Weather locations in SriLanka

Sri Lanka lies just south of mainland India, and although it is small, its climate is not uniform. The shape of the island, the central highlands and the seasonal shift of the monsoons combine to give wet and dry zones that lie in different parts of the country at different times of year.

Main climate types

The country's rain is dominated by two monsoon regimes. The north-east monsoon, from December to February or March, brings rain to the north, east and north-central lowlands. The south-west monsoon, from about May to August, drenches the hills and the south-west corner. Intermediate periods, in October and again in January to March, include the short Maha rains, and only the leeward east and the north-west corner stay relatively dry in the relevant season.

Temperatures

Along the coast temperatures are high and stable: Colombo averages about 27 degrees in both January and July, with overnight lows near 24. Jaffna, in the north, is actually cooler in the hot months, while the eastern town of Trincomalee warms through April. Up in the central highlands, Kandy at 500 metres averages about 22 degrees, and Nuwara Eliya at 1,900 metres averages about 14, with early-morning lows near 8 degrees.

Rainfall

Annual totals range from about 1,000 millimetres in the drier north-west and east to more than 2,500 on the south-west slopes of the hills and over 2,000 in the hills around Nuwara Eliya, and the eastern lowlands take about 1,300. Snow never falls at any elevation. The north-east monsoon can bring sustained rain for days together in the north, and April and May are hot everywhere.

When to go

Because the two halves of the island are wettest at different times, timing depends on where you go. The south-west and the hill country are usually best from December to March, while the east and the north around Trincomalee and Jaffna are driest from September to January. The pre-monsoon months of April and May bring hot, still weather and frequent afternoon thunderstorms.