🇺🇬Uganda

Uganda (241,038 km²) straddles the equator at 4°S–1°N, 29°–35°E across the East African Plateau and Lake Victoria basin, forming one of Africa's most climatically diverse nations with extraordinary microclimates shaped by elevation, proximity to the Great Lakes, and the equatorial convergence zone.

The tropical equatorial climate (Köppen Af/Aw) dominates, characterized by bimodal rainfall peaks in March–May and September–November, warm year-round temperatures (18–28°C) moderated by altitude, and high humidity sustained by massive evaporation from Lake Victoria (68,800 km², the world's second-largest freshwater lake).

The central and southern lowlands surrounding Lake Victoria (1,134 m elevation) receive 1,200–1,500 mm annual precipitation, supporting lush banana-coffee agroforestry and dense papyrus wetlands that filter runoff and recharge aquifers. The western Rwenzori Mountains (rising to 5,109 m at Margherita Peak on Mount Stanley) create dramatic orographic precipitation exceeding 2,500 mm annually on windward slopes, sustaining montane cloud forests, bamboo zones, and Africa's last equatorial glaciers—now rapidly disappearing, with ice cover shrinking from 6.5 km² in 1906 to less than 0.5 km² by 2020 and scientists projecting complete loss within a decade as rising temperatures drive accelerating melt.

The northeastern Karamoja region exhibits semi-arid savanna (400–800 mm rainfall) with pronounced dry seasons and recurrent drought vulnerability. Uganda's agricultural economy, employing over 70% of the population and generating 24% of GDP through coffee, tea, cotton, and subsistence crops, faces acute climate risk from shifting rainfall patterns, intensifying droughts and floods, glacial water source loss, and explosive Lake Victoria thunderstorms that increasingly threaten fishing communities and lakeshore infrastructure.

Kampala (capital, 0.3°N, elevation 1,190 m on Lake Victoria's northern shore) exemplifies the equatorial highland climate, averaging 21°C year-round with minimal seasonal temperature variation but pronounced bimodal rainfall totaling approximately 1,290 mm annually, peaking during March–May long rains and October–November short rains.

The severe May 2024 Mbale-Bududa landslides in eastern Uganda killed over 30 people and buried entire villages when torrential rains (over 200 mm in 48 hours) on deforested Mount Elgon slopes triggered massive mudslides that swept away homes, schools, and farmland—the deadliest in a recurring cycle of Bududa disasters including the January 2010 landslides (over 100 dead, 8,000 displaced) and October 2018 events (51 killed) driven by extreme rainfall on unstable volcanic soils compounded by population pressure and inadequate land management.

Uganda has experienced repeated hydrological, meteorological, and geological hazards since 2010. Lake Victoria water levels rose to a record 13.42 m in May 2020, the highest since records began in 1896, following sustained above-average rainfall. This event affected over 200 km² of lakeshore, displaced 300,000 people, submerged parts of Kampala, damaged Port Bell infrastructure, and destroyed fishing sites.

A severe 2016–2017 drought reduced rainfall across eastern and northern regions, lowering maize and sorghum yields by 26% nationally, creating acute food insecurity for 1.4 million people and livestock losses exceeding 40%. Landslides on Mount Elgon have occurred recurrently: January 2010 (over 100 dead, 8,000 displaced), October 2018 (51 killed), and May 2024 (over 30 killed), driven by extreme rainfall on unstable volcanic soils combined with land pressure and inadequate management. Lake Victoria storms have intensified since 2010, with frequency doubling, winds exceeding 100 km/h, waves over 5 m, and hundreds of annual fishing-related fatalities attributed to rising lake temperatures (up 0.9°C since 1960).

Our archive covers 0 Ugandan cities with daily ERA5 reanalysis data going back to 1940.