Port Harcourt, the centre of Nigeria's oil industry, sits on the Bonny River in the Niger Delta of southern Nigeria, on low, swampy ground near the Gulf of Guinea at approximately 4.82°N, 7.03°E. It has a tropical monsoon climate (Köppen Am) — hot, humid and among the wettest cities in Nigeria — with a very long rainy season.

There is little seasonal change in temperature: it stays hot and humid year-round, with highs around 30–32°C and warm, sticky nights. The rainy season runs from March to October, drenching the delta with near-daily downpours and thunderstorms; September is typically the wettest month, and the sun shines for only about three hours a day at the peak of the rains.

There is no true winter, but the drier season from December to February brings warm, sunnier days around 32–33°C, less rain and marginally lower humidity. Even then no month is completely dry, and the Harmattan reaches the delta only weakly, so the oppressive humidity persists nearly all year.

Port Harcourt is very wet, receiving on the order of 2,400–2,700 mm of rain a year, among the highest totals in Nigeria, concentrated in the long rainy season from March to October with a September peak; even the driest months see substantial rain. Live rainfall, humidity, and pressure readings for the city are shown in the panels above.

Port Harcourt's position in the low-lying, swampy Niger Delta, drenched by over two metres of rain a year, makes flooding a chronic hazard, worsened by poor drainage in the rapidly growing city. The relentless humidity and cloud mean the sun is rarely seen for long during the eight-month rainy season.

To follow any single measurement in Port Harcourt 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.