Climate and average weather in Antsiranana

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

Best: late May to mid October

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Antsiranana typically varies from 21°C to 31°C, and is rarely below 20°C or above 33°C. November is the hottest month of the year, while July is the coldest.

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

Hottest
Nov
31°
Coldest
Jul
21°
Wettest
Jan
244 mm
Driest
Sep
3 mm
Rain / yr
853 mm
102 wet days
Daylight
11.3–12.7 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
60 m
12.3°S
Clearest
Sep
25% cloud

Antsiranana is commune in Madagascar.

Density
3,261/km²
people per km²

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

Antsiranana 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 mid October.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

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

Temperatures in Antsiranana stay fairly even through the year, without a distinct hot or cool season. The warmest month is November, with an average high of 31°C and low of 23°C; the coolest is July, with an average low of 21°C and high of 28°C.

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

15°20°25°30°35°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan3024
Feb2924
Mar3024
Apr3124
May3023
Jun2922
Jul2821
Aug2821
Sep2921
Oct3022
Nov3123
Dec3124

How hot and cold Antsiranana 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, Antsiranana feels like about 34°C (around March 29). About 195 days a year carry some heat stress, peaking in March.

20°25°30°35°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Feels-like high (°C)Air high (°C)Feels-like low (°C)Air low (°C)
Jan33302424
Feb33292424
Mar34302424
Apr34312424
May32302323
Jun30292222
Jul28282121
Aug29282121
Sep29292121
Oct31302222
Nov33312323
Dec34312424

Average hourly temperature in Antsiranana

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 November afternoons, near 31°C, and coldest before dawn in July, near 21°C.

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

Antsiranana 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
Jan30° / 24°24424.412.63.4
Feb29° / 24°22023.612.43.3
Mar30° / 24°15119.212.13.9
Apr31° / 24°45811.75.0
May30° / 23°121.911.46.2
Jun29° / 22°51.211.37.1
Jul28° / 21°61.311.37.8
Aug28° / 21°40.911.67.8
Sep29° / 21°30.711.97.4
Oct30° / 22°131.312.36.5
Nov31° / 23°314.212.65.5
Dec31° / 24°12115.312.74.0

Chance of rain

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

Antsiranana gets about 853 mm of precipitation a year. On a typical day the chance of rain is some rain, but that rises and falls sharply with the seasons.

The wetter season lasts 4.4 months, from around Dec 3 to Apr 14, peaking in February at about 85% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Sep 10.

January is the wettest month by volume, with 244 mm over about 24 wet days; September is the driest, with 3 mm.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwetterdrierwettermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetFeb 10 · 85%Sep 10 · 2%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan7824
Feb8324
Mar6219
Apr268
May72
Jun41
Jul41
Aug31
Sep21
Oct51
Nov144
Dec4915

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Antsiranana collects about 853 mm of rain across 102 wet days — roughly 71 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. January is the wettest month with 244 mm, while September is the driest at just 3 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 72% of the year’s total.

050100150200250300JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec244220151451256431331121
Rainfall (mm)Rain days
Jan24424
Feb22024
Mar15119
Apr458
May122
Jun51
Jul61
Aug41
Sep31
Oct131
Nov314
Dec12115

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Antsiranana, 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 April 12 and lasts for 7.6 months, ending around November 29. The clearest month is September, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 92% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around November 30 and lasts for 4.4 months, ending around April 11. The cloudiest month is January, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 78% 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%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecSep 24 · 92%Jan 30 · 19%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastcloudierclearercloudier
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan2278
Feb2476
Mar3961
Apr6931
May8416
Jun8218
Jul8515
Aug9010
Sep928
Oct8614
Nov7426
Dec4654

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. The longest day, around January 1, brings about 12 h 42 min of light; the shortest, around May 29, only 11 h 18 min — a swing of roughly 1 h 24 min.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan12.65:336:12
Feb12.45:456:10
Mar12.15:505:55
Apr11.75:515:35
May11.45:565:22
Jun11.36:055:21
Jul11.36:085:29
Aug11.65:595:35
Sep11.95:395:35
Oct12.35:195:36
Nov12.65:115:45
Dec12.75:176:01

Sunny days

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

Antsiranana averages about 15 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 2 and 24 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 7.3 months, from around Apr 18 to Nov 25. The sunniest month is September, with roughly 24 sunny days (brilliant).

The greyest month is February, down near 3 sunny days — about 89% fewer than the September peak.

051015202530JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgreyersunniergreyergloomymixedbrightbrilliantSep 2524 daysFeb 52 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan3Gloomy
Feb2Gloomy
Mar7Gloomy
Apr15Mixed
May21Bright
Jun20Bright
Jul21Bright
Aug24Brilliant
Sep23Brilliant
Oct23Bright
Nov17Bright
Dec9Mixed

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.

In Antsiranana, how humid it feels changes noticeably over the year.

The more humid part of the year lasts 8.3 months, from around September 29 to June 9. The muggiest month is January, when the air feels humid, muggy or worse about 100% of the time.

The most comfortable stretch runs from around June 10 to September 28, and July is the most comfortable month — the air is dry or comfortable 25% of the time.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecJul 19 · 26%Jan 1 · 0%miserablehumidmuggyoppressivecomfortablehumidcomfortablehumid
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)Humid (%)Muggy (%)Oppressive (%)Miserable (%)
Jan0004924
Feb00018712
Mar00058411
Apr00129692
May011562210
Jun09573220
Jul124641100
Aug02071900
Sep011691910
Oct03415250
Nov001262260
Dec00127711

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 Antsiranana is typically light breeze, near 18 km/h, and varies a lot with the seasons.

The windier part of the year lasts 6.6 months, from around May 2 to Nov 18. The windiest month is September, averaging about 24 km/h (breezy).

The calmer part of the year runs from around Nov 19 to May 1, with January the calmest month at about 11 km/h.

051015202530JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDeccalmerwindiercalmercalmlight breezebreezywindySep 15 · 24 km/hJan 29 · 11 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan11calm
Feb11calm
Mar12light breeze
Apr16light breeze
May19light breeze
Jun21breezy
Jul22breezy
Aug23breezy
Sep24breezy
Oct22breezy
Nov18light breeze
Dec13light breeze

Hazard calendar for Antsiranana

In seasonPeak

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

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

Antsiranana's monsoon runs December–March, when most of the year's rain falls.

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

Best time to visit Antsiranana

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

Around mid October, Antsiranana 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 Antsiranana for general outdoor tourist activities is from late May to mid October, with a peak score in the last week of July.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationJul 31 · 8.1

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
Jan3.4poor
Feb3.3poor
Mar3.9fair
Apr5.0fair
May6.2good
Jun7.1good
Jul7.8ideal
Aug7.8ideal
Sep7.4good
Oct6.5good
Nov5.5fair
Dec4.1fair

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 Antsiranana for hot-weather activities is from late April to late November, with a peak score in the third week of September.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationSep 21 · 9.2

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 Antsiranana, 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.

Antsiranana packs about the same all year — highs hold near 31°C. Across the year the things worth having are light clothes, sun protection and a windbreaker.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In November, Antsiranana sees daytime highs around 31°C and nights near 23°C. Pack light clothes and sun protection. About 4 days see rain.

Sea temperature near Antsiranana

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 23 km away) is warmest in March at about 28°C and coldest in August near 25°C.

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

24°26°28°30°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecrefreshingwarmtropicalcomfortable to swim
Sea temperature (°C)Comfort
Jan28Tropical
Feb28Tropical
Mar28Tropical
Apr28Tropical
May28Warm
Jun26Warm
Jul25Warm
Aug25Warm
Sep25Warm
Oct25Warm
Nov27Warm
Dec28Warm

UV index (midday) in Antsiranana 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 Antsiranana peaks around February 20 at about 15 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near June 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.

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecExtremeVery highExtremeFeb 20UV 15Jun 22UV 9
UV index (midday)Level
Jan14Extreme
Feb15Extreme
Mar15Extreme
Apr12Extreme
May10Extreme
Jun9Very high
Jul9Very high
Aug11Extreme
Sep13Extreme
Oct14Extreme
Nov13Extreme
Dec14Extreme

Average hourly UV index in Antsiranana

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 February the burn window is concentrated in the middle of the day: about 8.5 hours a day reach index 3 (protection recommended), and 7 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
Feb8.57
Mar86.5
Apr86
May75
Jun74.5
Jul74.5
Aug7.55.5
Sep86
Oct8.56.5
Nov8.56.5
Dec8.56.5
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free dayFrost-free year round

Antsiranana 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. Antsiranana banks about 5,885 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around December.

02,0004,0006,000JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°C·days)
Jan521
Feb466
Mar526
Apr518
May514
Jun458
Jul448
Aug447
Sep448
Oct493
Nov508
Dec537

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.

Antsiranana receives about 5.7 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — bright — with a clear seasonal swing between 4.8 and 7.0 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 4.3 months, from around Aug 17 to Dec 24. The brightest month is October, averaging about 7.0 kWh/m² (intense).

The dimmest month is June, down near 4.9 kWh/m² — roughly 30% less than the October peak.

012345678JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmerbrighterdimmoderatebrightintenseOct 267.0 kWhJun 154.8 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan5.3Bright
Feb5.1Bright
Mar5.4Bright
Apr5.5Bright
May5.2Bright
Jun4.8Bright
Jul5.0Bright
Aug5.7Bright
Sep6.5Intense
Oct7.0Intense
Nov6.8Intense
Dec6.0Intense

Where is Antsiranana?

Antsiranana sits at 12.3°S, 49.3°E, 60 m above sea level, in Madagascar. The nearest listed city is Antsohimbondrona, 98 km away.

AntsohimbondronaAmbilobeIharan̈aAmbarakarakaHell-VilleAmbanjaSambavaMaromandia

Topography around Antsiranana

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Antsiranana has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 106 m around an average of 39 m above sea level; within 16 km, significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 466 m; within 80 km, very significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 1,441 m.

The land around Antsiranana is covered by grassland (47%) and artificial surfaces (23%) within 3 km, grassland (30%) and water (29%) within 16 km, and water (60%) and grassland (21%) within 80 km.

3 km
106 m
16 km
466 m
80 km
1,441 m
treesshrubsgrasslandcroplandartificial surfacesbare terrainwaterwetlandmangroves
Nearby: Antsohimbondrona 98 km · Ambilobe 102 km · Iharan̈a 138 km · Ambarakaraka 139 km · Hell-Ville 164 km · Ambanja 176 km · Sambava 237 km · Maromandia 248 km

Madagascar travel facts

Travel advisory
Level 2
Exercise Increased Caution
Power plugs
Type C / E
220 V · 50 Hz
Prices
≈ 31% of US
price level, 2025
GDP per capita
$599
2025
Happiness
4.2 / 10
World Happiness, 2025
Safe drinking water
22%
of population, 2024
Road deaths
29.2
per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group
Low
World Bank
English
Low
EF EPI 457
Religion
Church of Jesus Christ in Madagascar/Malagasy Lutheran Church/Anglican Church 34%Roman Catholic 32%none 22%other Christian 8%

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 Antsiranana (-12.3173°, 49.2919°, elevation 60 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. Topography is sampled from the Copernicus DEM GLO-90 elevation model (© ESA/Airbus) and ESA WorldCover 2021 land cover (CC BY 4.0).