Climate averages 1991–2020
Colombo weather
in October.
A hot, very wet month: the joint 8th warmest and the wettest of the year.
Long-term climate patterns, not a forecast for a particular trip.
October is a hot month in Colombo: daytime highs average 28.8°C and nights cool to about 24.1°C. By daytime temperature it is the joint 8th warmest of the 12 months.
Expect about 327 mm of rain on roughly 26 days, which makes October a very wet month (the wettest month of the year). Daylight, from sunrise to sunset, lasts about 11 h 58 min on an average October day.
The nearest other city in this atlas is Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia (11 km away). In October its highs average 28.5°C, about as warm as Colombo, with 328 mm of rain.
Among the 12 cities listed in Sri Lanka, Colombo ranks joint 7th of 12 for the warmest October highs and 11th of 12 for the driest October (rainfall, lowest first). The mean October high of those 12 cities is 29.1°C; Colombo is 0.4°C cooler than that mean.
From October to November, average highs rise by 0.2°C to 29.0°C, and monthly rainfall falls from 327 mm to 307 mm.
The annual picture
October in context
Monthly rainfall
Average total · mmAverages from hourly ERA5 reanalysis data. Actual weather varies from year to year. How these numbers are calculated
Every month, side by side
Colombo climate table
| Month | Average highHigh / low | Average low | Rainfall mm/month | Rain days ≥1 mm/day | Daylight hours/dayDaylight h/day |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 30.4°C22.9°C | 22.9°C | 53 | 7.8 | 11.812 h |
| February | 31.5°C23.4°C | 23.4°C | 55 | 7.8 | 11.912 h |
| March | 31.6°C24.4°C | 24.4°C | 75 | 14.9 | 12.112 h |
| April | 30.8°C25.0°C | 25.0°C | 167 | 24.8 | 12.312 h |
| May | 29.5°C25.4°C | 25.4°C | 279 | 28.9 | 12.412 h |
| June | 28.8°C25.1°C | 25.1°C | 242 | 26.7 | 12.513 h |
| July | 28.5°C24.8°C | 24.8°C | 183 | 24.4 | 12.512 h |
| August | 28.4°C24.6°C | 24.6°C | 168 | 23.6 | 12.312 h |
| September | 28.5°C24.5°C | 24.5°C | 223 | 24.5 | 12.212 h |
| October, selected | 28.8°C24.1°C | 24.1°C | 327 | 26.0 | 12.012 h |
| November | 29.0°C23.6°C | 23.6°C | 307 | 23.7 | 11.812 h |
| December | 29.2°C23.2°C | 23.2°C | 164 | 15.6 | 11.712 h |
Rainfall is the average of the 30 separate monthly totals. A rain day is a local calendar day with at least 1 mm of precipitation. Daylight is the calculated sunrise-to-sunset length, not measured sunshine.
Compare places
October in nearby cities
- Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia in OctoberSri Lanka · 11 kmHigh 28.5°C · Low 24.2°C · 328 mm rain
- Negombo in OctoberSri Lanka · 30 kmHigh 28.8°C · Low 24.5°C · 315 mm rain
- Kandy in OctoberSri Lanka · 95 kmHigh 26.9°C · Low 20.7°C · 257 mm rain
- Galle in OctoberSri Lanka · 107 kmHigh 27.8°C · Low 24.5°C · 263 mm rain
- Matara in OctoberSri Lanka · 133 kmHigh 28.4°C · Low 24.4°C · 250 mm rain
- Ambalantota in OctoberSri Lanka · 158 kmHigh 30.3°C · Low 24.7°C · 141 mm rain
- Batticaloa in OctoberSri Lanka · 221 kmHigh 31.0°C · Low 24.8°C · 152 mm rain
- Kalmunai in OctoberSri Lanka · 225 kmHigh 30.2°C · Low 25.2°C · 164 mm rain
Read the numbers correctly
Climate, not a promise.
These patterns help compare months. They cannot tell you the weather on a specific day of your trip.
Sources, method and limitsHow these numbers are made (what the highs, lows and rain days mean, the sources and the model cell used for Colombo) is explained once on the Colombo year overview and on the Sources, method and limits page.