Benguela climate

Name: Benguela
Address: AO

Benguela is warmest in April, with average highs of 30 °C, and coldest in July, when nights average 18 °C. March is the wettest month (101 mm) and August the driest (1.0 mm). Figures are 1991–2020 climate normals.

Across a full year Benguela averages 308 mm of rain and 293 days above 25 °C.

Angola · population 555,124 · 1991–2020 normals

Temperature below 0 °C to above 30 °C Rain band height is that month’s share of the wettest month

Warmest month April 30 °C
Coldest month July 18 °C
Driest month August 1 mm
Wettest month March 101 mm
Least cloud May 43 % cloud
Hottest on record October 35 °C
Coldest on record August 15 °C
Warmest sea March 28 °C

What to expectBenguela through the year

Benguela has a clear annual cycle: average daily highs run from 24 °C in July to 30 °C in April, a swing of 6.3 °C in mean temperature across the year.

Counted across a normal year, 293 days a year reach 25 °C, 62 of them reach 30 °C. The warmest reading in the 1991–2020 record is 35 °C, in October.

Rain is strongly seasonal. March averages 101 mm against 1 mm in August — 100 times as much. Planning around the dry months matters more here than planning around temperature.

The sea off Benguela is warmest in March at 28 °C and coldest in August at 21 °C. Sea temperature lags the air by a month or two, which is why late summer swims warmer than early summer at the same air temperature.

Month by month

Month	Avg high	Rainfall	Cloud
January	29.0 °C	40 mm	79 %
February	29.6 °C	50 mm	81 %
March	29.7 °C	101 mm	82 %
April	30.1 °C	45 mm	62 %
May	28.9 °C	2 mm	43 %
June	25.9 °C	2 mm	53 %
July	24.1 °C	2 mm	63 %
August	24.0 °C	1 mm	61 %
September	25.4 °C	2 mm	53 %
October	27.4 °C	5 mm	59 %
November	28.8 °C	19 mm	67 %
December	28.6 °C	39 mm	79 %

Temperature month by month

Month	Avg high	Avg low	Mean	Record high	Record low	Days above 25 °C	Days above 30 °C
January	29.0 °C	23.5 °C	26.0 °C	32.7 °C	19.0 °C	31	7
February	29.6 °C	24.1 °C	26.5 °C	34.5 °C	19.7 °C	28	11
March	29.7 °C	24.8 °C	26.9 °C	34.0 °C	21.2 °C	31	13
April	30.1 °C	24.7 °C	27.0 °C	34.5 °C	19.6 °C	30	15
May	28.9 °C	22.5 °C	25.4 °C	34.0 °C	18.0 °C	31	8
June	25.9 °C	19.4 °C	22.4 °C	30.9 °C	16.3 °C	21	0
July	24.1 °C	18.0 °C	20.8 °C	28.3 °C	15.0 °C	6	0
August	24.0 °C	18.1 °C	20.7 °C	27.7 °C	14.8 °C	5	0
September	25.4 °C	19.6 °C	22.1 °C	28.7 °C	16.9 °C	19	0
October	27.4 °C	21.7 °C	24.1 °C	34.7 °C	18.4 °C	30	1
November	28.8 °C	23.3 °C	25.6 °C	31.7 °C	20.2 °C	30	4
December	28.6 °C	23.4 °C	25.7 °C	32.9 °C	19.5 °C	31	4

Rain, sun and wind month by month

Month	Rainfall	Wet days	Daylight	Cloud cover	Humidity	Wind	Sea temp
January	40 mm	6	13 h/day	79 %	74 %	18 km/h	26.1 °C
February	50 mm	5	13 h/day	81 %	74 %	18 km/h	27.3 °C
March	101 mm	11	12 h/day	82 %	80 %	16 km/h	28.0 °C
April	45 mm	6	12 h/day	62 %	80 %	16 km/h	27.4 °C
May	2 mm	0	12 h/day	43 %	78 %	17 km/h	25.9 °C
June	2 mm	0	11 h/day	53 %	80 %	16 km/h	23.5 °C
July	2 mm	0	11 h/day	63 %	81 %	15 km/h	21.7 °C
August	1 mm	0	12 h/day	61 %	78 %	16 km/h	20.7 °C
September	2 mm	0	12 h/day	53 %	76 %	18 km/h	21.2 °C
October	5 mm	2	12 h/day	59 %	75 %	20 km/h	23.5 °C
November	19 mm	4	13 h/day	67 %	74 %	19 km/h	25.7 °C
December	39 mm	6	13 h/day	79 %	75 %	18 km/h	25.9 °C

How Benguela compares

The same four figures for nearby destinations, so the numbers above have something to be read against. Summer high is the warmest month's average high; winter low is the coldest month's average low.

Destination	Summer high	Winter low	Rain per year	Days above 25 °C
Benguela	30 °C	18 °C	308 mm	293
Bocoio · Angola	29 °C	13 °C	1,290 mm	341
Sumbe · Angola	29 °C	19 °C	537 mm	295
Huambo · Angola	29 °C	9.1 °C	1,221 mm	151
Lubango · Angola	29 °C	10 °C	1,471 mm	141
Mossamedes · Angola	30 °C	15 °C	116 mm	245
Calumbo · Angola	33 °C	18 °C	549 mm	365

Where Benguela ranks

Ranking	Position	Value
Best beach destinations in Africa year-round	2ndof 50	92/100
Best beach destinations in Africa in May	3rdof 50	99/100
Best beach destinations in the world in May	3rdof 50	99/100
Best beach destinations in the world year-round	3rdof 50	92/100
Best beach destinations in Africa in November	4thof 50	97/100
Best beach destinations in Africa in January	8thof 50	94/100

Planning a trip? See the best time to visit Benguela.

QuestionsCommon questions about Benguela’s climate

When is the best time to visit Benguela?

That depends on what you want, so the honest answer is a comparison rather than a single month. July, August, September sit closest to 20 °C on average, April is the warmest month and August the driest. The month-by-month table above has the full picture.

How hot does Benguela get?

In April, the warmest month, daily highs average 30 °C. About 62 days a year pass 30 °C. The highest value in the 1991–2020 record is 35 °C.

How cold does it get in winter?

Nights average 18 °C in July, the coldest month. Freezing nights are not part of a normal year here.

Which month is wettest in Benguela?

March, averaging 101 mm over 11 days with rain. The driest month is August with 1 mm. The year as a whole averages 308 mm.

Are these figures a forecast?

No. They are 1991–2020 climate normals: the average of thirty years, which describes what a month is usually like in Benguela rather than what any particular week will bring. Individual years can differ substantially from the normal.

Data sources and method

ERA5 / ERA5-Land reanalysis — Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), ECMWF. Copernicus Licence
Open-Meteo — Open-Meteo.com. CC BY 4.0
NOAA OISST v2.1 — NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory. Public domain
GeoNames — GeoNames.org. CC BY 4.0

Normal period: 1991–2020
Dataset version: era5-1991-2020-scores1.1
Last processed: 1 August 2026

Measured values come from ERA5 reanalysis and are reproduced unchanged. Calculated by us: monthly rankings, daylight hours, beach and comfort scores. Full formulas are on the methodology page.

Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026. Neither the European Commission nor ECMWF is responsible for any use that may be made of the Copernicus information or data it contains.