Climate and average weather in Semporna

In Semporna, the weather is oppressive, hot, wet, and partly cloudy and remarkably steady, with daytime highs holding near hot levels all year. The wettest stretch peaks around October.

Best: early January to late April

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Semporna typically varies from 24°C to 31°C, and is rarely below 24°C or above 32°C. April is the hottest month of the year, while January is the coldest.

Based on the travel score, the best times of year to visit Semporna for warm-weather activities are from early January to late April and late June to late September.

Hottest
Apr
31°
Coldest
Jan
24°
Wettest
Oct
240 mm
Driest
Feb
146 mm
Rain / yr
2366 mm
300 wet days
Daylight
11.7–12.3 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
7 m
4.5°N
Clearest
Apr
68% cloud

Semporna is human settlement in Malaysia.

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

Semporna 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 late April.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

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

Temperatures in Semporna stay fairly even through the year, without a distinct hot or cool season. The warmest month is April, with an average high of 31°C and low of 25°C; the coolest is January, with an average low of 24°C and high of 29°C.

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

20°25°30°35°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan2924
Feb3024
Mar3025
Apr3125
May3125
Jun3025
Jul3025
Aug3025
Sep3025
Oct3025
Nov3025
Dec3025

How hot and cold Semporna 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, Semporna feels like about 38°C (around May 5). Nearly every day a year carries some heat stress, peaking in May.

20°25°30°35°40°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdangerous heat
Feels-like high (°C)Air high (°C)Feels-like low (°C)Air low (°C)
Jan34292424
Feb34302424
Mar35302525
Apr37312525
May38312525
Jun37302525
Jul36302525
Aug36302525
Sep37302525
Oct37302525
Nov37302525
Dec36302425

Average hourly temperature in Semporna

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 April afternoons, near 31°C, and coldest before dawn in January, near 24°C.

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

Semporna 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
Jan29° / 24°20522.911.83.5
Feb30° / 24°1461911.93.7
Mar30° / 25°16721.1123.5
Apr31° / 25°17323.512.13.1
May31° / 25°2292812.22.8
Jun30° / 25°22226.612.32.9
Jul30° / 25°19325.912.23.1
Aug30° / 25°16624.812.13.2
Sep30° / 25°17924.9123.0
Oct30° / 25°24028.311.92.8
Nov30° / 25°22327.611.82.8
Dec30° / 25°22427.411.73.0

Chance of rain

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

Semporna gets about 2366 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 4.3 months, from around Aug 22 to Dec 31, peaking in October at about 93% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Mar 2.

October is the wettest month by volume, with 240 mm over about 28 wet days; February is the driest, with 146 mm.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdrierwettermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetOct 24 · 93%Mar 2 · 63%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan7523
Feb6819
Mar6821
Apr7924
May9028
Jun8927
Jul8326
Aug8025
Sep8325
Oct9128
Nov9228
Dec8827

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Semporna collects about 2366 mm of rain across 300 wet days — roughly 197 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. October is the wettest month with 240 mm, while February is the driest at just 146 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 29% of the year’s total.

050100150200250300JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec205146167173229222193166179240223224
Rainfall (mm)Rain days
Jan20523
Feb14619
Mar16721
Apr17324
May22928
Jun22227
Jul19326
Aug16625
Sep17925
Oct24028
Nov22328
Dec22427

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Semporna, 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 February 18 and lasts for 3.6 months, ending around June 6. The clearest month is April, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 36% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around September 22 and lasts for 4.9 months, ending around February 17. The cloudiest month is December, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 85% 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%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecApr 9 · 39%Dec 23 · 14%mostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastcloudierclearercloudier
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan1882
Feb2377
Mar3268
Apr3664
May2773
Jun2278
Jul2278
Aug2575
Sep2476
Oct1783
Nov1684
Dec1585

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, Semporna 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)
Jan11.86:226:08
Feb11.96:256:16
Mar12.06:166:14
Apr12.16:036:09
May12.25:566:08
Jun12.35:586:14
Jul12.26:046:18
Aug12.16:056:14
Sep12.05:596:01
Oct11.95:545:48
Nov11.85:575:45
Dec11.76:095:54

Sunny days

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

Semporna averages about 3 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 1 and 6 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 3.9 months, from around Feb 10 to Jun 7. The sunniest month is April, with roughly 5 sunny days (gloomy).

The greyest month is December, down near 1 sunny days — about 72% fewer than the April peak.

0510JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgreyersunniergreyergloomymixedApr 96 daysDec 71 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan2Gloomy
Feb3Gloomy
Mar4Gloomy
Apr5Gloomy
May3Gloomy
Jun2Gloomy
Jul2Gloomy
Aug3Gloomy
Sep3Gloomy
Oct2Gloomy
Nov2Gloomy
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.

Semporna 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 (%)
Jan16930
Feb17821
Mar16534
Apr02872
May0496
Jun01189
Jul02179
Aug02872
Sep02575
Oct01981
Nov01882
Dec03466

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 Semporna 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 Dec 14 to Mar 24. The windiest month is February, averaging about 11 km/h (calm).

The calmer part of the year runs from around Aug 31 to Dec 13, with October the calmest month at about 7 km/h.

051015JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwindiercalmercalmlight breezeFeb 2 · 11 km/hOct 20 · 7 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan10calm
Feb11calm
Mar9calm
Apr7calm
May7calm
Jun7calm
Jul9calm
Aug9calm
Sep8calm
Oct7calm
Nov7calm
Dec8calm

Hazard calendar for Semporna

In seasonPeak

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

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

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

Best time to visit Semporna

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

Around mid April, Semporna 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 times of year to visit Semporna for general outdoor tourist activities run from late June to late September and again from late December to late April, with a peak score in the first week of February.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationFeb 2 · 3.7

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
Jan3.5fair
Feb3.7fair
Mar3.5fair
Apr3.1poor
May2.8poor
Jun2.9poor
Jul3.1poor
Aug3.2poor
Sep3.0poor
Oct2.8poor
Nov2.8poor
Dec3.0poor

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 Semporna for hot-weather activities run from early July to late September and again from late December to late April, with a peak score in the first week of March.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationMar 2 · 5.2

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 Semporna, 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.

Semporna packs about the same all year — highs hold near 31°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 April, Semporna sees daytime highs around 31°C and nights near 25°C. Pack light clothes and rain gear. Worth having: sun protection. About 24 days see rain.

Sea temperature near Semporna

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 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
Jan28Tropical
Feb28Tropical
Mar29Tropical
Apr29Tropical
May30Tropical
Jun29Tropical
Jul29Tropical
Aug29Tropical
Sep29Tropical
Oct29Tropical
Nov29Tropical
Dec29Tropical

UV index (midday) in Semporna 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 Semporna peaks around March 18 at about 15 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near December 14 at about 11 (extreme).

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

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecExtremeMar 18UV 15Dec 14UV 11
UV index (midday)Level
Jan13Extreme
Feb14Extreme
Mar15Extreme
Apr14Extreme
May14Extreme
Jun12Extreme
Jul11Extreme
Aug13Extreme
Sep13Extreme
Oct13Extreme
Nov12Extreme
Dec11Extreme

Average hourly UV index in Semporna

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)
Jan86
Feb86.5
Mar8.56.5
Apr86.5
May8.56.5
Jun86
Jul86
Aug86
Sep86.5
Oct86
Nov7.55.5
Dec7.55.5

Air quality in Semporna 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 Semporna is worst in September — around 15 µg/m³ PM2.5 (moderate), about 1.9× the cleanest month (January, 8 µg/m³).

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

01020JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecGoodModerateGoodSep 1715 µg/m³Jan 18 µg/m³
PM2.5 (µg/m³)Level
Jan8Good
Feb9Good
Mar10Good
Apr10Good
May9Good
Jun9Good
Jul10Good
Aug13Moderate
Sep15Moderate
Oct14Moderate
Nov9Good
Dec8Good
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free dayFrost-free year round

Semporna 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. Semporna banks about 6,331 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)
Jan522
Feb476
Mar540
Apr532
May550
Jun524
Jul535
Aug540
Sep523
Oct540
Nov519
Dec531

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.

Semporna receives about 5.3 kWh/m² a day of solar energy — bright — and it stays remarkably steady, holding between 4.8 and 5.9 kWh/m² all year. For solar panels, output here is a flat line, not a seasonal wave.

01234567JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmoderatebrightintenseApr 95.9 kWhDec 244.8 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan4.9Bright
Feb5.4Bright
Mar5.8Bright
Apr5.8Bright
May5.3Bright
Jun5.0Bright
Jul5.2Bright
Aug5.5Bright
Sep5.6Bright
Oct5.3Bright
Nov5.0Bright
Dec4.8Bright

Where is Semporna?

Semporna sits at 4.5°N, 118.6°E, 7 m above sea level, in Malaysia. The nearest listed city is Lahad Datu, 68 km away.

BongaoSandakanTarakanTanjung Selor

Topography around Semporna

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Semporna has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 19 m around an average of 3 m above sea level; within 16 km, significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 366 m; within 80 km, very significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 1,262 m.

The land around Semporna is covered by water (47%) within 3 km, water (63%) and trees (23%) within 16 km, and water (67%) and trees (30%) within 80 km.

3 km
19 m
16 km
366 m
80 km
1,262 m
treesgrasslandartificial surfaceswatermangroves
Nearby: Lahad Datu 68 km · Tawau 84 km · Sitangkai 89 km · Nunukan 113 km · Bongao 142 km · Sandakan 161 km · Tarakan 172 km · Tanjung Selor 229 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 Semporna (4.4818°, 118.6112°, elevation 7 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).