The dry season runs roughly from November to April and is the easiest time to be in Makeni. Days are hot, often above 35°C in March, but the roads to the surrounding chiefdoms and parks are passable and the dust is preferable to the mud.
The rains start in May and peak from July to September, when the city is regularly cut off from outlying villages and the unpaved roads turn to slurry. The compensation is the green — the surrounding country is at its most beautiful, and the air feels cleaner once the harmattan haze has been washed away.
December and January bring the harmattan, the dry Saharan wind that drops a fine red dust over everything and softens the sky to a pale haze. Nights are cool. It is the best month to climb in the Loma Mountains.