Climate and average weather in Makassar

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

Best: mid June to early October

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Makassar typically varies from 23°C to 32°C, and is rarely below 21°C or above 34°C. September is the hottest month of the year, while January is the coldest.

Based on the travel score, the best time of year to visit Makassar for warm-weather activities is from mid June to early October.

Hottest
Sep
32°
Coldest
Jan
24°
Wettest
Jan
447 mm
Driest
Aug
56 mm
Rain / yr
2862 mm
264 wet days
Daylight
11.7–12.3 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
6 m
5.1°S
Clearest
Aug
48% cloud

Makassar 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 June to early October.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

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

Temperatures in Makassar stay fairly even through the year, without a distinct hot or cool season. The warmest month is September, with an average high of 32°C and low of 23°C; the coolest is January, with an average low of 24°C and high of 28°C.

Days typically run about 6°C warmer than nights, with the widest day–night swing (around 9°C) in September.

20°25°30°35°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan2824
Feb2924
Mar2924
Apr3024
May3124
Jun3024
Jul3023
Aug3123
Sep3223
Oct3124
Nov3025
Dec2924

How hot and cold Makassar 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, Makassar feels like about 37°C (around April 29). Nearly every day a year carries some heat stress, peaking in April.

20°25°30°35°40°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Feels-like high (°C)Air high (°C)Feels-like low (°C)Air low (°C)
Jan33282424
Feb33292424
Mar34292424
Apr36302424
May37312424
Jun35302424
Jul34302323
Aug35312323
Sep35322323
Oct36312424
Nov36302525
Dec34292424

Average hourly temperature in Makassar

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 September afternoons, near 32°C, and coldest before dawn in January, near 24°C.

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

Makassar 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
Jan28° / 24°44729.712.33.0
Feb29° / 24°34726.212.23.0
Mar29° / 24°28527.9123.0
Apr30° / 24°29228.111.92.8
May31° / 24°23123.911.83.2
Jun30° / 24°17319.811.73.7
Jul30° / 23°11713.911.74.4
Aug31° / 23°568.511.84.6
Sep32° / 23°649.3124.2
Oct31° / 24°16319.212.13.4
Nov30° / 25°25528.112.22.8
Dec29° / 24°43329.812.32.9

Chance of rain

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

Makassar gets about 2862 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 7.3 months, from around Oct 26 to Jun 4, peaking in January at about 97% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Aug 23.

January is the wettest month by volume, with 447 mm over about 30 wet days; August is the driest, with 56 mm.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%110%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwetterdrierwettermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetJan 1 · 97%Aug 23 · 26%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan9630
Feb9326
Mar9028
Apr9328
May7724
Jun6620
Jul4514
Aug279
Sep329
Oct6219
Nov9228
Dec9630

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Makassar collects about 2862 mm of rain across 264 wet days — roughly 239 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. January is the wettest month with 447 mm, while August is the driest at just 56 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 43% of the year’s total.

050100150200250300350400450500JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec4473472852922311731175664163255433
Rainfall (mm)Rain days
Jan44730
Feb34726
Mar28528
Apr29228
May23124
Jun17320
Jul11714
Aug569
Sep649
Oct16319
Nov25528
Dec43330

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Makassar, 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 8 and lasts for 6.0 months, ending around November 6. The clearest month is August, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 66% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around November 7 and lasts for 6.0 months, ending around May 7. The cloudiest month is January, 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%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecAug 22 · 68%Dec 23 · 3%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastcloudierclearercloudier
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan496
Feb496
Mar1090
Apr1882
May3763
Jun4555
Jul5644
Aug6634
Sep6337
Oct4852
Nov2278
Dec496

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, Makassar 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)
Jan12.36:046:20
Feb12.26:126:22
Mar12.06:116:13
Apr11.96:065:59
May11.86:065:52
Jun11.76:115:54
Jul11.76:166:00
Aug11.86:116:01
Sep12.05:575:56
Oct12.15:445:51
Nov12.25:405:55
Dec12.35:506:07

Sunny days

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

Makassar averages about 5 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 0 and 13 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 5.8 months, from around May 11 to Nov 2. The sunniest month is August, with roughly 13 sunny days (mixed).

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

05101520JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgreyersunniergreyergloomymixedbrightAug 2113 daysJan 260 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan0Gloomy
Feb0Gloomy
Mar1Gloomy
Apr2Gloomy
May6Gloomy
Jun7Gloomy
Jul10Mixed
Aug13Mixed
Sep12Mixed
Oct8Mixed
Nov3Gloomy
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.

Makassar 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%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecmiserableoppressivemuggy
Humid (%)Muggy (%)Oppressive (%)Miserable (%)
Jan005743
Feb005743
Mar005050
Apr003367
May004060
Jun026731
Jul013799
Aug236594
Sep333558
Oct1125334
Nov012970
Dec004357

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 Makassar is typically calm, near 6 km/h, and varies little with the seasons.

The windier part of the year lasts 3.5 months, from around Dec 2 to Mar 18. The windiest month is January, averaging about 8 km/h (calm).

The calmer part of the year runs from around Mar 19 to Aug 9, with April the calmest month at about 5 km/h.

051015JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwindiercalmerwindiercalmlight breezeJan 31 · 8 km/hApr 30 · 5 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan8calm
Feb8calm
Mar6calm
Apr5calm
May5calm
Jun5calm
Jul6calm
Aug6calm
Sep7calm
Oct6calm
Nov6calm
Dec7calm

Hazard calendar for Makassar

In seasonPeak

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

Makassar sits in the South Indian Ocean cyclone belt; the season peaks January–March.

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

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

Best time to visit Makassar

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

Around late September, Makassar 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 Makassar for general outdoor tourist activities is from mid June to early October, with a peak score in the first week of August.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationAug 1 · 4.7

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
Jan3.0poor
Feb3.0poor
Mar3.0poor
Apr2.8poor
May3.2poor
Jun3.7fair
Jul4.4fair
Aug4.6fair
Sep4.2fair
Oct3.4poor
Nov2.8poor
Dec2.9poor

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 Makassar for hot-weather activities is from late June to early October, with a peak score in the third week of August.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationAug 20 · 7.0

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 Makassar, 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.

Makassar packs about the same all year — highs hold near 32°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 September, Makassar sees daytime highs around 32°C and nights near 23°C. Pack light clothes and sun protection. Worth having: rain gear. About 9 days see rain.

Sea temperature near Makassar

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

The sea offshore is warmest in April at about 30°C and coldest in August near 28°C.

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

26°28°30°32°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwarmtropicalcomfortable to swim
Sea temperature (°C)Comfort
Jan29Tropical
Feb29Tropical
Mar29Tropical
Apr30Tropical
May29Tropical
Jun29Tropical
Jul28Tropical
Aug28Warm
Sep28Tropical
Oct29Tropical
Nov30Tropical
Dec30Tropical

UV index (midday) in Makassar 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 Makassar peaks around March 12 at about 15 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near June 22 at about 10 (extreme).

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

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecExtremeMar 12UV 15Jun 22UV 10
UV index (midday)Level
Jan15Extreme
Feb15Extreme
Mar15Extreme
Apr13Extreme
May11Extreme
Jun10Extreme
Jul10Extreme
Aug12Extreme
Sep13Extreme
Oct12Extreme
Nov11Extreme
Dec13Extreme

Average hourly UV index in Makassar

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
Feb8.56.5
Mar8.56.5
Apr86
May7.55.5
Jun7.55
Jul7.55
Aug7.56
Sep86
Oct86
Nov86
Dec8.56.5

Air quality in Makassar 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 Makassar is worst in October — around 16 µg/m³ PM2.5 (moderate), and holds fairly steady the rest of the year.

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

01020JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecGoodModerateOct 1616 µg/m³Feb 911 µg/m³
PM2.5 (µg/m³)Level
Jan11Good
Feb11Good
Mar11Good
Apr13Moderate
May14Moderate
Jun15Moderate
Jul15Moderate
Aug13Moderate
Sep15Moderate
Oct16Moderate
Nov14Moderate
Dec12Good
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free dayFrost-free year round

Makassar 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. Makassar banks about 6,213 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around October.

02,0004,0006,000JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°C·days)
Jan506
Feb460
Mar518
Apr515
May541
Jun511
Jul519
Aug530
Sep528
Oct550
Nov519
Dec515

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.

Makassar receives about 4.9 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — bright — with a clear seasonal swing between 3.7 and 6.3 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 4.2 months, from around Jul 16 to Nov 20. The brightest month is September, averaging about 6.3 kWh/m² (intense).

The dimmest month is December, down near 4.0 kWh/m² — roughly 37% less than the September peak.

01234567JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmerbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightintenseSep 176.3 kWhDec 313.7 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan3.9Moderate
Feb4.2Bright
Mar4.6Bright
Apr4.6Bright
May4.7Bright
Jun4.5Bright
Jul4.9Bright
Aug5.8Bright
Sep6.3Intense
Oct6.0Intense
Nov5.1Bright
Dec3.9Moderate

Where is Makassar?

Makassar sits at 5.1°S, 119.4°E, 6 m above sea level, in Indonesia. The nearest listed city is Galesong, 20 km away.

Topography around Makassar

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Makassar has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 22 m around an average of 6 m above sea level; within 16 km, only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 82 m; within 80 km, extreme variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 2,839 m.

The land around Makassar is covered by artificial surfaces (86%) within 3 km, water (47%) within 16 km, and water (56%) and trees (33%) within 80 km.

3 km
22 m
16 km
82 m
80 km
2,839 m
treesgrasslandcroplandartificial surfaceswaterwetlandmangroves
Nearby: Galesong 20 km · Maros 22 km · Sinjai 91 km · Watampone 120 km · Parepare 128 km · Sengkang 131 km · Majene 186 km · Polewali 191 km

Indonesia travel facts

Travel advisory
Level 2
Exercise Increased Caution
Power plugs
Type C / F
230 V · 50 Hz
Prices
≈ 29% of US
price level, 2025
GDP per capita
$5,060
2025
Happiness
5.6 / 10
World Happiness, 2025
Safe drinking water
30%
of population, 2024
Homicide rate
0.3
per 100k, 2022
Road deaths
11.3
per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group
Upper middle
World Bank
English
Low
EF EPI 471
Religion
Muslim 87%Protestant 8%Roman Catholic 3%Hindu 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 Makassar (-5.1486°, 119.4319°, elevation 6 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. Tropical-cyclone seasons are the published climatological basin seasons (NOAA National Hurricane Center / regional warning centres). 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).