Weather in Kandy in December

A good month. December is a solid month to be in Kandy. You should expect rain on 20 days of the month, which is more days wet than dry.

December ranks 6 of 12 in Kandy: past the worst of the year but short of February, which is the month to book if the dates are open.

Rain on 20 of the month's 31 days, 8 of them heavy. At that frequency a wet-weather backup is not a contingency, it is the itinerary — book the indoor things first and treat the clear days as the bonus. Nothing specialised needed — this is the month you pack for the trip rather than for the weather.

What the averages hide

Averages flatten a month, and this one hides a few things: it never really gets hot: not one day in an average December reaches 30 °C. Across the twenty years measured, the hottest December day reached 29.2 °C and the coldest night fell to 14.4 °C, and the wettest single day dropped 135 mm — roughly 56% of the month's rain in one day.

December is moderately variable: 38 mm in the driest year against 694 mm in the wettest, around an average of 243 mm. Roughly two Decembers in three land near that average, and the third does something else entirely.

Wind is light at 8.3 km/h, so the temperature on the page is close to the temperature on your skin, and humidity at 90% is the real story though — it is the number that decides how the day feels, not the 25.9 °C.

How December sits in the year

Temperatures hold steady either side: 26.7 °C in November, 25.9 here, 26.3 in January. Nothing about the timing within the month matters much. Rain is the thing that moves: January brings 8 days less of it, so pushing the dates later buys drier weather.

Daylight in December

Kandy sits close enough to the equator that daylight barely moves all year — 11.7 hours in December, against a range of just 0.8 hours across the whole calendar. Sunrise and sunset land at roughly the same time whenever you come.

An inland climate

Despite being inland, the year stays fairly even: 12.8 °C between the year's warmest afternoons and coldest nights.

How busy it gets

Peak season. Expect the highest prices of the year and to be booking well ahead. If the dates are flexible, September is the trade worth considering — 12 points weaker on weather, and materially quieter.

Crowd levels are estimated from climate desirability and school-holiday calendars, not from visitor numbers.

December in Kandy versus nearby

If Kandy is one option among several, the nearby comparison is worth making. Colombo is the weaker option in December — 3.3 °C warmer, 1 day more rain. Trincomalee is close enough to be a coin toss — within a degree on temperature, the same number of rain days.

So: December works, with February the better month by 7 points if the dates can move. If they cannot, nothing here should stop you booking.

Every month in Kandy

See all twelve months in Kandy, or where else to go in December.