West Island climate
West Island is warmest in April, with average highs of 28 °C, and coldest in September, when nights average 25 °C. March is the wettest month (207 mm) and October the driest (54 mm). Figures are 1991–2020 climate normals.
Across a full year West Island averages 1,483 mm of rain and 353 days above 25 °C.
Cocos Islands · population 120 · 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 28 °C
- Coldest month September 25 °C
- Driest month October 54 mm
- Wettest month March 207 mm
- Least cloud August 55 % cloud
- Hottest on record May 29 °C
- Coldest on record September 23 °C
- Warmest sea March 29 °C
What to expectWest Island through the year
West Island changes little through the year. Average daily highs stay between 26 and 28 °C, so no month stands out as a season in the way it would further from the equator.
Counted across a normal year, 353 days a year reach 25 °C. The warmest reading in the 1991–2020 record is 29 °C, in May.
Rain is strongly seasonal. March averages 207 mm against 54 mm in October — 3.9 times as much. Planning around the dry months matters more here than planning around temperature.
The sea off West Island is warmest in March at 29 °C and coldest in September at 27 °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 | 27.0 °C | 119 mm | 59 % |
| February | 27.4 °C | 178 mm | 63 % |
| March | 27.5 °C | 207 mm | 64 % |
| April | 27.5 °C | 199 mm | 62 % |
| May | 27.3 °C | 135 mm | 58 % |
| June | 26.8 °C | 125 mm | 58 % |
| July | 26.3 °C | 122 mm | 59 % |
| August | 25.9 °C | 72 mm | 55 % |
| September | 25.7 °C | 59 mm | 57 % |
| October | 25.9 °C | 54 mm | 56 % |
| November | 26.2 °C | 94 mm | 61 % |
| December | 26.5 °C | 118 mm | 61 % |
Temperature month by month
| Month | Avg high | Avg low | Mean | Record high | Record low | Days above 25 °C | Days above 30 °C | Days below 0 °C |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 27.0 °C | 25.7 °C | 26.4 °C | 29.2 °C | 23.7 °C | 31 | 0 | 0 |
| February | 27.4 °C | 26.0 °C | 26.7 °C | 29.1 °C | 23.0 °C | 28 | 0 | 0 |
| March | 27.5 °C | 26.0 °C | 26.8 °C | 29.1 °C | 24.0 °C | 31 | 0 | 0 |
| April | 27.5 °C | 26.1 °C | 26.9 °C | 29.3 °C | 24.6 °C | 30 | 0 | 0 |
| May | 27.3 °C | 26.0 °C | 26.7 °C | 29.4 °C | 23.6 °C | 31 | 0 | 0 |
| June | 26.8 °C | 25.6 °C | 26.3 °C | 28.6 °C | 23.7 °C | 30 | 0 | 0 |
| July | 26.3 °C | 25.1 °C | 25.7 °C | 28.6 °C | 22.9 °C | 30 | 0 | 0 |
| August | 25.9 °C | 24.8 °C | 25.4 °C | 27.5 °C | 23.1 °C | 28 | 0 | 0 |
| September | 25.7 °C | 24.6 °C | 25.2 °C | 27.5 °C | 22.7 °C | 26 | 0 | 0 |
| October | 25.9 °C | 24.9 °C | 25.4 °C | 27.9 °C | 22.8 °C | 28 | 0 | 0 |
| November | 26.2 °C | 25.2 °C | 25.8 °C | 28.1 °C | 23.3 °C | 29 | 0 | 0 |
| December | 26.5 °C | 25.4 °C | 26.0 °C | 28.3 °C | 23.6 °C | 31 | 0 | 0 |
Rain, sun and wind month by month
| Month | Rainfall | Wet days | Daylight | Cloud cover | Humidity | Wind | Sea temp |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 119 mm | 13 | 13 h/day | 59 % | 79 % | 25 km/h | 28.0 °C |
| February | 178 mm | 16 | 13 h/day | 63 % | 80 % | 24 km/h | 28.4 °C |
| March | 207 mm | 20 | 12 h/day | 64 % | 82 % | 26 km/h | 28.6 °C |
| April | 199 mm | 19 | 12 h/day | 62 % | 82 % | 29 km/h | 28.5 °C |
| May | 135 mm | 18 | 12 h/day | 58 % | 82 % | 32 km/h | 28.2 °C |
| June | 125 mm | 18 | 11 h/day | 58 % | 81 % | 34 km/h | 27.7 °C |
| July | 122 mm | 18 | 11 h/day | 59 % | 80 % | 36 km/h | 27.2 °C |
| August | 72 mm | 14 | 12 h/day | 55 % | 78 % | 36 km/h | 26.8 °C |
| September | 59 mm | 9 | 12 h/day | 57 % | 77 % | 35 km/h | 26.5 °C |
| October | 54 mm | 7 | 12 h/day | 56 % | 78 % | 33 km/h | 26.7 °C |
| November | 94 mm | 8 | 13 h/day | 61 % | 78 % | 32 km/h | 26.9 °C |
| December | 118 mm | 10 | 13 h/day | 61 % | 78 % | 29 km/h | 27.3 °C |
Where West Island ranks
| Ranking | Position | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Best beach destinations in Asia in October | 36thof 50 | 90/100 |
| Best beach destinations in Asia in September | 38thof 50 | 86/100 |
| Best beach destinations in Asia year-round | 45thof 50 | 77/100 |
Planning a trip? See the best time to visit West Island.
QuestionsCommon questions about West Island’s climate
When is the best time to visit West Island?
That depends on what you want, so the honest answer is a comparison rather than a single month. August, September, October sit closest to 20 °C on average, April is the warmest month and October the driest. The month-by-month table above has the full picture.
How hot does West Island get?
In April, the warmest month, daily highs average 28 °C. The highest value in the 1991–2020 record is 29 °C.
How cold does it get in winter?
Nights average 25 °C in September, the coldest month. Freezing nights are not part of a normal year here.
Which month is wettest in West Island?
March, averaging 207 mm over 20 days with rain. The driest month is October with 54 mm. The year as a whole averages 1,483 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 West Island 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
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.