Papua New Guinea Climate
Top 5 Cities: Port Moresby, Lae, Arawa, Mount Hagen, and Popondetta
This month in numbers
Papua New Guinea experienced its 8th warmest April on record, with an average temperature of 24.04°C, marking an anomaly of +1°C compared to the 1961–1990 baseline. Globally, April 2026 was the 2nd warmest April on record for land temperatures, with an anomaly of +1.1°C. The three-month period from February to April 2026 was the 4th warmest on record for Papua New Guinea, with an average temperature of 24.36°C, an anomaly of +1.3°C. This period also saw global land temperatures rank as the 2nd warmest on record.
What changed
The recent three-month period (February–April 2026) in Papua New Guinea was significantly warmer than average, ranking as the 4th warmest such period in 86 years of records. This warming trend is consistent with the long-term trend for the region, which has seen an increase of +1.10°C compared to the 1961–1990 baseline. The country's latest monthly anomaly of +1.04°C places it 175th out of 234 regions globally for April. For the three-month anomaly, Papua New Guinea ranks 145th globally with an anomaly of +1.32°C.
What’s driving change?
The warming observed in Papua New Guinea is influenced by the broader trend of land warming faster than ocean. The equatorial Pacific is currently in an ENSO-neutral state, with a weekly Niño 3.4 SST anomaly of +0.9°C as of late April. However, there is a rapid transition towards El Niño conditions, with a 61% probability of El Niño developing in May–July and increasing to 87% by July–September. Historically, El Niño phases typically bring warmer and drier conditions to Maritime Southeast Asia, including Papua New Guinea, often leading to severe drought and increased risk of fires.
Papua New Guinea has also been significantly impacted by extreme weather events recently. Tropical Cyclone Maila struck in April 2026, bringing destructive winds, heavy rainfall, and widespread flooding and landslides, particularly in Bougainville, Milne Bay, East New Britain, and West New Britain. The cyclone resulted in at least 11 fatalities and affected over 10,000 people, with many communities cut off due to damaged infrastructure. Additionally, several provinces, including Jiwaka, Chimbu, Enga, and Western Highlands, have been under drought alert or watch since February 2026, with a potential for widespread drought mid-year. A coral bleach Alert 2 was also in effect for West New Britain and Oro province as of early March.
Generated by Gemini from climate data and web sources
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Data Sources
Data Sources for Papua New Guinea
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 Papua New Guinea changing?
Papua New Guinea 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 Papua New Guinea come from?
Climate data for Papua New Guinea 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 Papua New Guinea climate data cover?
The Papua New Guinea climate profile covers Port Moresby, Lae, Arawa, Mount Hagen and surrounding areas. Temperature, rainfall and emissions data for Papua New Guinea
How often is the Papua New Guinea climate update refreshed?
The Papua New Guinea 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.