Tarakan climate

Name: Tarakan
Address: ID

Tarakan is warmest in May, with average highs of 29 °C, and coldest in December, when nights average 25 °C. December is the wettest month (310 mm) and February the driest (207 mm). Figures are 1991–2020 climate normals.

Across a full year Tarakan averages 3,063 mm of rain and 365 days above 25 °C.

Indonesia · population 255,310 · 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 May 29 °C
Coldest month December 25 °C
Driest month February 207 mm
Wettest month December 310 mm
Least cloud April 73 % cloud
Hottest on record November 36 °C
Coldest on record February 23 °C
Warmest sea May 30 °C

What to expectTarakan through the year

Tarakan changes little through the year. Average daily highs stay between 28 and 29 °C, so no month stands out as a season in the way it would further from the equator.

Counted across a normal year, 365 days a year reach 25 °C, 16 of them reach 30 °C. The warmest reading in the 1991–2020 record is 36 °C, in November.

Rain is spread fairly evenly through the year, from 207 mm in February to 310 mm in December. There is no dry season to aim for.

The sea off Tarakan is warmest in May at 30 °C and coldest in January at 29 °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	27.6 °C	275 mm	84 %
February	27.8 °C	207 mm	81 %
March	28.0 °C	247 mm	76 %
April	28.5 °C	245 mm	73 %
May	28.7 °C	277 mm	76 %
June	28.5 °C	238 mm	77 %
July	28.4 °C	222 mm	77 %
August	28.5 °C	225 mm	74 %
September	28.5 °C	245 mm	75 %
October	28.4 °C	281 mm	81 %
November	28.2 °C	294 mm	82 %
December	28.0 °C	310 mm	86 %

Temperature month by month

Month	Avg high	Avg low	Mean	Record high	Record low	Days above 25 °C	Days above 30 °C
January	27.6 °C	24.5 °C	26.2 °C	32.4 °C	22.8 °C	31	1
February	27.8 °C	24.6 °C	26.3 °C	31.2 °C	22.6 °C	28	1
March	28.0 °C	24.7 °C	26.5 °C	35.5 °C	22.8 °C	31	1
April	28.5 °C	24.9 °C	26.8 °C	31.7 °C	23.1 °C	30	1
May	28.7 °C	25.1 °C	27.0 °C	33.9 °C	23.3 °C	31	2
June	28.5 °C	25.0 °C	26.9 °C	31.3 °C	22.6 °C	30	1
July	28.4 °C	24.8 °C	26.7 °C	32.1 °C	22.8 °C	31	1
August	28.5 °C	24.8 °C	26.8 °C	31.3 °C	22.6 °C	31	2
September	28.5 °C	24.7 °C	26.7 °C	31.8 °C	23.0 °C	30	2
October	28.4 °C	24.7 °C	26.7 °C	32.8 °C	22.8 °C	31	1
November	28.2 °C	24.6 °C	26.5 °C	35.6 °C	22.8 °C	30	1
December	28.0 °C	24.5 °C	26.4 °C	32.8 °C	22.8 °C	31	1

Rain, sun and wind month by month

Month	Rainfall	Wet days	Daylight	Cloud cover	Humidity	Wind	Sea temp
January	275 mm	27	12 h/day	84 %	84 %	14 km/h	28.6 °C
February	207 mm	24	12 h/day	81 %	83 %	15 km/h	28.6 °C
March	247 mm	28	12 h/day	76 %	83 %	14 km/h	29.1 °C
April	245 mm	28	12 h/day	73 %	84 %	13 km/h	29.7 °C
May	277 mm	29	12 h/day	76 %	84 %	13 km/h	29.8 °C
June	238 mm	27	12 h/day	77 %	84 %	12 km/h	29.5 °C
July	222 mm	27	12 h/day	77 %	83 %	13 km/h	29.2 °C
August	225 mm	27	12 h/day	74 %	83 %	14 km/h	29.1 °C
September	245 mm	27	12 h/day	75 %	84 %	13 km/h	29.3 °C
October	281 mm	29	12 h/day	81 %	84 %	12 km/h	29.3 °C
November	294 mm	29	12 h/day	82 %	85 %	12 km/h	29.3 °C
December	310 mm	30	12 h/day	86 %	85 %	13 km/h	29.0 °C

How Tarakan 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
Tarakan	29 °C	25 °C	3,063 mm	365
Tawau · Malaysia	30 °C	24 °C	2,271 mm	365
Sandakan · Malaysia	30 °C	24 °C	2,967 mm	364
Kota Kinabalu · Malaysia	29 °C	23 °C	2,615 mm	364
Bandar Seri Begawan · Brunei	30 °C	24 °C	2,363 mm	365
Bontang · Indonesia	30 °C	24 °C	2,776 mm	365
Miri · Malaysia	30 °C	24 °C	2,631 mm	365

Where Tarakan ranks

Ranking	Position	Value
Warmest sea temperatures in Asia year-round	38thof 50	29 °C
Warmest sea temperatures in Asia in December	39thof 50	29 °C
Warmest sea temperatures in the world year-round	40thof 50	29 °C
Warmest sea temperatures in Asia in March	43rdof 50	29 °C
Warmest sea temperatures in Asia in February	45thof 50	29 °C
Warmest sea temperatures in Asia in January	45thof 50	29 °C

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

QuestionsCommon questions about Tarakan’s climate

When is the best time to visit Tarakan?

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

How hot does Tarakan get?

In May, the warmest month, daily highs average 29 °C. About 16 days a year pass 30 °C. The highest value in the 1991–2020 record is 36 °C.

How cold does it get in winter?

Nights average 25 °C in December, the coldest month. Freezing nights are not part of a normal year here.

Which month is wettest in Tarakan?

December, averaging 310 mm over 30 days with rain. The driest month is February with 207 mm. The year as a whole averages 3,063 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 Tarakan 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.