Ethiopia
26 cities
Climate overview
Ethiopia is a landlocked Horn of Africa nation dominated by the Ethiopian Highlands (little of their surface lies below 1,500 m, and they rise to Ras Dashen at 4,550 m in the Simien Mountains, one of the highest peaks in Africa), split by the Great Rift Valley running northeast to southwest through the Awash valley and the Rift Valley lakes including Ziway, Abijata, and Awasa.
The terrain descends to the hot Danakil Depression in the northeast at about 125 m below sea level, one of the hottest places on Earth year-round, and the Ogaden and Somali lowlands in the southeast. This produces extreme thermal-altitude stratification and three traditional zones: kola, the hot lowland with BSh and BWh climates below 1,500 m; woina dega, the temperate belt from 1,500 to 2,500 m; and dega, the cool highland above 2,500 m with Cwb and ET on the very highest summits where snow occasionally falls.
Addis Ababa at 2,355 m has daytime highs of about 21–26°C and nights of about 8–12°C year-round, with 1,160 mm rainfall, split between small belg rains (March–April) and major kiremt rains (June–September). Bahir Dar on Lake Tana has daytime highs of 24–30°C and nights of 9–15°C with 1,400 mm, and Gondar receives about 1,000 to 1,100 mm. Dire Dawa in the eastern lowlands has daytime highs of about 29–36°C and nights of 15–23°C with roughly 670 to 790 mm. Dallol in the Danakil averaged about 34°C a year in 1960–1966, the highest annual mean recorded at an inhabited place.
Gambela in the western lowlands has a hot tropical savanna (Aw) climate. Multi-year droughts in 1973, 1984, 2002, 2011, 2015–17, and 2020–23 have impacted food security. El Niño-linked failures of the belg and kiremt rains, as in 2015, contribute to humanitarian consequences. Flash floods strike the Awash basin, and snow falls at times on Ras Dashen.
Our archive covers 26 Ethiopian cities with daily ERA5 reanalysis data going back to 1940. The hottest July afternoons are in Ārabī, with average highs around 32.7°C, while Dessie has the coldest January nights, with average lows near 6.6°C. Comparing the last decade against the 1940–1970 baseline, mean temperatures across these cities have risen by about 1.8°C.
How the climate has shifted in Ethiopia
Average across 26 cities with full ERA5 coverage: 1940–1970 baseline vs the last decade (2016–2025).
- Annual mean temperature
- 17.3°C→19.2°C
- Days above 30°C per year
- 23 days→43 days+19
- Frost days per year
- 0 days→0 days+0
- Tropical nights (≥20°C) per year
- 15 nights→25 nights+10
Warmest year in the record so far: 2015.
What's unusual right now
From a snapshot of the world's largest cities updated each hour. Today's mean temperature compared with each city's long-term average for the same calendar date (ERA5 climatology, 1940 onward). Last 30 days uses each city's rolling daily-mean vs its monthly average. Not a global ranking.
Running cool