Xai-Xai climate

Name: Xai-Xai
Address: MZ

Xai-Xai is warmest in December, with average highs of 30 °C, and coldest in July, when nights average 16 °C. January is the wettest month (129 mm) and August the driest (16 mm). Figures are 1991–2020 climate normals.

Across a full year Xai-Xai averages 671 mm of rain and 276 days above 25 °C.

Mozambique · population 154,356 · 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 December 30 °C
Coldest month July 16 °C
Driest month August 16 mm
Wettest month January 129 mm
Least cloud June 24 % cloud
Hottest on record October 43 °C
Coldest on record June 10 °C
Warmest sea February 28 °C

What to expectXai-Xai through the year

Xai-Xai has a clear annual cycle: average daily highs run from 24 °C in July to 30 °C in December, a swing of 6.8 °C in mean temperature across the year.

Counted across a normal year, 276 days a year reach 25 °C, 93 of them reach 30 °C. The warmest reading in the 1991–2020 record is 43 °C, in October.

Rain is strongly seasonal. January averages 129 mm against 16 mm in August — 8.1 times as much. Planning around the dry months matters more here than planning around temperature.

The sea off Xai-Xai is warmest in February at 28 °C and coldest in August at 22 °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	129 mm	53 %
February	29.9 °C	84 mm	48 %
March	29.4 °C	77 mm	43 %
April	27.9 °C	46 mm	36 %
May	26.3 °C	29 mm	25 %
June	24.7 °C	21 mm	24 %
July	24.2 °C	19 mm	25 %
August	25.8 °C	16 mm	25 %
September	27.7 °C	25 mm	32 %
October	28.2 °C	39 mm	46 %
November	29.2 °C	74 mm	56 %
December	30.1 °C	111 mm	55 %

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	23.5 °C	26.4 °C	39.1 °C	17.7 °C	30	13
February	29.9 °C	23.6 °C	26.6 °C	40.6 °C	18.9 °C	28	12
March	29.4 °C	22.7 °C	25.9 °C	39.5 °C	17.6 °C	30	11
April	27.9 °C	20.7 °C	24.1 °C	37.3 °C	14.9 °C	26	6
May	26.3 °C	18.3 °C	22.1 °C	34.6 °C	11.5 °C	21	2
June	24.7 °C	16.4 °C	20.3 °C	31.7 °C	10.3 °C	13	0
July	24.2 °C	15.9 °C	19.8 °C	32.3 °C	11.1 °C	11	0
August	25.8 °C	16.8 °C	21.0 °C	37.2 °C	10.6 °C	17	3
September	27.7 °C	18.6 °C	22.8 °C	37.9 °C	12.8 °C	21	9
October	28.2 °C	20.0 °C	23.8 °C	43.4 °C	13.5 °C	24	10
November	29.2 °C	21.4 °C	25.0 °C	41.9 °C	14.1 °C	25	12
December	30.1 °C	22.6 °C	26.1 °C	41.0 °C	17.0 °C	30	15

Rain, sun and wind month by month

Month	Rainfall	Wet days	Daylight	Cloud cover	Humidity	Wind	Sea temp
January	129 mm	13	14 h/day	53 %	74 %	20 km/h	26.9 °C
February	84 mm	12	13 h/day	48 %	74 %	20 km/h	27.5 °C
March	77 mm	12	12 h/day	43 %	74 %	19 km/h	27.3 °C
April	46 mm	9	12 h/day	36 %	73 %	18 km/h	26.2 °C
May	29 mm	6	11 h/day	25 %	72 %	16 km/h	24.9 °C
June	21 mm	5	11 h/day	24 %	70 %	17 km/h	23.5 °C
July	19 mm	5	11 h/day	25 %	69 %	18 km/h	22.5 °C
August	16 mm	3	11 h/day	25 %	66 %	19 km/h	22.1 °C
September	25 mm	4	12 h/day	32 %	66 %	21 km/h	22.4 °C
October	39 mm	6	13 h/day	46 %	67 %	22 km/h	23.2 °C
November	74 mm	10	13 h/day	56 %	70 %	21 km/h	24.4 °C
December	111 mm	11	14 h/day	55 %	71 %	21 km/h	25.7 °C

How Xai-Xai 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
Xai-Xai	30 °C	16 °C	671 mm	276
Maputo · Mozambique	29 °C	15 °C	665 mm	233
Matola · Mozambique	29 °C	14 °C	659 mm	257
Mbabane · Eswatini	24 °C	6.5 °C	1,264 mm	101
Vryheid · South Africa	26 °C	4.5 °C	880 mm	139
Middelburg · South Africa	26 °C	3.7 °C	674 mm	127

Where Xai-Xai ranks

Ranking	Position	Value
Best beach destinations in Africa year-round	13thof 50	86/100
Best beach destinations in Africa in April	14thof 50	87/100
Best beach destinations in Africa in May	19thof 50	93/100
Best beach destinations in the world year-round	22ndof 50	86/100
Best beach destinations in Africa in March	25thof 50	79/100
Best beach destinations in the world in May	25thof 50	93/100

Planning a trip? See the best time to visit Xai-Xai.

QuestionsCommon questions about Xai-Xai’s climate

When is the best time to visit Xai-Xai?

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

How hot does Xai-Xai get?

In December, the warmest month, daily highs average 30 °C. About 93 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 16 °C in July, the coldest month. Freezing nights are not part of a normal year here.

Which month is wettest in Xai-Xai?

January, averaging 129 mm over 13 days with rain. The driest month is August with 16 mm. The year as a whole averages 671 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 Xai-Xai 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.