Climate and average weather in Malabo

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

Best: mid December to late February

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Malabo typically varies from 24°C to 27°C, and is rarely below 23°C or above 28°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 Malabo for warm-weather activities is from mid December to late February.

Hottest
Mar
27°
Coldest
Aug
24°
Wettest
Jul
446 mm
Driest
Jan
52 mm
Rain / yr
2928 mm
306 wet days
Daylight
11.8–12.2 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
34 m
3.8°N
Clearest
Dec
61% cloud

Malabo is city and former capital of Equatorial Guinea.

Density
7,427/km²
people per km²
Founded
1827

Air quality: WHO Ambient Air Quality Database. Density & description: Wikidata (CC0), GeoNames.

Malabo 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 mid December to late February.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

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

Temperatures in Malabo stay fairly even through the year, without a distinct hot or cool season. The warmest month is March, with an average high of 27°C and low of 26°C; the coolest is August, with an average low of 24°C and high of 25°C.

Days typically run about 2°C warmer than nights year-round.

18°20°22°24°26°28°30°32°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan2725
Feb2726
Mar2726
Apr2725
May2725
Jun2624
Jul2524
Aug2524
Sep2524
Oct2624
Nov2625
Dec2725

Average hourly temperature in Malabo

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 27°C, and coldest before dawn in August, near 24°C.

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

Malabo 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
Jan27° / 25°5215.311.85.7
Feb27° / 26°7216.411.95.1
Mar27° / 26°16526.7123.9
Apr27° / 25°18827.312.13.6
May27° / 25°27329.412.23.5
Jun26° / 24°3882912.23.5
Jul25° / 24°44629.112.23.7
Aug25° / 24°43128.512.13.8
Sep25° / 24°38429123.6
Oct26° / 24°29729.911.93.5
Nov26° / 25°1712711.83.9
Dec27° / 25°6218.211.85.4

Chance of rain

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

Malabo gets about 2928 mm of precipitation a year. On a typical day the chance of rain is very wet, but that rises and falls sharply with the seasons.

The wetter season lasts 8.5 months, from around Mar 11 to Nov 24, peaking in May at about 98% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Jan 5.

July is the wettest month by volume, with 446 mm over about 29 wet days; January is the driest, with 52 mm.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%110%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdrierwetterdriermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetMay 30 · 98%Jan 5 · 45%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan4915
Feb6016
Mar8627
Apr9127
May9529
Jun9729
Jul9429
Aug9229
Sep9629
Oct9730
Nov8927
Dec5918

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Malabo collects about 2928 mm of rain across 306 wet days — roughly 244 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. July is the wettest month with 446 mm, while January is the driest at just 52 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 43% of the year’s total.

050100150200250300350400450500JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec527216518827338844643138429717162
Rainfall (mm)Rain days
Jan5215
Feb7216
Mar16527
Apr18827
May27329
Jun38829
Jul44629
Aug43129
Sep38429
Oct29730
Nov17127
Dec6218

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Malabo, 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 November 9 and lasts for 4.0 months, ending around March 10. The clearest month is December, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 47% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around March 11 and lasts for 8.0 months, ending around November 8. The cloudiest month is September, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 94% 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%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecDec 27 · 53%Sep 5 · 4%mostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastclearercloudierclearer
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan4357
Feb3565
Mar1783
Apr1387
May1288
Jun1387
Jul1090
Aug892
Sep694
Oct1090
Nov2575
Dec4753

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, Malabo barely changes through the year: days stay near 12 h 12 min of light in every season.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan11.86:406:28
Feb11.96:436:36
Mar12.06:356:34
Apr12.16:236:28
May12.26:166:26
Jun12.26:196:32
Jul12.26:256:36
Aug12.16:256:33
Sep12.06:196:20
Oct11.96:126:07
Nov11.86:156:05
Dec11.86:286:15

Sunny days

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

Malabo averages about 2 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 0 and 9 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 3.5 months, from around Nov 19 to Mar 6. The sunniest month is December, with roughly 8 sunny days (gloomy).

The greyest month is August, down near 0 sunny days — about 98% fewer than the December peak.

051015JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecsunniergreyersunniergloomymixedDec 279 daysAug 260 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan7Gloomy
Feb5Gloomy
Mar1Gloomy
Apr1Gloomy
May1Gloomy
Jun1Gloomy
Jul1Gloomy
Aug0Gloomy
Sep0Gloomy
Oct1Gloomy
Nov2Gloomy
Dec8Gloomy

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.

Malabo 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 January, the mildest month, the air is dry or comfortable only 0% of the time.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecmiserableoppressive
Muggy (%)Oppressive (%)Miserable (%)
Jan08416
Feb07129
Mar06535
Apr06832
May08713
Jun0990
Jul5950
Aug4960
Sep01000
Oct01000
Nov0991
Dec0946

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 Malabo is typically calm, near 8 km/h, and varies little with the seasons.

The windier part of the year lasts 3.3 months, from around Jul 3 to Oct 10. The windiest month is August, averaging about 9 km/h (calm).

The calmer part of the year runs from around Mar 5 to Jul 2, with May the calmest month at about 6 km/h.

051015JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDeccalmerwindiercalmercalmlight breezeAug 9 · 9 km/hMay 15 · 6 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan8calm
Feb8calm
Mar7calm
Apr7calm
May6calm
Jun7calm
Jul8calm
Aug9calm
Sep9calm
Oct7calm
Nov7calm
Dec7calm

Hazard calendar for Malabo

In seasonPeak

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

Malabo's rainy season runs May–October, when most of the year's rain falls.

Malabo sees seasonal dust haze (February–March), heaviest in February.

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

Best time to visit Malabo

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

Around mid February, Malabo 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 Malabo for general outdoor tourist activities is from early December to late February, with a peak score in the first week of January.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationJan 2 · 6.0

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
Jan5.7good
Feb5.1fair
Mar3.9fair
Apr3.6fair
May3.5poor
Jun3.5fair
Jul3.7fair
Aug3.8fair
Sep3.6fair
Oct3.5fair
Nov3.9fair
Dec5.3fair

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 Malabo for hot-weather activities is from early December to late February, with a peak score in the first week of January.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationJan 2 · 6.0

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 Malabo, 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.

Malabo packs about the same all year — highs hold near 27°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, Malabo sees daytime highs around 27°C and nights near 26°C. Pack light clothes and rain gear. Worth having: sun protection. About 27 days see rain.

Sea temperature near Malabo

Average ocean temperature at the nearest coast, month by month, banded into swim-comfort zones — the other half of the beach question.

The sea at the nearest coast (about 17 km away) is warmest in April at about 29°C and coldest in August near 26°C.

The water stays above 20°C all year — warm enough for a swim any month.

24°26°28°30°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwarmtropicalcomfortable to swim
Sea temperature (°C)Comfort
Jan29Tropical
Feb29Tropical
Mar29Tropical
Apr29Tropical
May29Tropical
Jun28Tropical
Jul27Warm
Aug26Warm
Sep27Warm
Oct28Warm
Nov28Tropical
Dec29Tropical

UV index (midday) in Malabo 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 Malabo peaks around April 10 at about 14 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near December 22 at about 9 (very high).

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

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecVery highExtremeVery highApr 10UV 14Dec 22UV 9
UV index (midday)Level
Jan9Very high
Feb11Extreme
Mar14Extreme
Apr14Extreme
May12Extreme
Jun11Extreme
Jul10Extreme
Aug10Extreme
Sep13Extreme
Oct13Extreme
Nov11Extreme
Dec9Very high

Average hourly UV index in Malabo

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 April the burn window is concentrated in the middle of the day: about 8 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)
Jan75
Feb7.55.5
Mar86
Apr86.5
May86
Jun7.55.5
Jul7.55.5
Aug7.55.5
Sep86
Oct86
Nov7.55.5
Dec74.5

Air quality in Malabo 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 Malabo is worst in January — around 59 µg/m³ PM2.5 (unhealthy), about 8.0× the cleanest month (September, 7 µg/m³).

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

020406080JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecUnhealthyPoorModerateGoodModeratePoorJan 2159 µg/m³Sep 198 µg/m³
PM2.5 (µg/m³)Level
Jan59Unhealthy
Feb56Unhealthy
Mar30Moderate
Apr22Moderate
May14Moderate
Jun14Moderate
Jul14Moderate
Aug11Good
Sep7Good
Oct9Good
Nov16Moderate
Dec46Poor
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free dayFrost-free year round

Malabo 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. Malabo banks about 5,637 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around March.

02,0004,0006,000JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°C·days)
Jan496
Feb457
Mar510
Apr492
May496
Jun451
Jul444
Aug439
Sep432
Oct461
Nov465
Dec495

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.

Malabo receives about 4.8 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — bright — with a clear seasonal swing between 3.9 and 5.6 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 6.1 months, from around Nov 11 to May 16. The brightest month is February, averaging about 5.6 kWh/m² (bright).

The dimmest month is July, down near 3.9 kWh/m² — roughly 30% less than the February peak.

01234567JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbrighterdimmerbrighterdimmoderatebrightintenseFeb 215.6 kWhJul 233.9 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan5.4Bright
Feb5.6Bright
Mar5.5Bright
Apr5.3Bright
May4.8Bright
Jun4.2Bright
Jul3.9Moderate
Aug4.0Bright
Sep4.4Bright
Oct4.7Bright
Nov4.9Bright
Dec5.2Bright

Where is Malabo?

Malabo sits at 3.8°N, 8.8°E, 34 m above sea level, in Equatorial Guinea. The nearest listed city is Limbe, 56 km away.

Topography around Malabo

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Malabo has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 101 m around an average of 24 m above sea level; within 16 km, very significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 2,371 m; within 80 km, extreme variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 4,005 m.

The land around Malabo is covered by artificial surfaces (44%) and water (43%) within 3 km, water (50%) and trees (44%) within 16 km, and water (75%) and trees (21%) within 80 km.

3 km
101 m
16 km
2,371 m
80 km
4,005 m
treesgrasslandartificial surfacesbare terrainwatermangroves
Nearby: Limbe 56 km · Buea 68 km · Mutengene 70 km · Tiko 73 km · Bamusso 79 km · Muyuka 92 km · Ekondo Titi 98 km · Souza Gare 107 km

Equatorial Guinea travel facts

Travel advisory
Level 2
Exercise Increased Caution
Power plugs
Type C / E
220 V · 50 Hz
Prices
≈ 41% of US
price level, 2025
GDP per capita
$6,615
2025
Road deaths
27.2
per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group
Upper middle
World Bank
Religion
Roman Catholic 88%Protestant 5%other 5%Muslim 2%

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 Malabo (3.7558°, 8.7817°, elevation 34 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. Sea temperatures are the NOAA OISST v2.1 1991–2020 monthly climatology (public domain), sampled at the nearest ocean point. 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).