Kota Kinabalu climate

Name: Kota Kinabalu
Address: MY

Kota Kinabalu is warmest in May, with average highs of 29 °C, and coldest in February, when nights average 23 °C. November is the wettest month (282 mm) and February the driest (159 mm). Figures are 1991–2020 climate normals.

Across a full year Kota Kinabalu averages 2,615 mm of rain and 364 days above 25 °C.

Malaysia · population 500,421 · 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 February 23 °C
Driest month February 159 mm
Wettest month November 282 mm
Least cloud March 72 % cloud
Hottest on record May 34 °C
Coldest on record March 20 °C
Warmest sea June 30 °C

What to expectKota Kinabalu through the year

Kota Kinabalu 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, 364 days a year reach 25 °C, 49 of them reach 30 °C. The warmest reading in the 1991–2020 record is 34 °C, in May.

Rain is spread fairly evenly through the year, from 159 mm in February to 282 mm in November. There is no dry season to aim for.

The sea off Kota Kinabalu is warmest in June at 30 °C and coldest in February at 27 °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	28.0 °C	221 mm	81 %
February	28.2 °C	159 mm	76 %
March	28.8 °C	169 mm	72 %
April	29.3 °C	194 mm	73 %
May	29.4 °C	237 mm	83 %
June	29.3 °C	218 mm	86 %
July	29.1 °C	188 mm	86 %
August	29.3 °C	195 mm	85 %
September	29.0 °C	197 mm	86 %
October	28.3 °C	277 mm	88 %
November	28.2 °C	282 mm	86 %
December	28.1 °C	277 mm	85 %

Temperature month by month

Month	Avg high	Avg low	Mean	Record high	Record low	Days above 25 °C	Days above 30 °C
January	28.0 °C	23.5 °C	25.5 °C	30.4 °C	20.1 °C	31	0
February	28.2 °C	23.4 °C	25.6 °C	31.6 °C	20.9 °C	28	1
March	28.8 °C	23.8 °C	26.2 °C	33.0 °C	20.0 °C	31	3
April	29.3 °C	24.4 °C	26.7 °C	33.2 °C	22.5 °C	30	5
May	29.4 °C	24.7 °C	26.9 °C	33.7 °C	23.1 °C	31	8
June	29.3 °C	24.4 °C	26.6 °C	32.0 °C	22.5 °C	30	8
July	29.1 °C	24.2 °C	26.4 °C	32.1 °C	22.3 °C	31	8
August	29.3 °C	24.3 °C	26.5 °C	33.0 °C	22.7 °C	31	9
September	29.0 °C	24.1 °C	26.3 °C	32.8 °C	22.9 °C	30	5
October	28.3 °C	23.9 °C	25.8 °C	31.0 °C	22.5 °C	31	1
November	28.2 °C	23.8 °C	25.7 °C	30.5 °C	21.4 °C	30	0
December	28.1 °C	23.8 °C	25.7 °C	30.7 °C	20.6 °C	31	0

Rain, sun and wind month by month

Month	Rainfall	Wet days	Daylight	Cloud cover	Humidity	Wind	Sea temp
January	221 mm	22	12 h/day	81 %	88 %	8.9 km/h	27.6 °C
February	159 mm	18	12 h/day	76 %	87 %	9.4 km/h	26.9 °C
March	169 mm	21	12 h/day	72 %	86 %	8.7 km/h	27.5 °C
April	194 mm	25	12 h/day	73 %	87 %	7.9 km/h	29.2 °C
May	237 mm	25	12 h/day	83 %	86 %	8.0 km/h	30.0 °C
June	218 mm	22	12 h/day	86 %	85 %	8.6 km/h	30.2 °C
July	188 mm	20	12 h/day	86 %	84 %	9.3 km/h	30.0 °C
August	195 mm	20	12 h/day	85 %	83 %	10.0 km/h	29.9 °C
September	197 mm	22	12 h/day	86 %	85 %	9.7 km/h	29.8 °C
October	277 mm	28	12 h/day	88 %	88 %	9.6 km/h	29.5 °C
November	282 mm	28	12 h/day	86 %	89 %	8.3 km/h	29.3 °C
December	277 mm	27	12 h/day	85 %	89 %	8.4 km/h	28.8 °C

How Kota Kinabalu 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 Kinabalu	29 °C	23 °C	2,615 mm	364
Bandar Seri Begawan · Brunei	30 °C	24 °C	2,363 mm	365
Sandakan · Malaysia	30 °C	24 °C	2,967 mm	364
Tawau · Malaysia	30 °C	24 °C	2,271 mm	365
Miri · Malaysia	30 °C	24 °C	2,631 mm	365
Tarakan · Indonesia	29 °C	25 °C	3,063 mm	365
Bintulu · Malaysia	31 °C	23 °C	3,355 mm	364

Where Kota Kinabalu ranks

Ranking	Position	Value
Warmest sea temperatures in Asia in September	23rdof 50	30 °C
Warmest sea temperatures in Asia in July	31stof 50	30 °C
Warmest sea temperatures in Asia in October	31stof 50	30 °C
Warmest sea temperatures in Asia in June	32ndof 50	30 °C
Warmest sea temperatures in Asia in August	34thof 50	30 °C
Warmest sea temperatures in the world in July	34thof 50	30 °C

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

QuestionsCommon questions about Kota Kinabalu’s climate

When is the best time to visit Kota Kinabalu?

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 Kota Kinabalu get?

In May, the warmest month, daily highs average 29 °C. About 49 days a year pass 30 °C. The highest value in the 1991–2020 record is 34 °C.

How cold does it get in winter?

Nights average 23 °C in February, the coldest month. Freezing nights are not part of a normal year here.

Which month is wettest in Kota Kinabalu?

November, averaging 282 mm over 28 days with rain. The driest month is February with 159 mm. The year as a whole averages 2,615 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 Kinabalu 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.