Climate and average weather in Kuala Terengganu

In Kuala Terengganu, the weather is oppressive, hot, wet, and mostly cloudy and remarkably steady, with daytime highs holding near hot levels all year. The wettest stretch peaks around December.

Best: early January to early April

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Kuala Terengganu typically varies from 24°C to 32°C, and is rarely below 23°C or above 34°C. May is the hottest month of the year, while January is the coldest.

Based on the travel score, the best time of year to visit Kuala Terengganu for warm-weather activities is from early January to early April.

Hottest
May
32°
Coldest
Jan
24°
Wettest
Dec
422 mm
Driest
Feb
95 mm
Rain / yr
2377 mm
268 wet days
Daylight
11.7–12.3 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
15 m
5.3°N
Clearest
Mar
68% cloud

Kuala Terengganu is state capital of Terengganu, Malaysia.

Density
705/km²
people per km²
Founded
1928

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

Kuala Terengganu 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 early January to early April.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

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

Temperatures in Kuala Terengganu stay fairly even through the year, without a distinct hot or cool season. The warmest month is May, with an average high of 32°C and low of 26°C; the coolest is January, with an average low of 24°C and high of 28°C.

Days typically run about 5°C warmer than nights year-round.

20°25°30°35°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan2824
Feb2924
Mar3025
Apr3126
May3226
Jun3126
Jul3125
Aug3125
Sep3125
Oct3025
Nov2925
Dec2824

How hot and cold Kuala Terengganu 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, Kuala Terengganu feels like about 40°C (around May 14). About 309 days a year carry some heat stress, and 58 of them tip into dangerous heat (feels-like above 39°C), peaking in May.

20°25°30°35°40°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdangerous heat
Feels-like high (°C)Air high (°C)Feels-like low (°C)Air low (°C)
Jan31282424
Feb32292424
Mar35302525
Apr38312626
May40322626
Jun39312626
Jul38312525
Aug38312525
Sep38312525
Oct37302525
Nov34292525
Dec32282424

Average hourly temperature in Kuala Terengganu

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 May 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

Kuala Terengganu 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°20721.911.74.1
Feb29° / 24°9515.511.84.5
Mar30° / 25°13017124.1
Apr31° / 26°10418.212.13.4
May32° / 26°12921.512.22.9
Jun31° / 26°13521.912.32.9
Jul31° / 25°1372212.33.1
Aug31° / 25°15523.112.23.0
Sep31° / 25°19424.9122.8
Oct30° / 25°27128.511.92.7
Nov29° / 25°3992811.83.0
Dec28° / 24°42225.811.73.5

Chance of rain

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

Kuala Terengganu gets about 2377 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 4.8 months, from around Aug 17 to Jan 10, peaking in November at about 96% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Mar 12.

December is the wettest month by volume, with 422 mm over about 26 wet days; February is the driest, with 95 mm.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%110%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdrierwettermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetNov 5 · 96%Mar 12 · 51%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan7022
Feb5616
Mar5517
Apr6118
May7022
Jun7322
Jul7122
Aug7523
Sep8325
Oct9229
Nov9328
Dec8426

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Kuala Terengganu collects about 2377 mm of rain across 268 wet days — roughly 198 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. December is the wettest month with 422 mm, while February is the driest at just 95 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 46% of the year’s total.

050100150200250300350400450500JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec20795130104129135137155194271399422
Rainfall (mm)Rain days
Jan20722
Feb9516
Mar13017
Apr10418
May12922
Jun13522
Jul13722
Aug15523
Sep19425
Oct27129
Nov39928
Dec42226

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Kuala Terengganu, the average share of the sky covered by clouds shows moderate seasonal variation over the course of the year.

The clearer part of the year begins around January 19 and lasts for 3.8 months, ending around May 15. The clearest month is March, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 35% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around August 19 and lasts for 5.0 months, ending around January 18. The cloudiest month is November, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 92% 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%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecMar 13 · 37%Nov 1 · 7%mostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastclearercloudier
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan2080
Feb3070
Mar3565
Apr3367
May2278
Jun2377
Jul2179
Aug2080
Sep1684
Oct991
Nov892
Dec1090

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, Kuala Terengganu 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)
Jan11.77:257:08
Feb11.87:277:17
Mar12.07:187:16
Apr12.17:047:11
May12.26:567:11
Jun12.36:587:17
Jul12.37:057:21
Aug12.27:067:17
Sep12.07:017:03
Oct11.96:566:49
Nov11.87:006:45
Dec11.77:136:54

Sunny days

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

Kuala Terengganu averages about 2 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 1 and 5 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 4.9 months, from around Feb 6 to Jul 3. The sunniest month is March, with roughly 5 sunny days (gloomy).

The greyest month is November, down near 1 sunny days — about 87% fewer than the March peak.

0510JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgreyersunniergreyergloomymixedMar 135 daysNov 141 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan2Gloomy
Feb3Gloomy
Mar5Gloomy
Apr4Gloomy
May3Gloomy
Jun3Gloomy
Jul2Gloomy
Aug2Gloomy
Sep2Gloomy
Oct1Gloomy
Nov1Gloomy
Dec1Gloomy

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.

Kuala Terengganu 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
Muggy (%)Oppressive (%)Miserable (%)
Jan77914
Feb58015
Mar25642
Apr02179
May01090
Jun01585
Jul02575
Aug02872
Sep02773
Oct02080
Nov03763
Dec16930

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 Kuala Terengganu is typically calm, near 8 km/h, and varies moderately with the seasons.

The windier part of the year lasts 3.5 months, from around Nov 23 to Mar 8. The windiest month is December, averaging about 11 km/h (calm).

The calmer part of the year runs from around Aug 14 to Nov 22, with October the calmest month at about 6 km/h.

051015JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwindiercalmerwindiercalmlight breezeDec 26 · 11 km/hOct 5 · 6 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan11calm
Feb9calm
Mar8calm
Apr7calm
May7calm
Jun8calm
Jul8calm
Aug8calm
Sep7calm
Oct6calm
Nov8calm
Dec11calm

Hazard calendar for Kuala Terengganu

In seasonPeak

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

Kuala Terengganu sits in the Pacific typhoon belt; the season peaks July–October.

Kuala Terengganu's rainy season runs September–January, when most of the year's rain falls.

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

Best time to visit Kuala Terengganu

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

Around late March, Kuala Terengganu 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 Kuala Terengganu for general outdoor tourist activities is from late December to early April, with a peak score in the second week of February.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationFeb 14 · 4.5

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
Jan4.1fair
Feb4.5fair
Mar4.1fair
Apr3.4poor
May2.9poor
Jun2.9poor
Jul3.1poor
Aug3.0poor
Sep2.8poor
Oct2.7poor
Nov3.0poor
Dec3.5fair

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 Kuala Terengganu for hot-weather activities is from mid January to mid May, with a peak score in the last week of February.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationFeb 22 · 5.9

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 Kuala Terengganu, 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.

Kuala Terengganu 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 May, Kuala Terengganu sees daytime highs around 32°C and nights near 26°C. Pack light clothes and rain gear. Worth having: sun protection. About 22 days see rain.

Sea temperature near Kuala Terengganu

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 May at about 30°C and coldest in January near 27°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
Jan27Warm
Feb28Warm
Mar29Tropical
Apr30Tropical
May30Tropical
Jun30Tropical
Jul30Tropical
Aug29Tropical
Sep29Tropical
Oct29Tropical
Nov29Tropical
Dec28Warm

UV index (midday) in Kuala Terengganu 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 Kuala Terengganu peaks around February 21 at about 14 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near June 22 at about 11 (extreme).

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

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecExtremeFeb 21UV 14Jun 22UV 11
UV index (midday)Level
Jan12Extreme
Feb14Extreme
Mar14Extreme
Apr13Extreme
May13Extreme
Jun11Extreme
Jul11Extreme
Aug12Extreme
Sep14Extreme
Oct12Extreme
Nov11Extreme
Dec11Extreme

Average hourly UV index in Kuala Terengganu

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 hours a day reach index 3 (protection recommended), and 6 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)
Jan86
Feb86
Mar86.5
Apr86
May86
Jun7.55.5
Jul85.5
Aug86
Sep86.5
Oct7.55.5
Nov7.55.5
Dec7.55.5

Air quality in Kuala Terengganu 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 Kuala Terengganu is worst in September — around 24 µg/m³ PM2.5 (moderate), about 2.6× the cleanest month (November, 9 µg/m³).

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

0102030JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecGoodModerateGoodSep 1424 µg/m³Nov 2010 µg/m³
PM2.5 (µg/m³)Level
Jan12Good
Feb12Good
Mar11Good
Apr12Moderate
May15Moderate
Jun17Moderate
Jul21Moderate
Aug20Moderate
Sep24Moderate
Oct17Moderate
Nov9Good
Dec11Good
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free dayFrost-free year round

Kuala Terengganu 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. Kuala Terengganu banks about 6,404 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around May.

02,0004,0006,000JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°C·days)
Jan500
Feb461
Mar537
Apr551
May584
Jun556
Jul565
Aug561
Sep537
Oct542
Nov504
Dec506

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.

Kuala Terengganu receives about 5.3 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — bright — with a clear seasonal swing between 3.9 and 6.1 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 8.1 months, from around Feb 6 to Oct 9. The brightest month is April, averaging about 6.0 kWh/m² (intense).

The dimmest month is December, down near 3.9 kWh/m² — roughly 35% less than the April peak.

01234567JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmerbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightintenseApr 146.1 kWhDec 163.9 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan4.7Bright
Feb5.5Bright
Mar5.9Bright
Apr6.0Intense
May5.7Bright
Jun5.4Bright
Jul5.5Bright
Aug5.8Bright
Sep5.7Bright
Oct5.0Bright
Nov4.2Bright
Dec3.9Moderate

Where is Kuala Terengganu?

Kuala Terengganu sits at 5.3°N, 103.1°E, 15 m above sea level, in Malaysia. The nearest listed city is Kuala Nerus, 14 km away.

Topography around Kuala Terengganu

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Kuala Terengganu has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 145 m around an average of 6 m above sea level; within 16 km, significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 347 m; within 80 km, very significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 1,537 m.

The land around Kuala Terengganu is covered by water (42%) and artificial surfaces (37%) within 3 km, water (51%) and trees (29%) within 16 km, and water (49%) and trees (48%) within 80 km.

3 km
145 m
16 km
347 m
80 km
1,537 m
treesgrasslandcroplandartificial surfacesbare terrainwater
Nearby: Kuala Nerus 14 km · Marang 16 km · Dungun 69 km · Paka 84 km · Kertih 97 km · Pasir Puteh 99 km · Kuala Krai 107 km · Kampong Pangkal Kalong 121 km

Malaysia travel facts

Travel advisory
Level 1
Exercise Normal Precautions
Power plugs
Type C / G / M
230 V · 50 Hz
Prices
≈ 32% of US
price level, 2025
GDP per capita
$13,125
2025
Happiness
6.0 / 10
World Happiness, 2025
Safe drinking water
95%
of population, 2024
Homicide rate
0.7
per 100k, 2023
Road deaths
22.5
per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group
Upper middle
World Bank
English
High
EF EPI 581
Religion
Muslim 64%Buddhist 19%Christian 9%Hindu 6%

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 Kuala Terengganu (5.3302°, 103.1408°, elevation 15 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).