Today, I asked the question which is what is the best city in Somaliland in terms of weather? I thought it must be either Sheikh or Daalo mountains but it's neither one of them.
Contrary to what I thought, we have 4 climates in Somaliland:
This is called Köppen climate classification. It is an awesome system that helps you think more clearly about the weather conditions anywhere in the world. It lets you say for example Melbourne has about the same weather as London! Go figure.
Now someone has done an amazing job of providing all the classification on a global scale. So, we have this resource to find any weather conditions in every region in Somaliland. And without further ado, here are my findings:
| city | Region | Annual rain mm | high | low | avg | Similar to | Climate Code | Climate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Magaala Qalooc | Awdal | 670.00 | 27.70 | 7.70 | 19.10 | Addis Abeba | Cwb | Subtropical highland oceanic climate |
| burco | Togdheer | 224.00 | 31.70 | 12.70 | 22.90 | Phoenix | BWh | Hot desert climates |
| zaylac | Awdal | 82.00 | 40.00 | 22.00 | 30.00 | Jeddah | BWh | Hot desert climates |
| badhan | Sanag | 137.00 | 31.10 | 11.70 | 22.30 | Phoenix | BWh | Hot desert climates |
| Lan aanood | Sool | 132.00 | 32.30 | 12.70 | 24.20 | LAS VEGAS | BWh | Hot desert climates |
| Berbera | Saxil | 11.00 | 42.00 | 20.50 | 30.20 | Jeddah | BWh | Hot desert climates |
| GUDAADO | Sanaag | 482.00 | 22.30 | 3.70 | 14.60 | Aleppo | BSk | Cold semi-arid climates |
| Celaya | Sanaag | 442.00 | 23.80 | 5.00 | 15.70 | Aleppo | BSk | Cold semi-arid climates |
| FADHI WEYN | Togdheer | 585.00 | 25.20 | 5.20 | 16.40 | Aleppo | BSk | Cold semi-arid climates |
| Erigavo | Sanaag | 412.00 | 25.00 | 6.70 | 17.20 | Aleppo | BSk | Cold semi-arid climates |
| kala baydh | Gabiley | 598.00 | 28.50 | 8.70 | 20.00 | SAN BERNARDINO | BSh | Hot semi-arid climates |
| Borama | Awdal | 548.00 | 30.00 | 9.70 | 20.90 | SAN BERNARDINO | BSh | Hot semi-arid climates |
| allahbaday | Gabiley | 547.00 | 29.50 | 9.60 | 20.90 | SAN BERNARDINO | BSh | Hot semi-arid climates |
| Gebiley | Gebiley | 532.00 | 29.40 | 9.80 | 20.80 | SAN BERNARDINO | BSh | Hot semi-arid climates |
| Faraweyne | Maroodijeex | 499.00 | 30.00 | 10.20 | 21.40 | SAN BERNARDINO | BSh | Hot semi-arid climates |
| Gadhka Yagolka | Maroodijeex | 498.00 | 29.80 | 10.00 | 20.80 | SAN BERNARDINO | BSh | Hot semi-arid climates |
| Wado baris | Maroodijeex | 472.00 | 30.20 | 10.40 | 21.50 | SAN BERNARDINO | BSh | Hot semi-arid climates |
| Sheekh | Togdheer | 466.00 | 28.60 | 7.90 | 19.10 | SAN BERNARDINO | BSh | Hot semi-arid climates |
| hargeisa | Maroodijeex | 409.00 | 31.30 | 11.70 | 22.00 | SAN BERNARDINO | BSh | Hot semi-arid climates |
| Jufa | Gabiley | 630.00 | 28.30 | 8.20 | 19.50 | SAN BERNARDINO | BSh | Hot semi-arid climates |
| Cad-Madooni | Gabiley | 628.00 | 28.40 | 8.40 | 19.70 | SAN BERNARDINO | BSh | Hot semi-arid climates |
| Dilla | Awdal | 608.00 | 28.80 | 8.60 | 19.90 | SAN BERNARDINO | BSh | Hot semi-arid climates |
| ARROBERAR | Gabiley | 604.00 | 28.40 | 8.60 | 19.80 | SAN BERNARDINO | BSh | Hot semi-arid climates |
| Gacan Libah | Maroodijeex | 531.00 | 27.40 | 7.10 | 18.10 | SAN BERNARDINO | BSh | Hot semi-arid climates |
Best Weather in Somaliland goes to Magaala Qalooc (the twisted city) it is located in Awdal region close to the Ethiopian border. I have never heard of it before but defiantly on the list of places to visit. It as the same weather as Addis Abeba and it receives the biggest amount of rain in the country.
Second Best goes to Fadhi Weyn area in togdheer region next to Shiekh city. It has similar weather to Aleppo but double the amount of rainfall. In this category also we have Gudaado, Celaya and Erigavo. All of these are near Mount Shimbiris in Sanag region - the highest point in Somaliland. While Gudaado has relatively cooler weather, the difference in annual rain level is so huge that Fadhi Weyn aka the Big Seat deserves to be the second best weather in the country.
The third place goes to western regions. It includes Hargeisa, Gabliey and Borama. The rainfall and temperature are quite similar. It is hard for me to choose between Gacan Libah and Jufa. They are very different land types so I feel like comparing apples to oranges. So for this group, the winner could be any of these wonderful areas. Yea, these cities have a similar climate to San Bernardino in California (with double amount of rains)
Last but not least, we have the hot desert areas. The city of Burco has relatively better conditions in terms of temperate and rainfall while Berbera feels like hell on earth. Funny enough, Las Vegas and Las Anod share parts of the name and the weather as well.