Climate and average weather in Farafangana

In Farafangana, the summers are muggy, hot, wet, and partly cloudy and the winters are warm and mostly clear.

Best: late May to mid November

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Farafangana typically varies from 17°C to 30°C, and is rarely below 16°C or above 32°C. January is the hottest month of the year, while July is the coldest.

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

Hottest
Jan
30°
Coldest
Jul
17°
Wettest
Jan
318 mm
Driest
Sep
37 mm
Rain / yr
1647 mm
210 wet days
Daylight
10.6–13.4 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
12 m
22.8°S
Clearest
Aug
42% cloud

Farafangana 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 November.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

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

Temperatures in Farafangana stay fairly even through the year, without a distinct hot or cool season. The warmest month is January, with an average high of 30°C and low of 24°C; the coolest is July, with an average low of 17°C and high of 24°C.

Days typically run about 6°C warmer than nights year-round.

15°20°25°30°35°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan3024
Feb2924
Mar2923
Apr2822
May2620
Jun2418
Jul2417
Aug2418
Sep2519
Oct2721
Nov2822
Dec2924

How hot and cold Farafangana 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, Farafangana feels like about 34°C (around January 30). About 106 days a year carry some heat stress, peaking in January.

15°20°25°30°35°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Feels-like high (°C)Air high (°C)Feels-like low (°C)Air low (°C)
Jan34302424
Feb34292424
Mar32292323
Apr30282222
May26262020
Jun24241818
Jul24241717
Aug24241818
Sep25251919
Oct27272121
Nov30282222
Dec33292424

Average hourly temperature in Farafangana

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 January afternoons, near 30°C, and coldest before dawn in July, near 17°C.

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

Farafangana 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°31825.313.23.4
Feb29° / 24°26323.512.83.3
Mar29° / 23°25124.312.23.8
Apr28° / 22°15820.711.54.8
May26° / 20°11718.810.95.6
Jun24° / 18°721410.66.5
Jul24° / 17°7914.510.76.5
Aug24° / 18°4812.111.27.0
Sep25° / 19°379.811.97.0
Oct27° / 21°6311.612.56.4
Nov28° / 22°7914.513.15.3
Dec29° / 24°16020.513.44.0

Chance of rain

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

Farafangana gets about 1647 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 5.7 months, from around Nov 30 to May 21, peaking in February at about 86% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Sep 18.

January is the wettest month by volume, with 318 mm over about 25 wet days; September is the driest, with 37 mm.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwetterdrierwettermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetFeb 27 · 86%Sep 18 · 30%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan8125
Feb8424
Mar7924
Apr6921
May5919
Jun4814
Jul4615
Aug3912
Sep3310
Oct3812
Nov4915
Dec6721

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Farafangana collects about 1647 mm of rain across 210 wet days — roughly 137 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. January is the wettest month with 318 mm, while September is the driest at just 37 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 51% of the year’s total.

050100150200250300350JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec318263251158117727948376379160
Rainfall (mm)Rain days
Jan31825
Feb26324
Mar25124
Apr15821
May11719
Jun7214
Jul7915
Aug4812
Sep3710
Oct6312
Nov7915
Dec16021

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Farafangana, 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 19 and lasts for 6.1 months, ending around October 21. The clearest month is August, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 77% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around October 22 and lasts for 5.9 months, ending around April 18. The cloudiest month is January, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 62% 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 13 · 78%Jan 9 · 37%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastcloudierclearercloudier
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan3862
Feb3961
Mar4555
Apr5545
May6535
Jun7327
Jul7030
Aug7723
Sep7228
Oct6040
Nov5050
Dec4159

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 13 h 24 min of light; the shortest, around June 8, only 10 h 36 min — a swing of roughly 2 h 48 min.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan13.25:206:36
Feb12.85:406:27
Mar12.25:536:03
Apr11.56:055:33
May10.96:185:12
Jun10.66:315:07
Jul10.76:335:16
Aug11.26:175:29
Sep11.95:475:39
Oct12.55:185:50
Nov13.15:006:07
Dec13.45:036:27

Sunny days

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

Farafangana averages about 10 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 4 and 16 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 5.9 months, from around Apr 27 to Oct 22. The sunniest month is August, with roughly 15 sunny days (mixed).

The greyest month is February, down near 5 sunny days — about 69% fewer than the August peak.

05101520JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgreyersunniergreyergloomymixedbrightAug 1716 daysFeb 134 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan6Gloomy
Feb4Gloomy
Mar6Gloomy
Apr9Mixed
May11Mixed
Jun13Mixed
Jul13Mixed
Aug15Mixed
Sep14Mixed
Oct12Mixed
Nov9Mixed
Dec6Gloomy

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 Farafangana, how humid it feels changes noticeably over the year.

The more humid part of the year lasts 7.4 months, from around October 14 to May 26. 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 May 27 to October 13, and July is the most comfortable month — the air is dry or comfortable 22% of the time.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecJul 11 · 23%Jan 1 · 0%miserablemuggyoppressivehumidcomfortablehumidcomfortablehumid
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)Humid (%)Muggy (%)Oppressive (%)Miserable (%)
Jan00067221
Feb00156925
Mar00187813
Apr00429651
May031463190
Jun112434210
Jul220611800
Aug214612200
Sep110434410
Oct152061130
Nov02744471
Dec00117757

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 Farafangana is typically calm, near 10 km/h, and varies moderately with the seasons.

The windier part of the year lasts 5.3 months, from around Aug 19 to Jan 26. The windiest month is October, averaging about 14 km/h (light breeze).

The calmer part of the year runs from around Jan 27 to Aug 18, with May the calmest month at about 8 km/h.

05101520JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwindiercalmerwindiercalmlight breezeOct 18 · 14 km/hMay 29 · 8 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan11calm
Feb10calm
Mar9calm
Apr9calm
May8calm
Jun8calm
Jul9calm
Aug10calm
Sep12light breeze
Oct14light breeze
Nov13light breeze
Dec12calm

Hazard calendar for Farafangana

In seasonPeak

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

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

Farafangana's monsoon runs December–April, 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 Farafangana

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

Around early November, Farafangana 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 Farafangana for general outdoor tourist activities is from late May to mid November, with a peak score in the second week of September.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationSep 13 · 7.1

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
Feb3.4poor
Mar3.8fair
Apr4.8fair
May5.6good
Jun6.5good
Jul6.5good
Aug7.0good
Sep7.0good
Oct6.4good
Nov5.3fair
Dec4.0fair

The beach/pool score favors clear, rainless days with daytime highs between 24°C and 34°C. Based on this score, the best times of year to visit Farafangana for hot-weather activities run from mid May to early July and again from late July to mid December, with a peak score in the third week of September.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationSep 21 · 6.6

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 Farafangana, 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.

For a warm-season trip around January (highs near 30°C), the essentials are light clothes, rain gear and sun protection. In the cold season around July (highs near 24°C), pack light clothes and rain gear.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In January, Farafangana sees daytime highs around 30°C and nights near 24°C. Pack light clothes and rain gear. Worth having: sun protection. About 25 days see rain.

Sea temperature near Farafangana

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 February at about 28°C and coldest in August near 24°C.

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

22°24°26°28°30°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecrefreshingwarmtropicalcomfortable to swim
Sea temperature (°C)Comfort
Jan28Warm
Feb28Tropical
Mar28Tropical
Apr28Warm
May27Warm
Jun25Warm
Jul24Warm
Aug24Refreshing
Sep24Refreshing
Oct24Warm
Nov25Warm
Dec27Warm

UV index (midday) in Farafangana 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 Farafangana peaks around February 12 at about 15 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near June 20 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 highExtremeFeb 12UV 15Jun 20UV 6
UV index (midday)Level
Jan14Extreme
Feb16Extreme
Mar12Extreme
Apr9Very high
May7High
Jun6High
Jul6High
Aug8Very high
Sep8Very high
Oct10Extreme
Nov12Extreme
Dec13Extreme

Average hourly UV index in Farafangana

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 9 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)
Jan97
Feb97
Mar86
Apr74.5
May62.5
Jun50
Jul50
Aug63
Sep74
Oct85.5
Nov8.56.5
Dec97
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free dayFrost-free year round

Farafangana 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. Farafangana banks about 5,109 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around January.

02,0004,000JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°C·days)
Jan521
Feb468
Mar500
Apr447
May404
Jun339
Jul325
Aug340
Sep366
Oct429
Nov460
Dec510

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.

Farafangana receives about 4.7 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — bright — with a clear seasonal swing between 3.2 and 6.1 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 6.5 months, from around Sep 9 to Mar 24. The brightest month is December, averaging about 6.0 kWh/m² (intense).

The dimmest month is June, down near 3.2 kWh/m² — roughly 47% less than the December peak.

01234567JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbrighterdimmerbrighterdimmoderatebrightintenseDec 156.1 kWhJun 223.2 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan5.7Bright
Feb5.3Bright
Mar4.8Bright
Apr4.1Bright
May3.5Moderate
Jun3.2Moderate
Jul3.3Moderate
Aug4.1Bright
Sep4.9Bright
Oct5.4Bright
Nov5.9Bright
Dec6.1Intense

Where is Farafangana?

Farafangana sits at 22.8°S, 47.8°E, 12 m above sea level, in Madagascar. The nearest listed city is Vohipeno, 53 km away.

VohipahoAmboanjoIvohibeIkongo

Topography around Farafangana

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Farafangana has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 43 m around an average of 5 m above sea level; within 16 km, only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 109 m; within 80 km, large variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 838 m.

The land around Farafangana is covered by grassland (39%) and water (32%) within 3 km, water (46%) and grassland (27%) within 16 km, and grassland (38%), water (33%) and trees (22%) within 80 km.

3 km
43 m
16 km
109 m
80 km
838 m
treesshrubsgrasslandcroplandartificial surfacesbare terrainwaterwetland
Nearby: Vohipeno 53 km · Vondrozo 56 km · Vangaindrano 63 km · Manakara 77 km · Vohipaho 88 km · Amboanjo 91 km · Ivohibe 104 km · Ikongo 112 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 Farafangana (-22.8222°, 47.8261°, elevation 12 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).