Tawau climate

Name: Tawau
Address: MY

Tawau is warmest in April, with average highs of 30 °C, and coldest in January, when nights average 24 °C. May is the wettest month (222 mm) and February the driest (125 mm). Figures are 1991–2020 climate normals.

Across a full year Tawau averages 2,271 mm of rain and 365 days above 25 °C.

Malaysia · 0 m elevation · population 372,615 · 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 April 30 °C
Coldest month January 24 °C
Driest month February 125 mm
Wettest month May 222 mm
Least cloud April 71 % cloud
Hottest on record April 39 °C
Coldest on record February 21 °C
Warmest sea May 30 °C

What to expectTawau through the year

Tawau changes little through the year. Average daily highs stay between 29 and 30 °C, so no month stands out as a season in the way it would further from the equator.

Counted across a normal year, 365 days a year reach 25 °C, 59 of them reach 30 °C. The warmest reading in the 1991–2020 record is 39 °C, in April.

Rain is spread fairly evenly through the year, from 125 mm in February to 222 mm in May. There is no dry season to aim for.

The sea off Tawau is warmest in May at 30 °C and coldest in February 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	29.0 °C	172 mm	81 %
February	29.5 °C	125 mm	78 %
March	29.7 °C	160 mm	72 %
April	29.7 °C	172 mm	71 %
May	29.5 °C	222 mm	78 %
June	29.0 °C	218 mm	81 %
July	28.8 °C	197 mm	81 %
August	29.0 °C	202 mm	79 %
September	29.1 °C	192 mm	79 %
October	29.1 °C	218 mm	83 %
November	29.0 °C	198 mm	81 %
December	29.0 °C	197 mm	83 %

Temperature month by month

Month	Avg high	Avg low	Mean	Record high	Record low	Days above 25 °C	Days above 30 °C
January	29.0 °C	24.1 °C	26.1 °C	32.3 °C	21.4 °C	31	5
February	29.5 °C	24.1 °C	26.4 °C	34.4 °C	20.6 °C	28	9
March	29.7 °C	24.2 °C	26.6 °C	33.4 °C	21.4 °C	31	11
April	29.7 °C	24.4 °C	26.8 °C	39.4 °C	22.4 °C	30	11
May	29.5 °C	24.5 °C	26.8 °C	32.8 °C	22.8 °C	31	6
June	29.0 °C	24.4 °C	26.6 °C	32.9 °C	22.6 °C	30	2
July	28.8 °C	24.1 °C	26.4 °C	31.5 °C	22.5 °C	31	1
August	29.0 °C	24.2 °C	26.5 °C	33.1 °C	22.5 °C	31	2
September	29.1 °C	24.2 °C	26.5 °C	31.5 °C	22.4 °C	30	2
October	29.1 °C	24.1 °C	26.5 °C	33.0 °C	22.2 °C	31	3
November	29.0 °C	24.1 °C	26.3 °C	34.3 °C	22.2 °C	30	3
December	29.0 °C	24.2 °C	26.3 °C	32.1 °C	22.4 °C	31	4

Rain, sun and wind month by month

Month	Rainfall	Wet days	Daylight	Cloud cover	Humidity	Wind	Sea temp
January	172 mm	22	12 h/day	81 %	85 %	8.8 km/h	28.5 °C
February	125 mm	18	12 h/day	78 %	84 %	9.6 km/h	28.4 °C
March	160 mm	23	12 h/day	72 %	84 %	9.3 km/h	28.9 °C
April	172 mm	26	12 h/day	71 %	86 %	8.8 km/h	29.6 °C
May	222 mm	29	12 h/day	78 %	88 %	8.2 km/h	29.8 °C
June	218 mm	28	12 h/day	81 %	88 %	8.1 km/h	29.6 °C
July	197 mm	28	12 h/day	81 %	88 %	8.6 km/h	29.3 °C
August	202 mm	28	12 h/day	79 %	87 %	9.0 km/h	29.2 °C
September	192 mm	27	12 h/day	79 %	87 %	8.7 km/h	29.4 °C
October	218 mm	28	12 h/day	83 %	88 %	8.0 km/h	29.4 °C
November	198 mm	28	12 h/day	81 %	88 %	7.7 km/h	29.4 °C
December	197 mm	26	12 h/day	83 %	88 %	7.9 km/h	28.9 °C

How Tawau 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
Tawau	30 °C	24 °C	2,271 mm	365
Tarakan · Indonesia	29 °C	25 °C	3,063 mm	365
Sandakan · Malaysia	30 °C	24 °C	2,967 mm	364
Kota Kinabalu · Malaysia	29 °C	23 °C	2,615 mm	364
Bandar Seri Begawan · Brunei	30 °C	24 °C	2,363 mm	365
Miri · Malaysia	30 °C	24 °C	2,631 mm	365
Toli-Toli · Indonesia	30 °C	23 °C	2,049 mm	365

Where Tawau ranks

Ranking	Position	Value
Warmest sea temperatures in Asia in November	39th of 50	29 °C
Warmest sea temperatures in Asia year-round	39th of 50	29 °C
Warmest sea temperatures in the world year-round	41st of 50	29 °C
Warmest sea temperatures in the world in November	49th of 50	29 °C

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

QuestionsCommon questions about Tawau’s climate

When is the best time to visit Tawau?

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, April is the warmest month and February the driest. The month-by-month table above has the full picture.

How hot does Tawau get?

In April, the warmest month, daily highs average 30 °C. About 59 days a year pass 30 °C. The highest value in the 1991–2020 record is 39 °C.

How cold does it get in winter?

Nights average 24 °C in January, the coldest month. Freezing nights are not part of a normal year here.

Which month is wettest in Tawau?

May, averaging 222 mm over 29 days with rain. The driest month is February with 125 mm. The year as a whole averages 2,271 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 Tawau 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: 4.245°, 117.891° , 0 m above sea level (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.