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Information supplied by the Bradt Guide To Ethiopia third edition

Ethiopia shows a wide climatic variation ranging from the peaks of Bale, which receive periodic snowfall, to regular daytime temperatures of 50 degrees C in the Danakil Desert.

Generally, the highlands have a temperate climate and average daytime temperature of 16 degrees C; the eastern lowlands and far south are dry and hot; the western lowlands are moist and hot, making them the one part of Ethiopia that feels truly tropical; and the southern Rift Valley, much of which is at the relatively high altitude of 1500m, is temperate to hot and seasonally moist.

Rain in the highlands and Rift Valley falls mainly between mid-June and early October, though the rainy season in the Rift Valley generally starts and ends a few weeks earlier than in the highlands.

In normal years, the highlands can experience an average rainfall of 1000mm over two or three months. Fortunately for tourists rain tends to fall in dramatic storms which end as suddenly as they start - a situation that is infinitely easier for travel than days of protracted drizzle.

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