Climate of Vanuatu

Climate of Vanuatu

Where is the country of Vanuatu located? The Republic of Vanuatu is one of the independent countries in Oceania. The archipelago consists of a total of about 82 islands, of which 65 are inhabited. The islands are relatively young and have a volcanic origin. Vanuatu has a number of volcanoes that are still active. The risk of a volcanic eruption is therefore always lurking, and a disastrous large eruption cannot be ruled out. Vanuatu has a tropical climate, with a period of approximately seven to eight months with temperatures around or near the tropical value of thirty degrees and a slightly shorter period in which the mercury is slightly lower (26-28 degrees Celsius).. When the mercury rises again in October, the relative humidity also rises as a result of increasing rainfall. This makes it feel more stuffy and less pleasant. This type of weather lasts until April.

Precipitation

Vanuatu has fairly high amounts of precipitation per year. On average about 2400 mm per year is recorded, with the caveat that the northern islands can be considerably wetter than the southern islands. In the north of Vanuatu this can be as much as four thousand millimeters on an annual basis. Most rain falls in the form of showers. Most showers are quite unpredictable. The chance of rain is greatest in the first months of the year.

Hurricanes

From December there is a chance that a hurricane will hit (part of) Vanuatu. The country is located in a region that is vulnerable to such tropical storms, which are commonly referred to here as cyclones. Because hurricanes can be predicted reasonably well and in good time, casualties can often be prevented. Material damage, especially to nature, is a lot more difficult to prevent. The hurricane season in Vanuatu continues through May. If a hurricane doesn’t reach Vanuatu itself, but does come close, it can cause a lot of precipitation for a while. An amount of one hundred millimeters or more within 24 hours is no exception.

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℃ 23℃ 7 16 28℃
February 31℃ 23℃ 6 17 29℃
March 31℃ 23℃ 6 19 29℃
April 30℃ 22℃ 6 17 28℃
May 29℃ 21℃ 6 13 27℃
June 27℃ 20℃ 5 11 26℃
July 26℃ 19℃ 5 10 26℃
August 27℃ 19℃ 6 10 26℃
September 28℃ 19℃ 6 8 26℃
October 29℃ 21℃ 6 8 27℃
November 29℃ 22℃ 6 12 27℃
December 31℃ 23℃ 6 13 28℃

Best time to visit Vanuatu

Do you want to know when is the best time to travel to Vanuatu? 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 Republic of Vanuatu is located in the Pacific Ocean, east of Australia. Vanuatu is an independent country made up of more than eighty islands. The tropical climate ensures that it is always warm in Vanuatu and that it rains all year round. Vanuatu has a relatively long rainy season, especially in the wetter north. On the northern islands there is about four thousand millimeters of rain every year and only the months of June, July and August are slightly drier. In the central and southern part of Vanuatu there is considerably less precipitation, count on an average of about 1700 to 2500 millimeters of rain per year. Snow never falls, because it is much too hot for that. The drier season starts in the central and southern parts around May and lasts until September.

Best months

The best time to travel to Vanuatu is from May to October. If you travel north, we would rather choose July or August, while further south the months of May, June, September and October are better. That’s because it’s a bit cooler there than in the northern part. In the middle of winter, which falls during our summer, the daytime temperature in the south is about 23 to 25 degrees, in the central part about 24 to 26 degrees and in the north 25 to 29 degrees Celsius.

Hot wet summers

In the summer it is tropically warm throughout Vanuatu. The maximum temperatures are then around 28 to 32 degrees Celsius and at night it remains above twenty degrees everywhere. The period January to April is by far the wettest time of the year. Locally, more than 400 millimeters of rain can fall per month. Those are serious amounts. We would therefore not so quickly opt for a holiday in Vanuatu during this period.

Tropical Cyclones

Vanuatu is located in a zone prone to tropical cyclones. We call this type of severe tropical depression hurricanes and locally people talk about typhoons. They mainly arise during the hurricane season, which runs from November to mid-May. There is a chance that a cyclone will come close to Vanuatu and cause a lot of nuisance.

Vanuatu