Kenya climate guide
Kenya is an African country, bisected by the Equator, yet it has three types of climate: hot and humid along the coast, temperate in the west and south-west, where there are mountains and plateaus, and finally, hot and dry in the north and east. In general, the warmest period in Kenya is from February to March, while the coolest is from July to August, although the seasonal variations in temperature are small. Both temperature and rainfall vary according to the prevailing winds, which produce two seasons: from October to March, the hot and originally dry winds coming from Arabia (called kaskazi) prevail, while from April to September, the prevailing winds (called Kuzi) are cooler and wetter and blow from the Indian Ocean.
The coast
The long rains season here occurs later than in the rest of Kenya, and runs from April to June, with May as the wettest month.
The sun shines all year round, though a little less from April to July.
The best months are August and September, in fact, they are the coolest ones, in addition, they are sunny and quite dry, with rains occurring in the form of short showers, which are soon replaced by the sun.
The short rains season is not pronounced in the northern part of the coast (see Lamu), and it's a bit more evident in Malindi and Mombasa, with some showers in October and November, usually not intense. However, it must be said that it depends on the year: sometimes, it can rain heavily even between October and December, and especially in November. However, rainfall on the coast amounts to 1,000/1,100 millimeters (40/43 inches) per year on average.
