Ethiopia Climate
Top 5 Cities: Addis Ababa, Dire Dawa, Mekelle, Adama, and Gondar
This month in numbers
Ethiopia experienced its 6th warmest April on record, with an average temperature of 25.38°C, marking an anomaly of +1.7°C compared to the 1961–1990 baseline. The period from February to April 2026 was the 4th warmest on record, with an average temperature of 25.3°C, an anomaly of +1.7°C. Globally, April 2026 was the 2nd warmest April on record for land temperatures, and the February–April period also ranked as the 2nd warmest globally.
What changed
Ethiopia's consistently warmer-than-average temperatures over the past three months align with a broader trend of warming across the African continent, where the group mean anomaly for the latest month was +1.38°C. Ethiopia's April anomaly of +1.74°C was notably warmer than this group average. The country's long-term trend shows a significant warming of +1.37°C compared to the 1961–1990 baseline, with 2025 being the warmest year on record.
What’s driving change?
The persistent warmth in Ethiopia is influenced by the broader trend of , a global phenomenon where land surfaces heat up at a quicker rate than the oceans. Additionally, the region is currently experiencing Neutral ENSO conditions, though El Niño is strongly forecast to develop in the coming months, which typically brings wetter conditions to East Africa during the "short rains" season. Ethiopia has also seen a recent concentration of wildfire activity, with one wildfire event logged in May 2026, representing 100% of the annual total for the past 12 months, which is an unusual concentration for the region. This comes as a new report highlights that extreme weather, including heatwaves and floods, is becoming more frequent and severe in Ethiopian cities, impacting urban businesses and livelihoods. More information on extreme weather events can be found at Extreme Weather tracker.
Looking ahead
The NOAA CPC forecast indicates a high probability of El Niño developing from May to July 2026 and persisting through the rest of the year, suggesting a potential for wetter conditions in East Africa in the coming months, particularly during the "short rains" season.
Generated by Gemini from climate data and web sources
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Data Sources
Data Sources for Ethiopia
Every figure on this page is sourced from official, openly published climate datasets. Anomalies are calculated against the 1961–1990 baseline (temperature) and 1991–2020 (rainfall, sunshine, frost) — see the Methodology & Sources page for the complete dataset list and update calendar.
FAQs
FAQs
How is the climate in Ethiopia changing?
Ethiopia is warming in line with the rest of the world. The page above shows the latest monthly temperature anomaly versus the 1961-1990 baseline, the long-term annual trend, and the region's rank in the historical record. The trend rate is shown as °C per decade in the headline panel; you can also see the warmest and coolest years on file.
Where does the climate data for Ethiopia come from?
Climate data for Ethiopia comes from Our World in Data, sourcing Copernicus ERA5 and HadCRUT5 (national temperature anomaly) and the Global Carbon Project via Our World in Data (CO₂ emissions), refreshed every month, when the upstream temperature and rainfall data are refreshed.
What is the climate baseline used on this page?
Anomalies on this page are calculated against the 1961-1990 climatological baseline, which is the standard reference period used by the Met Office, NOAA, IPCC and most national climate services. Some panels also show the source-native 1901-2000 (NOAA) or 1991-2020 (WMO) baselines for verification. See Methodology & Sources for the full reference.
Which areas does the Ethiopia climate data cover?
The Ethiopia climate profile covers Addis Ababa, Dire Dawa, Mekelle, Adama and surrounding areas. Temperature, rainfall and emissions data for Ethiopia
How often is the Ethiopia climate update refreshed?
The Ethiopia climate update is refreshed monthly, typically a few days after the previous month closes and the upstream provider (Met Office HadUK-Grid, NOAA Climate at a Glance, Copernicus ERA5 or the Global Carbon Project) publishes its update. See the Climate Rankings for cross-region comparisons.