Nacala climate

Name: Nacala
Address: MZ

Nacala is warmest in November, with average highs of 30 °C, and coldest in August, when nights average 19 °C. January is the wettest month (328 mm) and September the driest (10 mm). Figures are 1991–2020 climate normals.

Across a full year Nacala averages 1,190 mm of rain and 353 days above 25 °C.

Mozambique · population 239,808 · 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 August 19 °C
Driest month September 10 mm
Wettest month January 328 mm
Least cloud September 30 % cloud
Hottest on record November 36 °C
Coldest on record August 16 °C
Warmest sea March 29 °C

What to expectNacala through the year

Nacala has a clear annual cycle: average daily highs run from 27 °C in August to 30 °C in November, a swing of 4.1 °C in mean temperature across the year.

Counted across a normal year, 353 days a year reach 25 °C, 49 of them reach 30 °C. The warmest reading in the 1991–2020 record is 36 °C, in November.

Rain is strongly seasonal. January averages 328 mm against 10 mm in September — 32 times as much. Planning around the dry months matters more here than planning around temperature.

The sea off Nacala is warmest in March at 29 °C and coldest in August at 26 °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	28.9 °C	328 mm	82 %
February	28.9 °C	278 mm	79 %
March	28.8 °C	208 mm	67 %
April	28.6 °C	80 mm	43 %
May	28.1 °C	16 mm	30 %
June	26.8 °C	10 mm	31 %
July	26.1 °C	11 mm	32 %
August	26.8 °C	11 mm	31 %
September	27.9 °C	10 mm	30 %
October	29.1 °C	16 mm	32 %
November	29.9 °C	46 mm	42 %
December	29.6 °C	176 mm	63 %

Temperature month by month

Month	Avg high	Avg low	Mean	Record high	Record low	Days above 25 °C	Days above 30 °C
January	28.9 °C	24.2 °C	26.2 °C	33.1 °C	22.2 °C	31	4
February	28.9 °C	24.1 °C	26.1 °C	33.0 °C	21.8 °C	28	4
March	28.8 °C	23.9 °C	26.0 °C	35.1 °C	21.2 °C	31	4
April	28.6 °C	23.2 °C	25.5 °C	33.3 °C	20.8 °C	30	3
May	28.1 °C	21.8 °C	24.6 °C	32.6 °C	18.7 °C	31	2
June	26.8 °C	20.4 °C	23.2 °C	30.3 °C	17.4 °C	28	0
July	26.1 °C	19.5 °C	22.4 °C	31.4 °C	16.2 °C	25	0
August	26.8 °C	19.5 °C	22.8 °C	31.0 °C	15.9 °C	29	0
September	27.9 °C	20.3 °C	23.8 °C	32.9 °C	16.2 °C	29	2
October	29.1 °C	22.0 °C	25.2 °C	35.4 °C	17.4 °C	31	5
November	29.9 °C	23.5 °C	26.3 °C	36.1 °C	19.9 °C	30	13
December	29.6 °C	24.2 °C	26.5 °C	34.9 °C	21.2 °C	31	11

Rain, sun and wind month by month

Month	Rainfall	Wet days	Daylight	Cloud cover	Humidity	Wind	Sea temp
January	328 mm	26	13 h/day	82 %	85 %	13 km/h	28.6 °C
February	278 mm	24	13 h/day	79 %	86 %	12 km/h	28.8 °C
March	208 mm	24	12 h/day	67 %	85 %	13 km/h	29.2 °C
April	80 mm	14	12 h/day	43 %	81 %	15 km/h	28.9 °C
May	16 mm	4	11 h/day	30 %	75 %	16 km/h	28.0 °C
June	10 mm	3	11 h/day	31 %	74 %	16 km/h	27.0 °C
July	11 mm	3	11 h/day	32 %	75 %	17 km/h	26.0 °C
August	11 mm	3	12 h/day	31 %	75 %	17 km/h	25.5 °C
September	10 mm	3	12 h/day	30 %	76 %	17 km/h	25.7 °C
October	16 mm	4	12 h/day	32 %	76 %	17 km/h	26.6 °C
November	46 mm	7	13 h/day	42 %	77 %	17 km/h	27.6 °C
December	176 mm	18	13 h/day	63 %	81 %	14 km/h	28.5 °C

How Nacala 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
Nacala	30 °C	19 °C	1,190 mm	353
Nampula · Mozambique	32 °C	16 °C	898 mm	323
Pemba · Mozambique	31 °C	20 °C	1,041 mm	361
Gurúè · Mozambique	30 °C	13 °C	1,462 mm	248
Moroni · Comoros	31 °C	22 °C	1,435 mm	364
Mocuba · Mozambique	35 °C	16 °C	928 mm	333
Mamoudzou · Mayotte	28 °C	23 °C	939 mm	353

Where Nacala ranks

Ranking	Position	Value
Best beach destinations in Africa in August	1st of 50	100/100
Best beach destinations in Africa in September	1st of 50	100/100
Best beach destinations in the world in September	1st of 50	100/100
Best beach destinations in the world in August	2nd of 50	100/100
Best beach destinations in Africa in June	4th of 50	99/100
Best beach destinations in Africa in July	5th of 50	99/100

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

QuestionsCommon questions about Nacala’s climate

When is the best time to visit Nacala?

That depends on what you want, so the honest answer is a comparison rather than a single month. June, July, August 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 Nacala get?

In November, the warmest month, daily highs average 30 °C. About 49 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 19 °C in August, the coldest month. Freezing nights are not part of a normal year here.

Which month is wettest in Nacala?

January, averaging 328 mm over 26 days with rain. The driest month is September with 10 mm. The year as a whole averages 1,190 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 Nacala 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: -14.563°, 40.685° (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.