Climate of Solomon Islands

Climate of Solomon Islands

Where is the country of Solomon Islands located? The Solomon Islands (also called the Solomon Islands because of the English name ‘Solomon Islands’) are an archipelago of nearly a thousand islands in the Oceania region. The country has more than half a million inhabitants, who live in ten provinces. The Solomon Islands have some active volcanoes, some of which are below sea level. An example of this is the Kavachi, which sometimes spouts hot lava tens of meters above the sea during eruptions. The tropical climate of the Solomon Islands has few extremes. The average maximum temperature fluctuates around thirty degrees throughout the year. Once it gets dark, the mercury drops very gradually, reaching its lowest point only towards morning. This is almost always slightly above twenty degrees Celsius.

Precipitation

The average annual amount of precipitation recorded on the Solomon Islands is on the high side with an average of about three thousand millimeters. Spread over the islands there can sometimes be quite large differences in the total amount of rain that falls within a given year. This is due to the often showery nature of the rainfall, which means that there can sometimes be quite large differences per island or even parts of a certain island. You also see that some islands are a lot wetter than others, with a different pattern in the monthly amounts of precipitation. For example, the months of June, July, August and September are relatively dry months with about 100-120 mm per month, while Balalae sees a peak in July, with a long-term average of 398 mm in one month.

Natural Disasters

The location in an area where hurricanes can occur quite regularly and where volcanism is a normal phenomenon, makes the Solomon Islands vulnerable to natural disasters. Hurricane Zoe, for example, hit a number of islands in December 2002. Fortunately, most damage was limited to material damage. Earthquakes can also occur in the Solomon Islands, such as the earthquake of April 11, 2010, where the damage was also very limited. The threat of earthquakes with worse outcomes remains in the Solomon Islands.

Climate figures

The figures below are based on long-term average climate statistics. The temperatures are displayed in degrees Celsius (°C).

Maximum temperature Minimum temperature Hours of sunshine per day Days of rainfall per month Water temperature
January 31℃ 22℃ 6 20 30℃
February 30℃ 22℃ 5 19 30℃
March 30℃ 22℃ 6 22 30℃
April 30℃ 22℃ 6 18 30℃
May 30℃ 22℃ 6 17 29℃
June 30℃ 22℃ 6 14 29℃
July 29℃ 21℃ 5 16 28℃
August 30℃ 21℃ 6 15 28℃
September 30℃ 22℃ 6 16 28℃
October 30℃ 22℃ 6 16 29℃
November 30℃ 22℃ 6 16 29℃
December 31℃ 22℃ 6 18 30℃

Best time to visit Solomon Islands

Do you want to know when is the best time to travel to Solomon Islands? You can determine the best time to travel to a destination based on the weather and climate. In addition, there are other factors that are not directly related to the weather and that can influence the best travel periods for a travel destination. Think, for example, of holidays or festive periods, which makes traveling more interesting or not, because daily life comes to a standstill as a result. The Solomon Islands are an archipelago in Oceania. Thanks to its beautiful beaches, the overwhelming underwater world and the pleasant tropical climate, the sovereign state has the potential to become a popular tourist destination. Unfortunately, the country occasionally has to deal with natural disasters that subsequently lead to hard economic blows. This results in a poor infrastructure and an investment climate. Relatively recent successive natural disasters are Hurricane Zoe in 2002, the earthquake and tsunami in 2007 and the earthquake in 2010. The moment the Solomon Islands have been somewhat rebuilt, another disaster often follows. In addition, the islands are threatened by climate change.

Best months

On the Solomon Islands you have to deal with a tropical climate, where the afternoon temperature is almost continuously around 30 degrees Celsius and the seawater temperature remains just below with an average of 28 to 30 degrees. The rain determines the best travel time for the Solomon Islands. There is quite a bit of rain throughout the year. Think of annual sums that usually come out between 2000 and 2500 millimeters. The period from June to mid-October is a drier season. This is therefore the best time to travel for a holiday on the Solomon Islands.

Tropical Cyclones

On the Solomon Islands you have a chance of tropical cyclones or hurricanes. Because the islands are on the northwestern boundary of the area that cyclones normally pass through, the chances of experiencing such a severe tropical depression here are a lot smaller than in many other destinations in Oceania. The hurricane season runs from November to mid-May.

Solomon Islands