Climate and average weather in Matadi

In Matadi, the weather is muggy, hot, wet, and mostly cloudy and remarkably steady, with daytime highs holding near hot levels all year. The wettest stretch peaks around April.

Best: late May to early October

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Matadi typically varies from 18°C to 30°C, and is rarely below 17°C or above 32°C. March is the hottest month of the year, while August is the coldest.

Based on the travel score, the best time of year to visit Matadi for warm-weather activities is from late May to early October.

Hottest
Mar
30°
Coldest
Aug
19°
Wettest
Apr
193 mm
Driest
Jul
2 mm
Rain / yr
1071 mm
151 wet days
Daylight
11.7–12.3 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
183 m
5.8°S
Clearest
Jun
66% cloud

Matadi weather by month, at a glance

The whole year in one picture — sky, rain, humidity, temperature and travel score. Click any band to jump to its full chart.

Each stripe is one measure across the whole year, stacked so a single day reads top to bottom. The sky band runs overcast grey on top down to clear blue at the base — more blue means sunnier — followed by the rainfall curve, the humidity band, a temperature strip that tints each stretch of the year by how warm its average high is, and the travel-score line at the foot. Scan straight down any date to read that day across every measure at once; the score climbs highest around late May to early October.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

Daily average highs and lows in Matadi, from 1991–2020 of climate data. The shaded bands show the range most days fall in — 10th to 90th percentile.

Temperatures in Matadi stay fairly even through the year, without a distinct hot or cool season. The warmest month is March, with an average high of 30°C and low of 23°C; the coolest is August, with an average low of 19°C and high of 25°C.

Days typically run about 7°C warmer than nights year-round.

15°20°25°30°35°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan2923
Feb3023
Mar3023
Apr3023
May2923
Jun2720
Jul2618
Aug2519
Sep2720
Oct2822
Nov2923
Dec2923

How hot and cold Matadi really feels

Feels-like highFeels-like lowactual air temp

The felt-temperature range through the year — heat index on the day's high (summer humidity), wind chill on the night's low (winter wind). The dashed lines are the plain thermometer; the gap is how much hotter or colder it really feels.

On the hottest afternoons, once humidity is folded in, Matadi feels like about 35°C (around March 18). About 200 days a year carry some heat stress, peaking in March.

15°20°25°30°35°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Feels-like high (°C)Air high (°C)Feels-like low (°C)Air low (°C)
Jan33292323
Feb34302323
Mar35302323
Apr34302323
May32292223
Jun27272020
Jul26261818
Aug25251919
Sep27272020
Oct31282222
Nov32292323
Dec32292323

Average hourly temperature in Matadi

A compact picture of the whole year, hour by hour: each column is a day, each row an hour, and the color is the modeled average temperature. Darker overlays mark night, lighter ones the civil-twilight hours around sunrise and sunset.

Read left to right for the day of the year and top to bottom for the hour of the day; the color is the modeled temperature, cool blues through to hot reds on the same scale as the other charts. A vertical slice is a single day's swing — coolest just before dawn, warmest in the mid-afternoon — while a horizontal slice follows one hour across the seasons. The darker overlay marks night and the lighter one the twilight around sunrise and sunset. Colors run warmest on March afternoons, near 30°C, and coldest before dawn in August, near 19°C.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec12 AM2 AM4 AM6 AM8 AM10 AM12 PM2 PM4 PM6 PM8 PM10 PM12 AM

Matadi weather by month

Every month at a glance. Click a month for its detailed page.

MonthHigh / Low (°C)Rainfall (mm)Wet daysDaylight (hours)Travel score
Jan29° / 23°14920.412.33.8
Feb30° / 23°11917.612.23.7
Mar30° / 23°13419.1123.6
Apr30° / 23°19321.811.93.4
May29° / 23°681211.75.3
Jun27° / 20°20.311.77.7
Jul26° / 18°20.111.77.9
Aug25° / 19°50.811.87.5
Sep27° / 20°123.2126.9
Oct28° / 22°6311.812.15.3
Nov29° / 23°14921.812.33.7
Dec29° / 23°17522.412.33.7

Chance of rain

How likely it is to rain on a typical day, and how that shifts across the wetter and drier seasons.

Matadi gets about 1071 mm of precipitation a year. On a typical day the chance of rain is often wet, but that rises and falls sharply with the seasons.

The wetter season lasts 6.9 months, from around Oct 18 to May 14, peaking in April at about 78% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Jul 1.

April is the wettest month by volume, with 193 mm over about 22 wet days; July is the driest, with 2 mm.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwetterdrierwettermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetApr 21 · 78%Jul 1 · 0%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan6620
Feb6118
Mar6319
Apr7222
May3912
Jun20
Jul00
Aug31
Sep113
Oct3912
Nov7122
Dec7222

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Matadi collects about 1071 mm of rain across 151 wet days — roughly 89 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. April is the wettest month with 193 mm, while July is the driest at just 2 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 48% of the year’s total.

050100150200JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec149119134193682251263149175
Rainfall (mm)Rain days
Jan14920
Feb11918
Mar13419
Apr19322
May6812
Jun20
Jul20
Aug51
Sep123
Oct6312
Nov14922
Dec17522

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

How often the daytime sky is clear, partly cloudy or overcast.

In Matadi, the average share of the sky covered by clouds shows significant seasonal variation over the course of the year.

The clearer part of the year begins around May 5 and lasts for 3.1 months, ending around August 6. The clearest month is June, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 33% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around August 7 and lasts for 7.9 months, ending around April 3. The cloudiest month is September, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 96% of the time.

0%100%10%90%20%80%30%70%40%60%50%50%60%40%70%30%80%20%90%10%100%0%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecJun 20 · 37%Sep 9 · 3%mostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastcloudierclearercloudier
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan892
Feb1189
Mar1189
Apr1288
May2179
Jun3367
Jul3070
Aug1090
Sep496
Oct991
Nov1189
Dec991

Daylight, sunrise and sunset

DaylightNight

Hours of daylight through the year, with sunrise and sunset times.

The gold band is daylight — sunrise runs along its lower edge, sunset along the upper — so it widens toward summer and pinches toward winter, with night the dark area above and below. Close to the equator, Matadi barely changes through the year: days stay near 12 h 18 min of light in every season.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan12.36:066:25
Feb12.26:156:26
Mar12.06:156:17
Apr11.96:106:03
May11.76:105:54
Jun11.76:165:56
Jul11.76:216:03
Aug11.86:166:04
Sep12.06:016:00
Oct12.15:475:55
Nov12.35:436:00
Dec12.35:526:12

Sunny days

How many genuinely sunny days each month brings — days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — banded into plain-language zones.

Matadi averages about 1 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 0 and 6 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 3.1 months, from around May 13 to Aug 15. The sunniest month is June, with roughly 5 sunny days (gloomy).

The greyest month is October, down near 0 sunny days — about 99% fewer than the June peak.

0510JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgreyersunniergreyergloomymixedJun 216 daysOct 130 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan0Gloomy
Feb1Gloomy
Mar1Gloomy
Apr1Gloomy
May1Gloomy
Jun5Gloomy
Jul5Gloomy
Aug1Gloomy
Sep0Gloomy
Oct0Gloomy
Nov0Gloomy
Dec0Gloomy

Humidity comfort

DryComfortableHumidMuggyOppressiveMiserable

Share of days at each humidity comfort level, based on the dew point — the measure that tracks how muggy it actually feels.

Humidity comfort is graded by the dew point — the temperature at which the air would be fully saturated — because it tracks how muggy it actually feels far better than relative humidity does. A low dew point feels dry and crisp; a high one feels sticky and oppressive no matter the reading on a humidity gauge.

Matadi is humid all year round — on a typical day the air feels at least humid, and there is no real dry season to wait for.

The stickiest month is January, when it feels muggy, oppressive or miserable about 100% of the time. Even in July, the mildest month, the air is dry or comfortable only 3% of the time.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecmiserableoppressivemuggyhumid
Comfortable (%)Humid (%)Muggy (%)Oppressive (%)Miserable (%)
Jan006904
Feb005868
Mar0018811
Apr0018514
May0015805
Jun01769140
Jul3633400
Aug2534500
Sep0128710
Oct0058420
Nov0013870
Dec005941

Wind

Average wind speed through the year, banded into plain-language speed zones so a number reads as 'breezy' or 'calm' without knowing the scale.

This is the average sustained wind speed at the standard 10 metres above open ground — the steady flow a weather station reports, not the sharper gusts that come and go, which can run half again as fast. It's the number that says whether a place is generally breezy or calm.

Across the year, average wind speed in Matadi is typically calm, near 6 km/h, and varies little with the seasons.

The windier part of the year lasts 5.3 months, from around Jun 4 to Nov 11. The windiest month is September, averaging about 8 km/h (calm).

The calmer part of the year runs from around Nov 12 to Jun 3, with April the calmest month at about 5 km/h.

051015JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDeccalmerwindiercalmercalmlight breezeSep 10 · 8 km/hApr 22 · 4 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan5calm
Feb5calm
Mar5calm
Apr5calm
May5calm
Jun6calm
Jul7calm
Aug7calm
Sep8calm
Oct7calm
Nov6calm
Dec5calm

Hazard calendar for Matadi

In seasonPeak

When the seasonal hazards worth planning around — the rainy season, tropical-cyclone risk and dust haze — are active through the year.

Matadi's rainy season runs November–April, when most of the year's rain falls.

Rainy season
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec

Best time to visit Matadi

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

To characterize how pleasant the weather is in Matadi throughout the year, we compute two travel scores — one for general sightseeing, one for beach and pool weather.

Around late September, Matadi is still near the tail of its best-weather window — great conditions with the peak-season crowds already thinning.

Inferred from the travel-score curve; month-by-month visitor numbers are a planned addition.

The travel score favors clear, rainless days with daytime highs between 18°C and 28°C. Based on this score, the best time of year to visit Matadi for general outdoor tourist activities is from late May to early October, with a peak score in the third week of July.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationJul 15 · 8.0

The travel score (filled area), and its constituents: the temperature score (red line), the cloud cover score (blue line), and the precipitation score (green line).

Travel score (0–10)Rating
Jan3.8fair
Feb3.7fair
Mar3.6fair
Apr3.4poor
May5.3fair
Jun7.7ideal
Jul7.9ideal
Aug7.5ideal
Sep6.9good
Oct5.3fair
Nov3.7fair
Dec3.7fair

The beach/pool score favors clear, rainless days with daytime highs between 24°C and 34°C. Based on this score, the best time of year to visit Matadi for hot-weather activities is from mid May to mid October, with a peak score in the second week of June.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationJun 14 · 7.7

The beach/pool score (filled area), and its constituents: the temperature score (red line), the cloud cover score (blue line), and the precipitation score (green line).

What to pack for Matadi, by month

EssentialRecommendedOptional

Month by month, what's worth putting in the bag — from the temperature range, rain chance, sun and wind. Tap a month for a quick packing note.

Matadi packs about the same all year — highs hold near 30°C. Across the year the things worth having are light clothes, rain gear and sun protection.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In March, Matadi sees daytime highs around 30°C and nights near 23°C. Pack light clothes and rain gear. Worth having: sun protection. About 19 days see rain.

UV index (midday) in Matadi by month

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Clear-sky midday UV index through the year, shaded by the WHO exposure levels — how much sun protection each month calls for.

Under clear skies, the midday UV index in Matadi peaks around March 15 at about 15 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near July 19 at about 6 (high).

The index reaches 3 or more — the level where the WHO recommends sun protection — every month of the year.

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecExtremeVery highHighVery highExtremeMar 15UV 15Jul 19UV 6
UV index (midday)Level
Jan14Extreme
Feb14Extreme
Mar15Extreme
Apr13Extreme
May8Very high
Jun7High
Jul6High
Aug7High
Sep10Very high
Oct13Extreme
Nov11Extreme
Dec11Extreme

Average hourly UV index in Matadi

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Modeled clear-sky UV for every hour of every day — when in the day sun protection actually matters.

The whole year hour by hour: each column is a day, each row an hour, and the color is the modeled clear-sky UV index — the midday peak scaled down as the sun sits lower in the sky. Darker overlays mark night, lighter ones the civil-twilight hours around sunrise and sunset.

UV falls off far faster than brightness as the sun drops, so even in March the burn window is concentrated in the middle of the day: about 8.5 hours a day reach index 3 (protection recommended), and 6.5 hours reach 6 or more. Mornings and late afternoons stay comparatively gentle year round.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec12 AM2 AM4 AM6 AM8 AM10 AM12 PM2 PM4 PM6 PM8 PM10 PM12 AM
UV ≥ 3 (h/day)UV ≥ 6 (h/day)
Jan8.56.5
Feb86.5
Mar8.56.5
Apr86
May74.5
Jun62.5
Jul61.5
Aug62.5
Sep7.55
Oct86
Nov85.5
Dec85.5

Air quality in Matadi by month

GoodModeratePoorUnhealthyVery unhealthy

Average fine-particle pollution (PM2.5) through the year — so you can see which months the air is worst, not just the yearly average.

Air quality in Matadi is worst in July — around 38 µg/m³ PM2.5 (poor), about 3.4× the cleanest month (November, 11 µg/m³).

Modeled monthly averages (CAMS reanalysis, 2015–2024).

010203040JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecModeratePoorModerateModerateJul 2338 µg/m³Nov 1911 µg/m³
PM2.5 (µg/m³)Level
Jan13Moderate
Feb15Moderate
Mar14Moderate
Apr14Moderate
May22Moderate
Jun32Moderate
Jul38Poor
Aug38Poor
Sep28Moderate
Oct15Moderate
Nov11Good
Dec13Moderate
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free dayFrost-free year round

Matadi is frost-free year round — even the coldest nights rarely reach freezing, so there is no start or end to the growing season.

0%25%50%75%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecfrost-free year round
Frost-free chance (%)Frost nights
Jan1000
Feb1000
Mar1000
Apr1000
May1000
Jun1000
Jul1000
Aug1000
Sep1000
Oct1000
Nov1000
Dec1000

Growing degree days

Degree days (base 10°C)Frost-free shaded

Growing degree days tally heat above 10°C: each day adds however many degrees its average temperature runs over that threshold, and cold days add nothing. Matadi banks about 5,432 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around March.

02,0004,000JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°C·days)
Jan497
Feb461
Mar520
Apr497
May482
Jun397
Jul371
Aug373
Sep399
Oct467
Nov477
Dec491

Solar energy

Average daily shortwave solar energy reaching the ground, banded into brightness zones so the number means something at a glance.

Solar energy is how much sunlight actually reaches the ground each day, measured in kilowatt-hours per square metre (kWh/m²) — the combined effect of how long the sun is up, how high it climbs, and how much cloud gets in the way. It's the raw fuel a solar panel has to work with: for scale, 1 kWh/m² a day is dim and wintry, while 7+ is desert-bright.

Matadi receives about 4.1 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — bright — with a clear seasonal swing between 3.2 and 5.0 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 6.0 months, from around Oct 27 to Apr 27. The brightest month is March, averaging about 4.9 kWh/m² (bright).

The dimmest month is September, down near 3.2 kWh/m² — roughly 34% less than the March peak.

0123456JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbrighterdimmerbrighterdimmoderatebrightMar 25.0 kWhSep 23.2 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan4.7Bright
Feb4.9Bright
Mar5.0Bright
Apr4.4Bright
May3.7Moderate
Jun3.7Moderate
Jul3.8Moderate
Aug3.3Moderate
Sep3.2Moderate
Oct3.8Moderate
Nov4.5Bright
Dec4.5Bright

Where is Matadi?

Matadi sits at 5.8°S, 13.5°E, 183 m above sea level, in Democratic Republic of the Congo. The nearest listed city is Kenge, 23 km away.

MoandaSoyo

Topography around Matadi

How much the land rises and falls, and what covers it, within 3, 16 and 80 km of Matadi.

Within 3 km, the terrain around Matadi has significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 504 m around an average of 191 m above sea level; within 16 km, significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 544 m; within 80 km, large variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 702 m.

The land around Matadi is covered by artificial surfaces (67%) within 3 km, grassland (62%) and trees (27%) within 16 km, and grassland (52%) and trees (43%) within 80 km.

3 km
504 m
16 km
544 m
80 km
702 m
treesshrubsgrasslandartificial surfaceswaterwetland
Nearby: Kenge 23 km · Boma 45 km · Mbanza Kongo 98 km · Tombôco 108 km · Tshela 110 km · Kimpese 112 km · Moanda 121 km · Soyo 125 km

Democratic Republic of the Congo travel facts

Travel advisory
Level 4
Do Not Travel
Power plugs
Type C / E
220 V · 50 Hz
Prices
≈ 42% of US
price level, 2025
GDP per capita
$807
2025
Happiness
3.8 / 10
World Happiness, 2025
Safe drinking water
12%
of population, 2024
Road deaths
34.9
per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group
Low
World Bank
English
Very low
EF EPI 400

Sources: World Bank, US State Department, World Happiness Report, WHO/UNICEF, EF EPI, CIA World Factbook.

Data sources

Temperature, precipitation, cloud, humidity, wind and solar figures are a 1991–2020 climatology for Matadi (-5.8386°, 13.4631°, elevation 183 m), computed from hourly ERA5 reanalysis — contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information. Sun figures are astronomical calculations, not observations. City data © GeoNames, CC BY 4.0. Map outlines from Natural Earth (public domain); interactive map © Google. UV index is derived from CAMS (Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service) clear-sky UV data — contains modified Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service information. Monthly air-quality (PM2.5) seasonality is from the CAMS EAC4 reanalysis (Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service), scaled to the WHO annual mean where available. Topography is sampled from the Copernicus DEM GLO-90 elevation model (© ESA/Airbus) and ESA WorldCover 2021 land cover (CC BY 4.0).