Colombo Sea Temperature

Looking to find out what the sea water temperature in Colombo is for today and the next few days? Below are data and charts that will give you information about sea temperatures in Colombo and nearby locations.

Analysis and forecast for Colombo water temperatures

The water temperature in Colombo today is higher than the average temperature of 29.8° C (85.64° F) and the temperature on this day last year, 10th May 2023, was 30.15° C (86.27° F).

The chart and table below shows the change in water temperature in Colombo over the last 30 days:

The actual nearshore temperatures may vary by several degrees and this can also be heavily affected by weather. Strong winds can cause cold, deep waters to replace the surface waters that had been warmed by the sun, and heavy rain can also reduce the temperature of the sea surface temperature as well.

Water temperature in Colombo by month

The chart below shows the monthly average water temperature in Colombo.

For more detailed information on how the sea temperature in Colombo changes for each month of the year, choose from the months below.

Colombo map and nearby water temperatures

Locations near Colombo

Peliyagoda

Sri Lanka, Asia

3.74 miles away

Wattala

Sri Lanka, Asia

4.91 miles away

Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia

Sri Lanka, Asia

6.82 miles away

Moratuwa

Sri Lanka, Asia

9.82 miles away

Panadura

Sri Lanka, Asia

15.29 miles away

Katunayake

Sri Lanka, Asia

17.04 miles away

The highest temperature in Sri Lanka today is 30.41° C (86.74° F) in Mannar. The lowest is in Beruwala, where the temperature of the water is 29.52° C (85.13° F).

Why measure sea surface temperatures (SST) in Colombo?

The ocean covers about 71% of the Earth's surface, and scientists record the sea surface temperature (SST) of locations such as Colombo because they want to understand and learn how the ocean communicates with the atomosphere of Earth.

SST is one measure that provides information on the global climate, and it can be used to predict the weather in Colombo as well as atmospheric model simulations and to study marine ecosystems in the area.

Data source and citation

Raw data for the calculations made to find the sea surface temperature in Colombo comes from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and their 1/4° daily Optimum Interpolation Sea Surface Temperature.

The water temperature data is constructed by combining observations from different platforms (satellites, ships, buoys, and Argo floats) on a regular global grid. A spatially complete sea surface temperature map is then built by interpolating to fill in gaps in the data.

If you'd like to use any of the information above in the format it is presented, please use the citation tool below.