Malakal climate

Name: Malakal
Address: SS

Malakal is warmest in March, with average highs of 39 °C, and coldest in August, when nights average 22 °C. August is the wettest month (187 mm) and February the driest (0.1 mm). Figures are 1991–2020 climate normals.

Across a full year Malakal averages 781 mm of rain and 365 days above 25 °C.

South Sudan · population 160,765 · 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 March 39 °C
Coldest month August 22 °C
Driest month February 0 mm
Wettest month August 187 mm
Least cloud December 25 % cloud
Hottest on record February 44 °C
Coldest on record January 14 °C

What to expectMalakal through the year

Malakal has a clear annual cycle: average daily highs run from 30 °C in August to 39 °C in March, a swing of 7.1 °C in mean temperature across the year.

Counted across a normal year, 365 days a year reach 25 °C, 302 of them reach 30 °C. The warmest reading in the 1991–2020 record is 44 °C, in February.

Rain is strongly seasonal. August averages 187 mm against 0 mm in February — 1,514 times as much. Planning around the dry months matters more here than planning around temperature.

Month by month

Month	Avg high	Rainfall	Cloud
January	35.5 °C	under 1 mm	31 %
February	37.7 °C	under 1 mm	32 %
March	39.3 °C	4 mm	40 %
April	38.3 °C	27 mm	52 %
May	35.4 °C	67 mm	63 %
June	32.6 °C	99 mm	68 %
July	30.4 °C	165 mm	74 %
August	29.7 °C	187 mm	76 %
September	30.8 °C	122 mm	67 %
October	31.8 °C	97 mm	60 %
November	34.3 °C	13 mm	34 %
December	35.3 °C	under 1 mm	25 %

Temperature month by month

Month	Avg high	Avg low	Mean	Record high	Record low	Days above 25 °C	Days above 30 °C
January	35.5 °C	22.5 °C	28.6 °C	41.2 °C	13.8 °C	31	30
February	37.7 °C	24.1 °C	30.6 °C	44.1 °C	16.0 °C	28	28
March	39.3 °C	25.8 °C	32.5 °C	43.7 °C	19.0 °C	31	31
April	38.3 °C	26.7 °C	32.4 °C	43.9 °C	19.6 °C	30	30
May	35.4 °C	25.8 °C	30.2 °C	41.6 °C	21.7 °C	31	30
June	32.6 °C	24.0 °C	27.8 °C	39.8 °C	21.1 °C	30	26
July	30.4 °C	22.7 °C	26.0 °C	37.1 °C	20.5 °C	31	15
August	29.7 °C	22.3 °C	25.5 °C	35.1 °C	20.3 °C	31	10
September	30.8 °C	22.5 °C	26.2 °C	39.1 °C	20.4 °C	30	19
October	31.8 °C	22.8 °C	26.8 °C	39.0 °C	18.5 °C	31	23
November	34.3 °C	22.3 °C	28.2 °C	40.4 °C	17.0 °C	30	29
December	35.3 °C	22.8 °C	28.8 °C	39.6 °C	17.0 °C	31	31

Rain, sun and wind month by month

Month	Rainfall	Wet days	Daylight	Cloud cover	Humidity	Wind
January	under 1 mm	0	12 h/day	31 %	22 %	21 km/h
February	under 1 mm	0	12 h/day	32 %	18 %	21 km/h
March	4 mm	1	12 h/day	40 %	19 %	18 km/h
April	27 mm	6	12 h/day	52 %	39 %	16 km/h
May	67 mm	13	13 h/day	63 %	58 %	16 km/h
June	99 mm	16	13 h/day	68 %	70 %	15 km/h
July	165 mm	22	13 h/day	74 %	79 %	14 km/h
August	187 mm	23	12 h/day	76 %	84 %	12 km/h
September	122 mm	19	12 h/day	67 %	81 %	11 km/h
October	97 mm	16	12 h/day	60 %	76 %	11 km/h
November	13 mm	3	12 h/day	34 %	49 %	13 km/h
December	under 1 mm	0	12 h/day	25 %	27 %	19 km/h

How Malakal 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
Malakal	39 °C	22 °C	781 mm	365
Ad-Damazin · Sudan	38 °C	21 °C	506 mm	365
Kosti · Sudan	41 °C	19 °C	224 mm	365
El Obeid · Sudan	38 °C	15 °C	213 mm	358
Winejok · South Sudan	39 °C	22 °C	786 mm	365
Singa · Sudan	41 °C	20 °C	335 mm	365
Nek’emtē · Ethiopia	27 °C	13 °C	4,365 mm	92

Where Malakal ranks

Ranking	Position	Value
The warmest places in Africa in December	2ndof 50	35 °C
The warmest places in Africa in February	2ndof 50	38 °C
The warmest places in the world in December	2ndof 50	35 °C
The warmest places in the world in February	2ndof 50	38 °C
The warmest places in Africa in January	3rdof 50	36 °C
The warmest places in Africa in March	3rdof 50	39 °C

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

QuestionsCommon questions about Malakal’s climate

When is the best time to visit Malakal?

That depends on what you want, so the honest answer is a comparison rather than a single month. July, August, September sit closest to 20 °C on average, March is the warmest month and February the driest. The month-by-month table above has the full picture.

How hot does Malakal get?

In March, the warmest month, daily highs average 39 °C. About 302 days a year pass 30 °C. The highest value in the 1991–2020 record is 44 °C.

How cold does it get in winter?

Nights average 22 °C in August, the coldest month. Freezing nights are not part of a normal year here.

Which month is wettest in Malakal?

August, averaging 187 mm over 23 days with rain. The driest month is February with 0 mm. The year as a whole averages 781 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 Malakal 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.