Quelimane climate

Name: Quelimane
Address: MZ

Quelimane is warmest in November, with average highs of 31 °C, and coldest in July, when nights average 18 °C. January is the wettest month (227 mm) and September the driest (12 mm). Figures are 1991–2020 climate normals.

Across a full year Quelimane averages 889 mm of rain and 332 days above 25 °C.

Mozambique · population 349,842 · 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 18 °C
Driest month September 12 mm
Wettest month January 227 mm
Least cloud September 23 % cloud
Hottest on record October 43 °C
Coldest on record July 13 °C
Warmest sea February 29 °C

What to expectQuelimane through the year

Quelimane has a clear annual cycle: average daily highs run from 25 °C in July to 31 °C in November, a swing of 5.8 °C in mean temperature across the year.

Counted across a normal year, 332 days a year reach 25 °C, 117 of them reach 30 °C. The warmest reading in the 1991–2020 record is 43 °C, in October.

Rain is strongly seasonal. January averages 227 mm against 12 mm in September — 19 times as much. Planning around the dry months matters more here than planning around temperature.

The sea off Quelimane is warmest in February at 29 °C and coldest in July at 24 °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	30.4 °C	227 mm	67 %
February	30.1 °C	159 mm	62 %
March	29.6 °C	144 mm	52 %
April	28.5 °C	73 mm	39 %
May	27.2 °C	34 mm	32 %
June	25.8 °C	26 mm	31 %
July	25.4 °C	27 mm	32 %
August	26.8 °C	15 mm	25 %
September	29.0 °C	12 mm	23 %
October	30.2 °C	19 mm	28 %
November	31.4 °C	42 mm	42 %
December	31.2 °C	111 mm	57 %

Temperature month by month

Month	Avg high	Avg low	Mean	Record high	Record low	Days above 25 °C	Days above 30 °C
January	30.4 °C	24.6 °C	27.2 °C	35.7 °C	20.3 °C	31	17
February	30.1 °C	24.5 °C	27.0 °C	36.7 °C	20.8 °C	28	15
March	29.6 °C	24.1 °C	26.6 °C	37.3 °C	20.6 °C	31	10
April	28.5 °C	22.7 °C	25.4 °C	36.4 °C	18.2 °C	30	4
May	27.2 °C	20.6 °C	23.7 °C	36.9 °C	15.1 °C	29	2
June	25.8 °C	19.2 °C	22.3 °C	32.6 °C	14.2 °C	21	1
July	25.4 °C	18.5 °C	21.7 °C	32.6 °C	12.6 °C	18	0
August	26.8 °C	19.2 °C	22.7 °C	34.8 °C	12.6 °C	24	3
September	29.0 °C	21.0 °C	24.5 °C	38.7 °C	14.2 °C	29	9
October	30.2 °C	22.8 °C	25.9 °C	42.5 °C	17.1 °C	31	14
November	31.4 °C	24.2 °C	27.3 °C	42.1 °C	18.7 °C	30	21
December	31.2 °C	24.7 °C	27.6 °C	39.2 °C	18.1 °C	31	22

Rain, sun and wind month by month

Month	Rainfall	Wet days	Daylight	Cloud cover	Humidity	Wind	Sea temp
January	227 mm	21	13 h/day	67 %	82 %	20 km/h	28.7 °C
February	159 mm	19	13 h/day	62 %	82 %	20 km/h	29.0 °C
March	144 mm	18	12 h/day	52 %	82 %	20 km/h	28.9 °C
April	73 mm	13	12 h/day	39 %	79 %	19 km/h	28.1 °C
May	34 mm	8	11 h/day	32 %	78 %	17 km/h	26.7 °C
June	26 mm	8	11 h/day	31 %	77 %	18 km/h	25.2 °C
July	27 mm	8	11 h/day	32 %	76 %	19 km/h	24.2 °C
August	15 mm	4	12 h/day	25 %	73 %	21 km/h	24.3 °C
September	12 mm	3	12 h/day	23 %	72 %	24 km/h	24.7 °C
October	19 mm	4	12 h/day	28 %	71 %	24 km/h	25.7 °C
November	42 mm	6	13 h/day	42 %	73 %	24 km/h	26.8 °C
December	111 mm	14	13 h/day	57 %	77 %	21 km/h	28.0 °C

How Quelimane 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
Quelimane	31 °C	18 °C	889 mm	332
Mocuba · Mozambique	35 °C	16 °C	928 mm	333
Gurúè · Mozambique	30 °C	13 °C	1,462 mm	248
Blantyre · Malawi	29 °C	11 °C	1,099 mm	191
Beira · Mozambique	31 °C	17 °C	929 mm	321
Chimoio · Mozambique	29 °C	12 °C	906 mm	227
Nampula · Mozambique	32 °C	16 °C	898 mm	323

Where Quelimane ranks

Ranking	Position	Value
Best beach destinations in Africa in September	3rdof 50	99/100
Best beach destinations in the world in September	6thof 50	99/100
Warmest sea temperatures in Africa in February	6thof 50	29 °C
Warmest sea temperatures in Africa in January	6thof 50	29 °C
Best beach destinations in Africa in August	7thof 50	98/100
Warmest sea temperatures in Africa in March	17thof 50	29 °C

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

QuestionsCommon questions about Quelimane’s climate

When is the best time to visit Quelimane?

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 Quelimane get?

In November, the warmest month, daily highs average 31 °C. About 117 days a year pass 30 °C. The highest value in the 1991–2020 record is 43 °C.

How cold does it get in winter?

Nights average 18 °C in July, the coldest month. Freezing nights are not part of a normal year here.

Which month is wettest in Quelimane?

January, averaging 227 mm over 21 days with rain. The driest month is September with 12 mm. The year as a whole averages 889 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 Quelimane 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.