Kitale

Kitale is a town in the north west of Kenya, in the former Rift Valley province, between Mount Elgon and the Cherangany Hills. It has an elevation of around 1900 metres (6200 ft).^[3] Its population was 162174 as of 2019.^[1][4] It is the location of Kitale Airport.^[5]

Kitale
Municipality
Downtown Kitale
Nickname:  KTL
Kitale Location in Kenya
Coordinates: 1°01′N 35°00′E
Country	Kenya
County	Trans-Nzoia County
Elevation	1,900 m (6,200 ft)
Population  (2019)
• Total	162174 [1][2]
Time zone	UTC+3 (EAT)

The National Museum of Western Kenya in Kitale is a natural history museum.^[6]

Location

Kitale lies between Mount Elgon and Cherang'any Hills is 72.3 km (44.9 mi) by road north west of Eldoret.

History

In 1920, Arthur Champion, the colonial district commissioner, established a new administrative centre in the Trans Nzoia region, at the future site of the township of Kitale.^[7]

In 1930, locusts caused extensive damage to crops.^[8]

Climate

Kitale has a temperate oceanic climate (Köppen climate classification Cfb) very closely bordering on Cwb.

Climate data for Kitale (1961–1990, extremes 1921–present)
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Record high °C (°F)	36.0 (96.8)	35.2 (95.4)	37.8 (100.0)	33.0 (91.4)	33.3 (91.9)	29.2 (84.6)	27.8 (82.0)	30.0 (86.0)	29.8 (85.6)	29.8 (85.6)	33.0 (91.4)	33.6 (92.5)	37.8 (100.0)
Mean daily maximum °C (°F)	27.0 (80.6)	27.7 (81.9)	27.5 (81.5)	25.8 (78.4)	24.8 (76.6)	24.1 (75.4)	23.3 (73.9)	23.7 (74.7)	24.8 (76.6)	25.1 (77.2)	24.9 (76.8)	25.7 (78.3)	25.4 (77.7)
Daily mean °C (°F)	18.8 (65.8)	19.5 (67.1)	19.8 (67.6)	19.3 (66.7)	18.7 (65.7)	17.9 (64.2)	17.4 (63.3)	17.5 (63.5)	17.9 (64.2)	18.3 (64.9)	18.1 (64.6)	18.1 (64.6)	18.4 (65.1)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F)	10.5 (50.9)	11.4 (52.5)	12.0 (53.6)	12.9 (55.2)	12.6 (54.7)	11.7 (53.1)	11.6 (52.9)	11.3 (52.3)	11.0 (51.8)	11.5 (52.7)	11.3 (52.3)	10.5 (50.9)	11.5 (52.7)
Record low °C (°F)	6.0 (42.8)	6.0 (42.8)	7.0 (44.6)	7.4 (45.3)	7.3 (45.1)	7.0 (44.6)	8.0 (46.4)	6.5 (43.7)	7.0 (44.6)	7.0 (44.6)	5.0 (41.0)	5.8 (42.4)	5.0 (41.0)
Average precipitation mm (inches)	20.4 (0.80)	52.2 (2.06)	102.5 (4.04)	190.3 (7.49)	198.4 (7.81)	101.1 (3.98)	123.3 (4.85)	150.9 (5.94)	102.8 (4.05)	91.5 (3.60)	90.9 (3.58)	34.8 (1.37)	1,259.1 (49.57)
Average precipitation days (≥ 1.0 mm)	8	13	14	13	17	15	13	14	13	7	5	5	137
Average relative humidity (%)	50	52	54	66	70	70	73	72	67	63	63	56	63
Mean monthly sunshine hours	257.3	218.4	226.3	195.0	210.8	207.0	192.2	201.5	210.0	223.2	207.0	254.2	2,602.9
Mean daily sunshine hours	8.3	7.8	7.3	6.5	6.8	6.9	6.2	6.5	7.0	7.2	6.9	8.2	7.1
Source 1: NOAA[9]
Source 2: Deutscher Wetterdienst (humidity, 1961–1990),[10] Meteo Climat (record highs and lows)[11]