Nuku‘alofa climate
Nuku‘alofa is warmest in February, with average highs of 27 °C, and coldest in August, when nights average 21 °C. March is the wettest month (222 mm) and July the driest (93 mm). Figures are 1991–2020 climate normals.
Across a full year Nuku‘alofa averages 1,632 mm of rain and 170 days above 25 °C.
Tonga · population 22,400 · 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 February 27 °C
- Coldest month August 21 °C
- Driest month July 93 mm
- Wettest month March 222 mm
- Least cloud September 60 % cloud
- Hottest on record February 30 °C
- Coldest on record September 16 °C
- Warmest sea March 28 °C
What to expectNuku‘alofa through the year
Nuku‘alofa has a clear annual cycle: average daily highs run from 23 °C in August to 27 °C in February, a swing of 4.3 °C in mean temperature across the year.
Counted across a normal year, 170 days a year reach 25 °C. The warmest reading in the 1991–2020 record is 30 °C, in February.
Rain is strongly seasonal. March averages 222 mm against 93 mm in July — 2.4 times as much. Planning around the dry months matters more here than planning around temperature.
The sea off Nuku‘alofa is warmest in March at 28 °C and coldest in August 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 | 26.5 °C | 198 mm | 66 % |
| February | 27.0 °C | 215 mm | 64 % |
| March | 26.9 °C | 222 mm | 66 % |
| April | 26.1 °C | 161 mm | 64 % |
| May | 24.7 °C | 102 mm | 63 % |
| June | 23.8 °C | 105 mm | 65 % |
| July | 22.9 °C | 93 mm | 62 % |
| August | 22.7 °C | 112 mm | 61 % |
| September | 22.9 °C | 101 mm | 60 % |
| October | 23.5 °C | 98 mm | 63 % |
| November | 24.6 °C | 103 mm | 64 % |
| December | 25.7 °C | 121 mm | 63 % |
Temperature month by month
| Month | Avg high | Avg low | Mean | Record high | Record low | Days above 25 °C | Days above 30 °C | Days below 0 °C |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 26.5 °C | 25.1 °C | 25.7 °C | 29.3 °C | 21.5 °C | 29 | 0 | 0 |
| February | 27.0 °C | 25.5 °C | 26.2 °C | 29.5 °C | 21.0 °C | 28 | 0 | 0 |
| March | 26.9 °C | 25.4 °C | 26.1 °C | 29.3 °C | 20.3 °C | 31 | 0 | 0 |
| April | 26.1 °C | 24.7 °C | 25.4 °C | 28.5 °C | 20.9 °C | 26 | 0 | 0 |
| May | 24.7 °C | 23.4 °C | 24.0 °C | 28.1 °C | 19.0 °C | 12 | 0 | 0 |
| June | 23.8 °C | 22.6 °C | 23.2 °C | 26.6 °C | 18.3 °C | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| July | 22.9 °C | 21.6 °C | 22.2 °C | 26.1 °C | 17.0 °C | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| August | 22.7 °C | 21.3 °C | 21.9 °C | 26.1 °C | 17.3 °C | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| September | 22.9 °C | 21.5 °C | 22.1 °C | 26.2 °C | 16.3 °C | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| October | 23.5 °C | 22.3 °C | 22.8 °C | 27.0 °C | 17.4 °C | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| November | 24.6 °C | 23.3 °C | 23.9 °C | 28.4 °C | 18.8 °C | 11 | 0 | 0 |
| December | 25.7 °C | 24.4 °C | 25.1 °C | 28.3 °C | 20.5 °C | 23 | 0 | 0 |
Rain, sun and wind month by month
| Month | Rainfall | Wet days | Daylight | Cloud cover | Humidity | Wind | Sea temp |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 198 mm | 16 | 13 h/day | 66 % | 81 % | 29 km/h | 26.9 °C |
| February | 215 mm | 17 | 13 h/day | 64 % | 82 % | 28 km/h | 27.5 °C |
| March | 222 mm | 18 | 12 h/day | 66 % | 81 % | 28 km/h | 27.6 °C |
| April | 161 mm | 13 | 12 h/day | 64 % | 78 % | 30 km/h | 27.1 °C |
| May | 102 mm | 10 | 11 h/day | 63 % | 75 % | 30 km/h | 25.9 °C |
| June | 105 mm | 8 | 11 h/day | 65 % | 73 % | 30 km/h | 25.0 °C |
| July | 93 mm | 8 | 11 h/day | 62 % | 72 % | 30 km/h | 24.1 °C |
| August | 112 mm | 9 | 11 h/day | 61 % | 73 % | 30 km/h | 23.7 °C |
| September | 101 mm | 9 | 12 h/day | 60 % | 75 % | 29 km/h | 23.7 °C |
| October | 98 mm | 9 | 13 h/day | 63 % | 76 % | 29 km/h | 24.4 °C |
| November | 103 mm | 10 | 13 h/day | 64 % | 78 % | 28 km/h | 25.4 °C |
| December | 121 mm | 13 | 13 h/day | 63 % | 79 % | 29 km/h | 26.4 °C |
Planning a trip? See the best time to visit Nuku‘alofa.
QuestionsCommon questions about Nuku‘alofa’s climate
When is the best time to visit Nuku‘alofa?
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, February is the warmest month and July the driest. The month-by-month table above has the full picture.
How hot does Nuku‘alofa get?
In February, the warmest month, daily highs average 27 °C. The highest value in the 1991–2020 record is 30 °C.
How cold does it get in winter?
Nights average 21 °C in August, the coldest month. Freezing nights are not part of a normal year here.
Which month is wettest in Nuku‘alofa?
March, averaging 222 mm over 18 days with rain. The driest month is July with 93 mm. The year as a whole averages 1,632 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 Nuku‘alofa 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
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.