Student Area
 
Samoa's climate is divided into two seasons, defined mostly by rainfall. Samoa's rainfall amounts reflect its geographical location well within the tropics with its high rainfall totals during the wetter months of the year.

A simple study of mean temperature trends throughout the year show a slight cooling during our drier months, a net annual variation of approximately 1oC. Coupling these two indicators, we define thus Samoa's climate typically to be 

  1. HOT and WET from November to April and,
  2. COOL and DRY from May to October 

Below are graphs of the respective elements: Figure 1 shows the rainfall normals (normals are the average values calculated using a 30 year period, in this case using monthly average data from 1961 to 1990). Figure 2 shows the temperature trends observed through the year.

 

Figure 1. Precipitation normals calculated from 30 year (1961-1990) period.


Figure 2. The trends throughout the year observed in Apia. 
Climate Normals
(1971 - 2000 period taken for calculation of normals)
JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC TOTAL MEAN MIN MAX
Total rainfall (mm) 489.0 368.0 352.1 211.2 192.6 120.8 120.7 113.2 153.9 224.3 261.7 357.5 2965.1 247.1 113.2 489.0
Mean Pressure (mb) 1009.0 1009.5 1010.4 1010.9 1012.0 1012.8 1013.0 1013.4 1013.4 1012.3 1010.6 1008.9 12136.3 1011.4 1008.9 1013.4
Total sunshine  hours 149.0 159.9 173.3 186.3 193.0 195.6 212.6 219.3 206.5 199.1 181.2 154.3 2230.2 185.9 149.0 219.3
Maximum Temperature (degrees Celsius) 30.4 30.6 30.6 30.7 30.4 30.0 29.5 29.6 29.9 30.1 30.3 30.5 362.6 30.2 29.5 30.7
Minimum Temperature (degrees Celsius) 23.9 24.2 24.0 23.8 23.4 23.2 22.6 22.8 23.1 23.4 23.6 23.8 281.7 23.5 22.6 24.2
Mean Temperature (degrees Celsius) 27.1 27.4 27.3 27.2 26.9 26.6 26.1 26.2 26.5 26.8 26.9 27.2 322.2 26.8 26.1 27.4
Extreme Maximum Temperature (degrees Celsius) 33.4 34.0 33.7 33.2 33.6 32.5 31.7 32.1 32.8 32.4 33.1 34.9 397.4 33.1 31.7 34.9
Extreme Minimum Temperature (degrees Celsius) 19.4 21.1 21.2 19.5 17.9 17.6 18.9 18.1 18.1 19.4 19.2 20.7 231.1 19.3 17.6 21.2
Mean % Relative Humidity 82 82 82 81 81 81 79 78 77 78 79 80 960 80 77 82