Pemba climate

Name: Pemba
Address: MZ

Pemba is warmest in November, with average highs of 31 °C, and coldest in July, when nights average 20 °C. January is the wettest month (249 mm) and July the driest (9.4 mm). Figures are 1991–2020 climate normals.

Across a full year Pemba averages 1,041 mm of rain and 361 days above 25 °C.

Mozambique · population 232,932 · 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 31 °C
Coldest month July 20 °C
Driest month July 9 mm
Wettest month January 249 mm
Least cloud September 28 % cloud
Hottest on record February 35 °C
Coldest on record August 16 °C
Warmest sea March 29 °C

What to expectPemba through the year

Pemba has a clear annual cycle: average daily highs run from 27 °C in July to 31 °C in November, a swing of 4.0 °C in mean temperature across the year.

Counted across a normal year, 361 days a year reach 25 °C, 92 of them reach 30 °C. The warmest reading in the 1991–2020 record is 35 °C, in February.

Rain is strongly seasonal. January averages 249 mm against 9 mm in July — 27 times as much. Planning around the dry months matters more here than planning around temperature.

The sea off Pemba 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	29.8 °C	249 mm	80 %
February	29.6 °C	208 mm	79 %
March	29.2 °C	203 mm	70 %
April	28.8 °C	98 mm	47 %
May	28.4 °C	22 mm	30 %
June	27.3 °C	11 mm	30 %
July	26.7 °C	9 mm	32 %
August	27.3 °C	11 mm	29 %
September	28.5 °C	10 mm	28 %
October	29.7 °C	18 mm	30 %
November	30.6 °C	41 mm	39 %
December	30.4 °C	160 mm	61 %

Temperature month by month

Month	Avg high	Avg low	Mean	Record high	Record low	Days above 25 °C	Days above 30 °C
January	29.8 °C	24.6 °C	26.7 °C	34.2 °C	22.4 °C	31	14
February	29.6 °C	24.5 °C	26.6 °C	35.4 °C	22.6 °C	28	11
March	29.2 °C	24.3 °C	26.4 °C	33.1 °C	20.3 °C	31	7
April	28.8 °C	23.6 °C	25.9 °C	31.5 °C	20.9 °C	30	2
May	28.4 °C	22.3 °C	25.1 °C	32.0 °C	19.6 °C	31	2
June	27.3 °C	20.8 °C	23.8 °C	30.8 °C	18.7 °C	29	0
July	26.7 °C	20.1 °C	23.1 °C	29.9 °C	17.5 °C	29	0
August	27.3 °C	20.1 °C	23.3 °C	31.0 °C	16.4 °C	30	0
September	28.5 °C	21.0 °C	24.3 °C	32.1 °C	18.0 °C	30	3
October	29.7 °C	22.6 °C	25.7 °C	33.4 °C	18.5 °C	31	13
November	30.6 °C	24.0 °C	26.8 °C	34.3 °C	21.0 °C	30	22
December	30.4 °C	24.6 °C	27.1 °C	34.3 °C	21.8 °C	31	19

Rain, sun and wind month by month

Month	Rainfall	Wet days	Daylight	Cloud cover	Humidity	Wind	Sea temp
January	249 mm	25	13 h/day	80 %	84 %	15 km/h	28.6 °C
February	208 mm	23	13 h/day	79 %	85 %	13 km/h	28.9 °C
March	203 mm	25	12 h/day	70 %	86 %	13 km/h	29.2 °C
April	98 mm	16	12 h/day	47 %	82 %	16 km/h	29.0 °C
May	22 mm	5	12 h/day	30 %	76 %	18 km/h	28.1 °C
June	11 mm	3	11 h/day	30 %	74 %	19 km/h	27.0 °C
July	9 mm	3	11 h/day	32 %	73 %	20 km/h	26.0 °C
August	11 mm	4	12 h/day	29 %	76 %	19 km/h	25.5 °C
September	10 mm	3	12 h/day	28 %	76 %	18 km/h	25.8 °C
October	18 mm	5	12 h/day	30 %	76 %	18 km/h	26.6 °C
November	41 mm	8	13 h/day	39 %	76 %	18 km/h	27.7 °C
December	160 mm	19	13 h/day	61 %	81 %	16 km/h	28.6 °C

How Pemba 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
Pemba	31 °C	20 °C	1,041 mm	361
Nacala · Mozambique	30 °C	19 °C	1,190 mm	353
Nampula · Mozambique	32 °C	16 °C	898 mm	323
Moroni · Comoros	31 °C	22 °C	1,435 mm	364
Gurúè · Mozambique	30 °C	13 °C	1,462 mm	248
Mamoudzou · Mayotte	28 °C	23 °C	939 mm	353
Lichinga · Mozambique	27 °C	9.8 °C	1,090 mm	109

Where Pemba ranks

Ranking	Position	Value
Best beach destinations in Africa in July	1stof 50	100/100
Best beach destinations in Africa in September	2ndof 50	100/100
Best beach destinations in Africa in August	3rdof 50	99/100
Best beach destinations in the world in September	3rdof 50	100/100
Best beach destinations in the world in July	4thof 50	100/100
Best beach destinations in Africa in June	8thof 50	98/100

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

QuestionsCommon questions about Pemba’s climate

When is the best time to visit Pemba?

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 July the driest. The month-by-month table above has the full picture.

How hot does Pemba get?

In November, the warmest month, daily highs average 31 °C. About 92 days a year pass 30 °C. The highest value in the 1991–2020 record is 35 °C.

How cold does it get in winter?

Nights average 20 °C in July, the coldest month. Freezing nights are not part of a normal year here.

Which month is wettest in Pemba?

January, averaging 249 mm over 25 days with rain. The driest month is July with 9 mm. The year as a whole averages 1,041 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 Pemba 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.