Blantyre climate

Name: Blantyre
Address: MW

Blantyre is warmest in November, with average highs of 29 °C, and coldest in July, when nights average 11 °C. January is the wettest month (310 mm) and August the driest (6.8 mm). Figures are 1991–2020 climate normals.

Across a full year Blantyre averages 1,099 mm of rain and 191 days above 25 °C.

Malawi · population 902,588 · 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 November 29 °C
Coldest month July 11 °C
Driest month August 7 mm
Wettest month January 310 mm
Least cloud September 26 % cloud
Hottest on record October 37 °C
Coldest on record July 5.5 °C

What to expectBlantyre through the year

Blantyre has a clear annual cycle: average daily highs run from 21 °C in July to 29 °C in November, a swing of 7.9 °C in mean temperature across the year.

Counted across a normal year, 191 days a year reach 25 °C, 28 of them reach 30 °C. The warmest reading in the 1991–2020 record is 37 °C, in October.

Rain is strongly seasonal. January averages 310 mm against 7 mm in August — 46 times as much. Planning around the dry months matters more here than planning around temperature.

Month by month

Month	Avg high	Rainfall	Cloud
January	25.6 °C	310 mm	81 %
February	25.5 °C	197 mm	75 %
March	25.3 °C	156 mm	64 %
April	24.3 °C	49 mm	46 %
May	23.2 °C	14 mm	35 %
June	21.5 °C	12 mm	36 %
July	20.9 °C	15 mm	40 %
August	23.6 °C	7 mm	30 %
September	27.0 °C	8 mm	26 %
October	28.7 °C	29 mm	32 %
November	28.9 °C	87 mm	49 %
December	26.8 °C	217 mm	73 %

Temperature month by month

Month	Avg high	Avg low	Mean	Record high	Record low	Days above 25 °C	Days above 30 °C
January	25.6 °C	19.0 °C	22.0 °C	31.3 °C	14.1 °C	20	0
February	25.5 °C	18.6 °C	21.8 °C	33.4 °C	13.9 °C	18	0
March	25.3 °C	18.1 °C	21.4 °C	30.8 °C	12.3 °C	18	0
April	24.3 °C	16.2 °C	20.1 °C	29.9 °C	10.1 °C	11	0
May	23.2 °C	13.8 °C	18.4 °C	30.2 °C	8.5 °C	6	0
June	21.5 °C	11.9 °C	16.5 °C	27.3 °C	6.7 °C	2	0
July	20.9 °C	11.3 °C	15.9 °C	27.7 °C	5.5 °C	2	0
August	23.6 °C	12.5 °C	18.0 °C	30.3 °C	6.8 °C	10	0
September	27.0 °C	15.3 °C	21.1 °C	33.4 °C	7.9 °C	24	4
October	28.7 °C	17.6 °C	23.2 °C	36.5 °C	8.5 °C	28	11
November	28.9 °C	19.0 °C	23.9 °C	36.0 °C	10.7 °C	27	11
December	26.8 °C	19.1 °C	22.7 °C	33.4 °C	13.7 °C	25	2

Rain, sun and wind month by month

Month	Rainfall	Wet days	Daylight	Cloud cover	Humidity	Wind
January	310 mm	25	13 h/day	81 %	84 %	12 km/h
February	197 mm	20	13 h/day	75 %	83 %	12 km/h
March	156 mm	19	12 h/day	64 %	83 %	13 km/h
April	49 mm	10	12 h/day	46 %	78 %	13 km/h
May	14 mm	4	11 h/day	35 %	72 %	13 km/h
June	12 mm	4	11 h/day	36 %	71 %	13 km/h
July	15 mm	5	11 h/day	40 %	70 %	13 km/h
August	7 mm	2	12 h/day	30 %	62 %	14 km/h
September	8 mm	2	12 h/day	26 %	53 %	16 km/h
October	29 mm	5	12 h/day	32 %	54 %	16 km/h
November	87 mm	12	13 h/day	49 %	62 %	15 km/h
December	217 mm	22	13 h/day	73 %	78 %	13 km/h

How Blantyre 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
Blantyre	29 °C	11 °C	1,099 mm	191
Tete · Mozambique	36 °C	17 °C	667 mm	353
Gurúè · Mozambique	30 °C	13 °C	1,462 mm	248
Lilongwe · Malawi	30 °C	11 °C	705 mm	224
Mocuba · Mozambique	35 °C	16 °C	928 mm	333
Lichinga · Mozambique	27 °C	9.8 °C	1,090 mm	109
Quelimane · Mozambique	31 °C	18 °C	889 mm	332

Where Blantyre ranks

Ranking	Position	Value
Places with the best weather in Africa in August	3rd of 50	97/100
Places with the best weather in the world in August	4th of 50	97/100
Places with the best weather in Africa in May	12th of 50	96/100
Places with the best weather in the world in May	24th of 50	96/100
Places with the best weather in Africa in June	26th of 50	95/100
Places with the best weather in Africa in July	28th of 50	95/100

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

QuestionsCommon questions about Blantyre’s climate

When is the best time to visit Blantyre?

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

How hot does Blantyre get?

In November, the warmest month, daily highs average 29 °C. About 28 days a year pass 30 °C. The highest value in the 1991–2020 record is 37 °C.

How cold does it get in winter?

Nights average 11 °C in July, the coldest month. Freezing nights are not part of a normal year here.

Which month is wettest in Blantyre?

January, averaging 310 mm over 25 days with rain. The driest month is August with 7 mm. The year as a whole averages 1,099 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 Blantyre 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
Data point: -15.785°, 35.009° (the coordinates the reanalysis values are taken for)
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.