Mt. Kilimanjaro Weather - When is the Best Time to Climb?
The Mount Kilimanjaro weather affects your climb and your success chances. When to climb Kilimanjaro is an important decision.
Bad weather on Kilimanjaro not only makes for a miserable trek and ruins your photos, most importantly it simply makes the climb twice as hard!
You are a LOT more likely to reach the summit if the weather on Kilimanjaro is dry.
Mount Kilimanjaro is near the equator. In the tropics there is no such thing as summer or winter. There are only dry and rainy periods. Or "dry seasons" and "wet seasons".
Climbing Kilimanjaro during the wet season means you have to slog through deep, slippery mud during the first days. At higher altitude you have fog and drizzle, and slowly but surely the moisture will creep into your clothes, your gear, your bones...
A second rainy day on the Machame Route. Not the best weather for Kilimanjaro. © Uta Philipp.
Near the top you may have to fight your way through ice and snow. Having moisture in your clothes and everything is not going to help with the cold up there.
But there are other aspects to consider as well. The temperatures, the views, and of course the number of people on the mountain. As so often, there is no hard and fast answer and no single best time to climb Kilimanjaro.
So lets look at the Kilimanjaro weather details over the year.
The Weather on Kilimanjaro - When to Go?
We are starting in April rather than January, just because it makes it easier for me to explain everything.
April - May
Tanzania's main rainy season lasts from the end of March through to mid June. As elsewhere in the world, when exactly it rains and when it stops is impossible to predict.
It's the warmest time of the year in Tanzania, but those months are so wet that some operators simply do not offer climbs in April/May at all. Those who do are restricted to fewer routes because some of them are closed.
This is the time with the lowest success rates.
June - August
During June, the rain gradually decreases, and so do the temperatures. This is the start of the main dry season.
July/August the days on Kilimanjaro are dry and clear but the nights at the higher camps will be bitter cold. This can present a challenge on summit night.
June is still quiet, but the number of climbers increases as the year progresses. The summit chances during July and August are very high already, and from here it gets even better.
August - September
August and even more so September is the peak climbing season on Kilimanjaro. The weather is good with many clear days and warmer than in June/July. You may, however, get clouds blanketing the lower forest/moorland zone, and on the southern routes you may get rained on on the first days. But once you leave the rain forest behind all is good!
(Summit nights will still be bitter cold.)
The good conditions can last into about mid October when the build up for the short rains begins. That means mostly increasing heat and humidity and with that more afternoon clouds, impacting visibility.
October
The weather on Kilimanjaro becomes increasingly unstable and the number of climbers drops.
As in all tropical regions of the world, the wetter time of the year announces itself with afternoon clouds and occasional thunderstorms. As long as you are equipped to withstand the occasional shower, this should not present major problems. (Naturally, early October will offer you overall better weather and summit chances than late October.)
November/December
November is the small rainy season, and the rain lasts into mid December. The temperatures have dropped and the rain brings with it all the hazards that I described at the top of the page. Not the best time to climb Kilimanjaro.
December/January
The four to six week period around Christmas and New Year is the second peak climbing season on Kilimanjaro. This is due to the possibility for climbers to easily take time off from work and not necessarily due to the conditions. Traffic is extremely high despite there still being a good chance of rainfall and thick clouds in the lower regions.
It is not a time I would choose but it isn't the worst time either. The rain starts to clear up during the second half of December and approaching January the weather becomes increasingly dry and cool. It is variable though, so it is a bit of a gamble.
January-March
Mid January to mid March is also a very good time to climb Kilimanjaro with high success rates.
It is the "short dry season". The weather is reasonable, not too cold, not too wet. The days are mainly dry and beautifully clear with few clouds. There are occasional brief showers and it is slightly warmer than during the main dry season (which helps during summit night). Another plus: compared to the main dry season there aren't as many climbers.
In March the chances of rain gradually increase as you approach the long rainy season. See above.
There are a few more things worth mentiong about the weather on Kilimanjaro.
You may decide to climb at a less than perfect time, be it because you want to avoid the main rush or because that is the only opportunity you have to take the time off from work. If that's the case, consider the Rongai Route (or even the "Northern Circuit"). Rongai offers better footing (if it isn't so slippery it will take less energy to move upwards) and you have much better chances to keep your clothes and gear dry.
The northern side of the mountain is much drier due to being in the "rain shadow", i.e. sheltered from the rain by the mountain itself. The rain moves in mostly from the south (and east). The south and southeast slopes (used for example by the popular Machame route) catch most of the moisture, because the mountain forces the moist air upward. As it rises, the air cools, cold air holds less moisture, and what it can't hold anymore it dumps as rain — that's called orographic precipitation.
And if you want the best weather on Kilimanjaro but hate crowds, then the same applies. Choose your route wisely. There is less traffic on Rongai, Shira and Lemosho than on the overcrowded Machame and Marangu routes.
The other thing is the temperature. Photos of people in short sleeves during the climb, or without hats and gloves on the summit, may leave a wrong impression.
The day and night temperatures can be vastly different. In that respect the alpine desert is no different to other deserts in the world. Above 4000 metres (13000 ft) a sunny day may be above 30°C (85F), the nights are still below zero.
One question that nearly everybody asks is: Just how cold is it on the summit? Or rather, during that night climb? Most commonly you will experience temperatures around -10°C to -15°C (5-15F), but temperatures during summit night can drop to -20°C (-5F) and even below, and with the additional chill factor of wind the felt temperature may be as low as -40 (curiously, both in degrees Celsius and Fahrenheit).
Prepare for the worst case scenario, and then enjoy that everything turns out much easier than expected!
In case you are curious:
When I climbed Kilimanjaro with my mother I above all wanted to give her the best summit chances. We climbed during mid-September on the Rongai route. We chose the time with the best weather and even then opted for the drier side of the mountain. I really did not want to get rained on. At all! (We didn't.)
Rongai is also a less frequented route, offsetting the fact that this is such a busy time of the year.
We were very happy with our choice.
Next: Choosing a climbing route on Kilimanjaro
Overview: What it takes to climb Kilimanjaro
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