Mzuzu climate

Name: Mzuzu
Address: MW

Mzuzu is warmest in November, with average highs of 26 °C, and coldest in July, when nights average 11 °C. January is the wettest month (288 mm) and September the driest (13 mm). Figures are 1991–2020 climate normals.

Across a full year Mzuzu averages 1,382 mm of rain and 98 days above 25 °C.

Malawi · population 249,564 · 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 26 °C
Coldest month July 11 °C
Driest month September 13 mm
Wettest month January 288 mm
Least cloud September 21 % cloud
Hottest on record November 32 °C
Coldest on record July 7.0 °C

What to expectMzuzu through the year

Mzuzu has a clear annual cycle: average daily highs run from 19 °C in July to 26 °C in November, a swing of 6.7 °C in mean temperature across the year.

Counted across a normal year, 98 days a year reach 25 °C, 1 of them reach 30 °C. The warmest reading in the 1991–2020 record is 32 °C, in November.

Rain is strongly seasonal. January averages 288 mm against 13 mm in September — 22 times as much. Planning around the dry months matters more here than planning around temperature.

Month by month

Month	Avg high	Rainfall	Cloud
January	24.5 °C	288 mm	92 %
February	24.5 °C	241 mm	90 %
March	23.7 °C	209 mm	86 %
April	22.5 °C	134 mm	67 %
May	21.4 °C	50 mm	45 %
June	19.9 °C	23 mm	33 %
July	19.4 °C	24 mm	29 %
August	21.4 °C	17 mm	24 %
September	24.2 °C	13 mm	21 %
October	25.9 °C	44 mm	30 %
November	26.3 °C	100 mm	52 %
December	24.8 °C	239 mm	80 %

Temperature month by month

Month	Avg high	Avg low	Mean	Record high	Record low	Days above 25 °C
January	24.5 °C	17.4 °C	20.4 °C	29.8 °C	14.5 °C	12
February	24.5 °C	17.3 °C	20.3 °C	29.5 °C	14.6 °C	11
March	23.7 °C	17.2 °C	19.9 °C	28.1 °C	13.7 °C	5
April	22.5 °C	16.0 °C	18.8 °C	26.2 °C	11.1 °C	1
May	21.4 °C	13.8 °C	17.3 °C	27.8 °C	9.2 °C	0
June	19.9 °C	11.5 °C	15.4 °C	26.0 °C	7.4 °C	0
July	19.4 °C	10.8 °C	14.8 °C	24.6 °C	7.0 °C	0
August	21.4 °C	12.1 °C	16.6 °C	27.3 °C	7.4 °C	1
September	24.2 °C	14.4 °C	19.1 °C	29.0 °C	10.0 °C	10
October	25.9 °C	16.3 °C	20.9 °C	32.0 °C	12.2 °C	22
November	26.3 °C	17.3 °C	21.5 °C	32.4 °C	12.7 °C	22
December	24.8 °C	17.3 °C	20.6 °C	29.3 °C	14.5 °C	15

Rain, sun and wind month by month

Month	Rainfall	Wet days	Daylight	Cloud cover	Humidity	Wind
January	288 mm	28	13 h/day	92 %	87 %	9.8 km/h
February	241 mm	25	12 h/day	90 %	88 %	9.5 km/h
March	209 mm	29	12 h/day	86 %	89 %	11 km/h
April	134 mm	23	12 h/day	67 %	87 %	13 km/h
May	50 mm	12	12 h/day	45 %	81 %	13 km/h
June	23 mm	7	11 h/day	33 %	77 %	14 km/h
July	24 mm	6	12 h/day	29 %	73 %	15 km/h
August	17 mm	5	12 h/day	24 %	69 %	15 km/h
September	13 mm	4	12 h/day	21 %	63 %	16 km/h
October	44 mm	9	12 h/day	30 %	65 %	16 km/h
November	100 mm	14	13 h/day	52 %	72 %	14 km/h
December	239 mm	26	13 h/day	80 %	84 %	11 km/h

How Mzuzu 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
Mzuzu	26 °C	11 °C	1,382 mm	98
Songea · Tanzania	29 °C	12 °C	1,275 mm	199
Lichinga · Mozambique	27 °C	9.8 °C	1,090 mm	109
Tunduma · Tanzania	28 °C	10 °C	1,219 mm	98
Lilongwe · Malawi	30 °C	11 °C	705 mm	224
Chipata · Zambia	31 °C	12 °C	1,022 mm	235
Mbeya · Tanzania	27 °C	12 °C	1,930 mm	124

Where Mzuzu ranks

Ranking	Position	Value
Places with the best weather in Africa in September	4thof 50	97/100
Places with the best weather in Africa in August	11thof 50	96/100
Places with the best weather in the world in August	15thof 50	96/100
Places with the best weather in the world in September	15thof 50	97/100
The coolest places in Africa in May	33rdof 50	21 °C
The coolest places in Africa in July	34thof 50	19 °C

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

QuestionsCommon questions about Mzuzu’s climate

When is the best time to visit Mzuzu?

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

How hot does Mzuzu get?

In November, the warmest month, daily highs average 26 °C. About 1 days a year pass 30 °C. The highest value in the 1991–2020 record is 32 °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 Mzuzu?

January, averaging 288 mm over 28 days with rain. The driest month is September with 13 mm. The year as a whole averages 1,382 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 Mzuzu 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.