Kota Bharu climate

Name: Kota Bharu
Address: MY

Kota Bharu is warmest in May, with average highs of 31 °C, and coldest in January, when nights average 23 °C. December is the wettest month (423 mm) and February the driest (82 mm). Figures are 1991–2020 climate normals.

Across a full year Kota Bharu averages 2,693 mm of rain and 363 days above 25 °C.

Malaysia · population 568,900 · 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 31 °C
Coldest month January 23 °C
Driest month February 82 mm
Wettest month December 423 mm
Least cloud March 66 % cloud
Hottest on record May 36 °C
Coldest on record February 19 °C
Warmest sea May 30 °C

What to expectKota Bharu through the year

Kota Bharu changes little through the year. Average daily highs stay between 28 and 31 °C, so no month stands out as a season in the way it would further from the equator.

Counted across a normal year, 363 days a year reach 25 °C, 175 of them reach 30 °C. The warmest reading in the 1991–2020 record is 36 °C, in May.

Rain is strongly seasonal. December averages 423 mm against 82 mm in February — 5.2 times as much. Planning around the dry months matters more here than planning around temperature.

The sea off Kota Bharu is warmest in May at 30 °C and coldest in January at 28 °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	27.7 °C	182 mm	77 %
February	28.7 °C	82 mm	69 %
March	30.0 °C	114 mm	66 %
April	31.1 °C	123 mm	70 %
May	31.3 °C	188 mm	80 %
June	31.0 °C	191 mm	81 %
July	30.7 °C	201 mm	82 %
August	30.7 °C	218 mm	82 %
September	30.3 °C	250 mm	83 %
October	29.3 °C	325 mm	87 %
November	28.2 °C	396 mm	88 %
December	27.5 °C	423 mm	87 %

Temperature month by month

Month	Avg high	Avg low	Mean	Record high	Record low	Days above 25 °C	Days above 30 °C
January	27.7 °C	23.0 °C	25.2 °C	31.5 °C	19.6 °C	31	0
February	28.7 °C	23.1 °C	25.8 °C	33.0 °C	19.2 °C	28	3
March	30.0 °C	23.9 °C	26.7 °C	33.6 °C	20.1 °C	31	16
April	31.1 °C	24.9 °C	27.7 °C	34.9 °C	22.6 °C	30	24
May	31.3 °C	25.3 °C	27.8 °C	36.0 °C	23.3 °C	31	27
June	31.0 °C	25.0 °C	27.5 °C	33.6 °C	23.3 °C	30	26
July	30.7 °C	24.7 °C	27.2 °C	34.3 °C	22.9 °C	31	24
August	30.7 °C	24.6 °C	27.2 °C	33.6 °C	23.1 °C	31	24
September	30.3 °C	24.4 °C	26.8 °C	33.2 °C	23.0 °C	30	20
October	29.3 °C	24.2 °C	26.3 °C	32.1 °C	22.5 °C	31	9
November	28.2 °C	23.8 °C	25.6 °C	30.8 °C	21.7 °C	30	1
December	27.5 °C	23.5 °C	25.3 °C	30.9 °C	20.9 °C	30	0

Rain, sun and wind month by month

Month	Rainfall	Wet days	Daylight	Cloud cover	Humidity	Wind	Sea temp
January	182 mm	19	12 h/day	77 %	85 %	15 km/h	27.6 °C
February	82 mm	13	12 h/day	69 %	83 %	15 km/h	27.8 °C
March	114 mm	15	12 h/day	66 %	82 %	14 km/h	28.6 °C
April	123 mm	19	12 h/day	70 %	82 %	13 km/h	29.8 °C
May	188 mm	26	12 h/day	80 %	84 %	10 km/h	30.4 °C
June	191 mm	25	12 h/day	81 %	85 %	8.8 km/h	30.4 °C
July	201 mm	26	12 h/day	82 %	85 %	8.8 km/h	30.0 °C
August	218 mm	26	12 h/day	82 %	85 %	9.0 km/h	29.8 °C
September	250 mm	27	12 h/day	83 %	86 %	9.4 km/h	29.6 °C
October	325 mm	29	12 h/day	87 %	88 %	11 km/h	29.3 °C
November	396 mm	28	12 h/day	88 %	90 %	12 km/h	28.7 °C
December	423 mm	26	12 h/day	87 %	88 %	13 km/h	28.0 °C

How Kota Bharu 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
Kota Bharu	31 °C	23 °C	2,693 mm	363
Pasir Mas · Malaysia	32 °C	22 °C	2,758 mm	361
Kuala Terengganu · Malaysia	31 °C	23 °C	3,361 mm	361
Sungai Petani · Malaysia	31 °C	23 °C	2,396 mm	365
Kulim · Malaysia	30 °C	22 °C	2,776 mm	365
Bercham · Malaysia	30 °C	21 °C	2,446 mm	364
Alor Setar · Malaysia	33 °C	23 °C	2,232 mm	365

Where Kota Bharu ranks

Ranking	Position	Value
Warmest sea temperatures in Asia in May	15th of 50	30 °C
Warmest sea temperatures in Asia in June	17th of 50	30 °C
Warmest sea temperatures in the world in May	17th of 50	30 °C
Warmest sea temperatures in the world in June	19th of 50	30 °C
Warmest sea temperatures in Asia in July	39th of 50	30 °C
Warmest sea temperatures in the world in July	42nd of 50	30 °C

Planning a trip? See the best time to visit Kota Bharu.

QuestionsCommon questions about Kota Bharu’s climate

When is the best time to visit Kota Bharu?

That depends on what you want, so the honest answer is a comparison rather than a single month. January, November, 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 Kota Bharu get?

In May, the warmest month, daily highs average 31 °C. About 175 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 23 °C in January, the coldest month. Freezing nights are not part of a normal year here.

Which month is wettest in Kota Bharu?

December, averaging 423 mm over 26 days with rain. The driest month is February with 82 mm. The year as a whole averages 2,693 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 Kota Bharu 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: 6.124°, 102.243° (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.