Weather locations in Kiribati

Kiribati is a nation of 33 atolls and one raised limestone island spread across 3.5 million square kilometres of the central Pacific, straddling both the equator and the 180th meridian. Because there is no land above a few metres, the weather is the environment. Tarawa, the capital, averages about 27 °C in every month, and the country has no cold season of any kind.

Main climate types

The whole country has a tropical rainforest climate, but rain varies markedly between groups. The Gilbert Islands, where most people live, receive roughly 500 to 700 millimetres a year. The Line Islands to the north, including Christmas Island, are markedly drier, sometimes under 300 millimetres, and the Phoenix Islands are driest of all. The cause is the rainbelt, which drifts north of the Line Islands for part of the northern summer.

Temperatures

Variation is almost negligible. Monthly means at Tarawa sit between about 26 °C and 28 °C, and the difference between the hottest and coldest month in the whole country is typically only 1 or 2 °C. Humidity is high throughout, and the apparent temperature sits several degrees above the actual reading, particularly between December and April. Nights rarely drop below 22 °C anywhere in the archipelago.

Rainfall

Rain comes in unpredictable squalls rather than in seasons. Most falls between November and April, when the inter-tropical convergence brings cloud and showers, and the months from June to August can pass with almost no rain. El Niño events push the rainbelt further north, bringing several consecutive very dry years to the Line Islands, while La Niña conditions reverse the pattern.

When to go

For most travellers the choice is about conditions rather than season. The northern summer, roughly November to April, is wetter and hotter, but it is also when the tuna fleet works and local fishing is at its best. The austral winter, June to August, is usually drier, with gentler seas for diving the atolls. The real hazard anywhere is storm surge, not rain.