Colombo weather by month & the best time to visit
🇱🇰 Sri Lanka · coastal city break · tropical rainforest climate
The best time to visit Colombo is February — its sunniest month (Sunshine Score 83/100), with January and July close behind. Colombo averages about 2,876 hours of sunshine a year. Daytime highs around 31°C / 88°F and roughly 71 mm of rain in February.
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- Sun hours / year
- 2,876
- Sunniest month
- February
- Peak score
- 83/100
- Rain / year
- 2,001 mm
- Midday UV at peak
- 12 (extreme)
- Sea at warmest
- 32°C / 90°F
- Population
- 648k
- Elevation
- 8 m
When is the best time to visit Colombo?
For sunshine, the best time to visit Colombo is February, then January and July. The dullest month is April (68/100, 226 mm of rain). The full month-by-month picture is in the table below.
How sunny is Colombo?
Colombo gets a lot of sun: around 2,876 hours a year. Conditions barely change through the year — only 15 Sunshine Score points separate February from April. Colombo is the sunniest of the 6 destinations tracked in Sri Lanka. The year's 2,001 mm of rain spreads fairly evenly across the months, with no pronounced dry season.
Sunshine Score by month
| Month | Score | Day high | Night low | Rain | UV | Sea |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 82 | 29° / 84°F | 23° / 73°F | 76 mm | 10 | 29° / 84°F |
| February | 83 | 31° / 88°F | 23° / 73°F | 71 mm | 11 | 30° / 86°F |
| March | 75 | 31° / 88°F | 25° / 77°F | 115 mm | 12 | 31° / 88°F |
| April | 68 | 31° / 88°F | 26° / 79°F | 226 mm | 12 | 32° / 90°F |
| May | 68 | 30° / 86°F | 27° / 81°F | 224 mm | 10 | 31° / 88°F |
| June | 70 | 29° / 84°F | 26° / 79°F | 143 mm | 10 | 29° / 84°F |
| July | 78 | 28° / 82°F | 25° / 77°F | 99 mm | 10 | 30° / 86°F |
| August | 75 | 28° / 82°F | 25° / 77°F | 113 mm | 11 | 29° / 84°F |
| September | 68 | 29° / 84°F | 25° / 77°F | 162 mm | 11 | 30° / 86°F |
| October | 68 | 29° / 84°F | 25° / 77°F | 292 mm | 11 | 29° / 84°F |
| November | 68 | 29° / 84°F | 25° / 77°F | 305 mm | 9 | 30° / 86°F |
| December | 68 | 29° / 84°F | 24° / 75°F | 175 mm | 9 | 29° / 84°F |
Sea temperature in Colombo by month
The sea off Colombo is warmest in April at around 32°C / 90°F, and coolest in January at 29°C / 84°F. The water sits at a comfortable 21°C or warmer roughly all year round. Month-by-month sea-surface temperatures are in the Sea column of the table above.
See Colombo on the interactive sunshine globe →
Nearby places for sunshine
- Thiruvananthapuram India · 357 km · best in Jan · 2,604 h sun/yr
- Tiruchirappalli India · 418 km · best in Jan · 2,755 h sun/yr
- Kochi India · 506 km · best in Jan · 2,367 h sun/yr
- Coimbatore India · 530 km · best in Jan · 2,699 h sun/yr
- Calicut India · 616 km · best in Dec · 2,500 h sun/yr
- Chennai India · 647 km · best in Feb · 2,636 h sun/yr
Nearest destinations
- Galle Sri Lanka · 141 km · 2,789 h sun/yr · best in Feb
- Hambantota (Mattala) Sri Lanka · 169 km · 2,589 h sun/yr · best in Jul
- Batticaloa Sri Lanka · 206 km · 2,544 h sun/yr · best in Jun
- Trincomalee Sri Lanka · 208 km · 2,591 h sun/yr · best in Jun
- Tuticorin India · 267 km · 2,791 h sun/yr · best in Jan
Head-to-head
How Colombo compares month by month: Colombo vs Kochi · Colombo vs Tiruchirappalli · Colombo vs Thiruvananthapuram · Colombo vs Malé · all comparisons
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