Lilongwe climate

Name: Lilongwe
Address: MW

Lilongwe is warmest in November, with average highs of 30 °C, and coldest in July, when nights average 11 °C. January is the wettest month (209 mm) and August the driest (0.7 mm). Figures are 1991–2020 climate normals.

Across a full year Lilongwe averages 705 mm of rain and 224 days above 25 °C.

Malawi · population 1,115,815 · 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 30 °C
Coldest month July 11 °C
Driest month August 1 mm
Wettest month January 209 mm
Least cloud September 19 % cloud
Hottest on record October 36 °C
Coldest on record July 5.7 °C

What to expectLilongwe through the year

Lilongwe has a clear annual cycle: average daily highs run from 23 °C in July to 30 °C in November, a swing of 7.6 °C in mean temperature across the year.

Counted across a normal year, 224 days a year reach 25 °C, 34 of them reach 30 °C. The warmest reading in the 1991–2020 record is 36 °C, in October.

Rain is strongly seasonal. January averages 209 mm against 1 mm in August — 311 times as much. Planning around the dry months matters more here than planning around temperature.

Month by month

Month	Avg high	Rainfall	Cloud
January	25.7 °C	209 mm	88 %
February	25.6 °C	163 mm	83 %
March	25.4 °C	113 mm	71 %
April	25.3 °C	25 mm	45 %
May	24.9 °C	4 mm	31 %
June	23.2 °C	1 mm	26 %
July	22.7 °C	1 mm	28 %
August	24.8 °C	1 mm	22 %
September	27.5 °C	1 mm	19 %
October	29.4 °C	9 mm	25 %
November	29.7 °C	38 mm	48 %
December	27.3 °C	141 mm	77 %

Temperature month by month

Month	Avg high	Avg low	Mean	Record high	Record low	Days above 25 °C	Days above 30 °C
January	25.7 °C	18.1 °C	21.4 °C	32.0 °C	14.2 °C	21	0
February	25.6 °C	17.7 °C	21.2 °C	30.8 °C	12.4 °C	19	0
March	25.4 °C	17.3 °C	21.0 °C	28.9 °C	10.4 °C	20	0
April	25.3 °C	15.6 °C	20.2 °C	29.1 °C	9.7 °C	16	0
May	24.9 °C	13.4 °C	19.0 °C	30.5 °C	8.6 °C	14	0
June	23.2 °C	11.3 °C	17.0 °C	28.1 °C	6.7 °C	4	0
July	22.7 °C	10.7 °C	16.5 °C	28.0 °C	5.7 °C	4	0
August	24.8 °C	12.1 °C	18.4 °C	30.5 °C	6.3 °C	14	0
September	27.5 °C	14.8 °C	21.2 °C	32.7 °C	8.3 °C	27	3
October	29.4 °C	17.5 °C	23.4 °C	35.5 °C	10.1 °C	30	12
November	29.7 °C	18.8 °C	24.0 °C	35.3 °C	12.7 °C	29	15
December	27.3 °C	18.5 °C	22.5 °C	33.8 °C	13.6 °C	26	4

Rain, sun and wind month by month

Month	Rainfall	Wet days	Daylight	Cloud cover	Humidity	Wind
January	209 mm	24	13 h/day	88 %	84 %	13 km/h
February	163 mm	20	13 h/day	83 %	85 %	13 km/h
March	113 mm	17	12 h/day	71 %	83 %	13 km/h
April	25 mm	5	12 h/day	45 %	75 %	15 km/h
May	4 mm	1	11 h/day	31 %	66 %	14 km/h
June	1 mm	0	11 h/day	26 %	63 %	15 km/h
July	1 mm	0	11 h/day	28 %	61 %	16 km/h
August	1 mm	0	12 h/day	22 %	55 %	18 km/h
September	1 mm	0	12 h/day	19 %	49 %	20 km/h
October	9 mm	1	12 h/day	25 %	50 %	21 km/h
November	38 mm	7	13 h/day	48 %	58 %	19 km/h
December	141 mm	19	13 h/day	77 %	76 %	15 km/h

How Lilongwe 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
Lilongwe	30 °C	11 °C	705 mm	224
Chipata · Zambia	31 °C	12 °C	1,022 mm	235
Lichinga · Mozambique	27 °C	9.8 °C	1,090 mm	109
Blantyre · Malawi	29 °C	11 °C	1,099 mm	191
Tete · Mozambique	36 °C	17 °C	667 mm	353
Mzuzu · Malawi	26 °C	11 °C	1,382 mm	98
Gurúè · Mozambique	30 °C	13 °C	1,462 mm	248

Where Lilongwe ranks

Ranking	Position	Value
Places with the best weather in Africa in June	6th of 50	97/100
Places with the best weather in the world in June	8th of 50	97/100
Places with the best weather in Africa in July	13th of 50	96/100
Places with the best weather in the world in July	22nd of 50	96/100
Places with the best weather in Africa in August	23rd of 50	95/100
Places with the best weather in Africa in May	23rd of 50	95/100

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

QuestionsCommon questions about Lilongwe’s climate

When is the best time to visit Lilongwe?

That depends on what you want, so the honest answer is a comparison rather than a single month. March, April, May 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 Lilongwe get?

In November, the warmest month, daily highs average 30 °C. About 34 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 11 °C in July, the coldest month. Freezing nights are not part of a normal year here.

Which month is wettest in Lilongwe?

January, averaging 209 mm over 24 days with rain. The driest month is August with 1 mm. The year as a whole averages 705 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 Lilongwe 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: -13.967°, 33.787° (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.