of 22.8 days. Based on this categorization, the most common form of precipitation throughout the year is rain alone, with a peak probability of 79% on September 10.
RainfallTo 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. Lafia experiences extreme seasonal variation in monthly rainfall. The rainy period of the year lasts for 8.1 months, from March 10 to November 13, with a sliding 31-day rainfall of at least 0.5 inches. The month with the most rain in Lafia is August, with an average rainfall of 8.3 inches. The rainless period of the year lasts for 3.9 months, from November 13 to March 10. The month with the least rain in Lafia is January, with an average rainfall of 0.0 inches.
SunThe length of the day in Lafia does not vary substantially over the course of the year, staying within 37 minutes of 12 hours throughout. In 2024, the shortest day is December 21, with 11 hours, 38 minutes of daylight; the longest day is June 20, with 12 hours, 37 minutes of daylight.
The earliest sunrise is at 6:06 AM on May 27, and the latest sunrise is 40 minutes later at 6:46 AM on January 30. The earliest sunset is at 6:02 PM on November 15, and the latest sunset is 46 minutes later at 6:49 PM on July 13. Daylight saving time (DST) is not observed in Lafia during 2024. 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 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. 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. Lafia experiences extreme seasonal variation in the perceived humidity. The muggier period of the year lasts for 9.3 months, from February 18 to November 28, during which time the comfort level is muggy, oppressive, or miserable at least 30% of the time. The month with the fewest muggy days in Lafia is January, with 3.1 days that are muggy or worse.
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 Lafia experiences significant seasonal variation over the course of the year. The windier part of the year lasts for 5.5 months, from November 26 to May 12, with average wind speeds of more than 5.9 miles per hour. The windiest month of the year in Lafia is January, with an average hourly wind speed of 7.5 miles per hour. The calmer time of year lasts for 6.5 months, from May 12 to November 26. The calmest month of the year in Lafia is October, with an average hourly wind speed of 4.3 miles per hour.
The predominant average hourly wind direction in Lafia varies throughout the year. The wind is most often from the south for 1.0 weeks, from February 18 to February 25 and for 2.7 weeks, from September 29 to October 18, with a peak percentage of 40% on September 29. The wind is most often from the west for 7.1 months, from February 25 to September 29 and for 2.1 weeks, from October 18 to November 2, with a peak percentage of 70% on July 27. The wind is most often from the east for 3.6 months, from November 2 to February 18, with a peak percentage of 46% on January 1. Best Time of Year to VisitTo characterize how pleasant the weather is in Lafia throughout the year, we compute two travel scores. The tourism score favors clear, rainless days with perceived temperatures between 65°F and 80°F. Based on this score, the best time of year to visit Lafia for general outdoor tourist activities is from early December to mid January, with a peak score in the last week of December. Tourism Score in LafiaThe beach/pool score favors clear, rainless days with perceived temperatures between 75°F and 90°F. Based on this score, the best time of year to visit Lafia for hot-weather activities is from early November to mid February, with a peak score in the first week of January. Beach/Pool Score in LafiaMethodologyFor each hour between 8:00 AM and 9:00 PM of each day in the analysis period (1980 to 2016), independent scores are computed for perceived temperature, cloud cover, and total precipitation. Those scores are combined into a single hourly composite score, which is then aggregated into days, averaged over all the years in the analysis period, and smoothed. Our cloud cover score is 10 for fully clear skies, falling linearly to 9 for mostly clear skies, and to 1 for fully overcast skies. Our precipitation score, which is based on the three-hour precipitation centered on the hour in question, is 10 for no precipitation, falling linearly to 9 for trace precipitation, and to 0 for 0.04 inches of precipitation or more. Our tourism temperature score is 0 for perceived temperatures below 50°F, rising linearly to 9 for 65°F, to 10 for 75°F, falling linearly to 9 for 80°F, and to 1 for 90°F or hotter. Our beach/pool temperature score is 0 for perceived temperatures below 65°F, rising linearly to 9 for 75°F, to 10 for 82°F, falling linearly to 9 for 90°F, and to 1 for 100°F or hotter. 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 Lafia 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. 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 experiences some seasonal variation over the course of the year. The brighter period of the year lasts for 3.7 months, from November 14 to March 5, with an average daily incident shortwave energy per square meter above 5.5 kWh. The brightest month of the year in Lafia is February, with an average of 5.7 kWh. The darker period of the year lasts for 5.1 months, from April 27 to September 30, with an average daily incident shortwave energy per square meter below 4.5 kWh. The darkest month of the year in Lafia is June, with an average of 4.3 kWh.
TopographyFor the purposes of this report, the geographical coordinates of Lafia are 8.494 deg latitude, 8.515 deg longitude, and 587 ft elevation. The topography within 2 miles of Lafia contains only modest variations in elevation, with a maximum elevation change of 272 feet and an average elevation above sea level of 596 feet. Within 10 miles contains only modest variations in elevation (558 feet). Within 50 miles contains significant variations in elevation (4,252 feet). The area within 2 miles of Lafia is covered by cropland (45%), trees (21%), grassland (21%), and shrubs (13%), within 10 miles by cropland (57%) and shrubs (16%), and within 50 miles by shrubs (42%) and cropland (41%). Data SourcesThis report illustrates the typical weather in Lafia, based on a statistical analysis of historical hourly weather reports and model reconstructions from January 1, 1980 to December 31, 2016. Lafia is further than 200 kilometers from the nearest reliable weather station, so the weather-related data on this page were taken entirely from NASA's MERRA-2 satellite-era reanalysis . 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. The temperature and dew point estimates are corrected for the difference between the reference elevation of the MERRA-2 grid cell and the elevation of Lafia, according to the International Standard Atmosphere . All 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. 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. |