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Bandung, the capital of West Java, sits in a highland basin ringed by volcanoes at around 700–800 metres above sea level, some 140 km southeast of Jakarta, at approximately -6.92°S, 107.61°E. Its elevation tempers the equatorial heat to give a mild tropical monsoon climate — warm days, cool nights — with a clear wet season and dry season, and a reputation as a cool retreat from the sweltering lowlands.
There is no summer in the temperate sense: temperatures stay mild and steady all year, with daytime highs around 28–30°C and comfortably cool nights near 18–20°C, thanks to the altitude. The wet season, from November to April, brings heavy afternoon and evening downpours and thunderstorms with abundant cloud, greening the volcanic basin, while mornings often begin bright.
There is no true winter, but the dry season from May to September brings sunnier, drier days and pleasantly cool nights, sometimes dropping below 17°C on the clearest nights. This bright, mild stretch — particularly July to September — is comfortably the best time of year, and the cool evening air is the reason the Dutch made Bandung a hill retreat.
Bandung receives on the order of 1,800–2,000 mm of rain a year, concentrated in the wet season from November to April, when heavy afternoon thunderstorms are near-daily, while the dry season from June to September is markedly drier. Live rainfall, humidity, and pressure readings for the city are shown in the panels above.
Bandung's highland basin, ringed by volcanoes, gives it the cool, spring-like air that made it a colonial hill station and still draws visitors escaping Jakarta's heat. Its enclosed setting can trap cool, misty air on clear nights, and the surrounding volcanic slopes wring heavy rain from the monsoon, feeding the tea plantations that carpet the hills.
To follow any single measurement in Bandung more closely, use our live instruments: the online barometer for atmospheric pressure, the thermometer for temperature, the hygrometer for humidity, the anemometer for wind speed, the wind vane for wind direction, and the rain gauge for rainfall.