The Weather

Sri Lanka has no marked seasons - climatically the island has no off season. A special feature is that the hot and humid lowlands and the salubrious hill country are separated by only a few hours motoring. 

Average mean temperature along the coast is 26.7 C (80 F) and 19.7 C (66.50 F) in the hill country.

In Colombo, the commercial capital, situated on the west coast, the temperature varies from 26.4 C (79.5 F) to 27.8 C (82.12 F). Relative Humidity varies from 70% during the day to 90% at night.

In the lowlands the climate is typically tropical with an average temperature of 27OC in Colombo. In the higher elevations it can be quite cool with temperatures going down to 16OC at an altitude of nearly 2,000 meters.

Bright, sunny warm days are the rule and are common even during the height of the monsoon. The south west monsoon brings rain mainly from May to July to the western, southern and central regions of the island, while the north-east monsoon rains occur in the northern and eastern regions in December and January.

Rainy Seasons

South West Monsoon- May to August
North East Monsoon- November to February

Temperature Chart

Area   Jan-April   May-August   Sept-December  
   Max Min  Max   Min Max Min 
 Colombo  30°C 22°C 30°C 24°C 29°C 22°C
 Kandy  31°C 17°C  29°C 21°C  28°C  18°C
Nuwara Eliya  21°C  14°C  18°C  16°C  18°C  15°C 
Trincomalee 32°C  24°C  33°C  25°C 33°C  23°C