Climate and average weather in Mocímboa da Praia

In Mocímboa da Praia, the weather is muggy, hot, wet, and partly cloudy and remarkably steady, with daytime highs holding near hot levels all year. The wettest stretch peaks around March.

Best: mid May to late September

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Mocímboa da Praia typically varies from 20°C to 31°C, and is rarely below 18°C or above 33°C. December is the hottest month of the year, while July is the coldest.

Based on the travel score, the best time of year to visit Mocímboa da Praia for warm-weather activities is from mid May to late September.

Hottest
Dec
31°
Coldest
Jul
20°
Wettest
Mar
212 mm
Driest
Jun
10 mm
Rain / yr
1021 mm
150 wet days
Daylight
11.3–12.7 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
25 m
11.4°S
Clearest
Sep
30% cloud

Mocímboa da Praia 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 May to late September.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

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

Temperatures in Mocímboa da Praia stay fairly even through the year, without a distinct hot or cool season. The warmest month is December, with an average high of 31°C and low of 24°C; the coolest is July, with an average low of 20°C and high of 28°C.

Days typically run about 8°C warmer than nights year-round.

15°20°25°30°35°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan3124
Feb3124
Mar3024
Apr2923
May2922
Jun2820
Jul2820
Aug2820
Sep2920
Oct3022
Nov3123
Dec3124

How hot and cold Mocímboa da Praia 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, Mocímboa da Praia feels like about 36°C (around December 26). About 204 days a year carry some heat stress, peaking in December.

15°20°25°30°35°40°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Feels-like high (°C)Air high (°C)Feels-like low (°C)Air low (°C)
Jan35312424
Feb36312424
Mar35302424
Apr33292323
May31292222
Jun29282020
Jul29282020
Aug29282020
Sep31292020
Oct33302122
Nov35312323
Dec36312424

Average hourly temperature in Mocímboa da Praia

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 December afternoons, near 31°C, and coldest before dawn in July, near 20°C.

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

Mocímboa da Praia 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
Jan31° / 24°19322.912.63.1
Feb31° / 24°19521.212.43.1
Mar30° / 24°21225.912.13.1
Apr29° / 23°11119.211.84.2
May29° / 22°36811.56.2
Jun28° / 20°10311.37.4
Jul28° / 20°10311.47.8
Aug28° / 20°124.111.67.3
Sep29° / 20°134.511.96.5
Oct30° / 22°247.112.35.6
Nov31° / 23°5110.212.54.5
Dec31° / 24°15420.612.73.3

Chance of rain

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

Mocímboa da Praia gets about 1021 mm of precipitation a year. On a typical day the chance of rain is often wet, but that rises and falls sharply with the seasons.

The wetter season lasts 5.3 months, from around Nov 23 to May 1, peaking in March at about 84% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Jul 8.

March is the wettest month by volume, with 212 mm over about 26 wet days; June is the driest, with 10 mm.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwetterdrierwettermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetMar 19 · 84%Jul 8 · 9%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan7323
Feb7621
Mar8326
Apr6319
May268
Jun103
Jul103
Aug134
Sep155
Oct227
Nov3510
Dec6621

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Mocímboa da Praia collects about 1021 mm of rain across 150 wet days — roughly 85 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. March is the wettest month with 212 mm, while June is the driest at just 10 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 59% of the year’s total.

050100150200250JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec19319521211136101012132451154
Rainfall (mm)Rain days
Jan19323
Feb19521
Mar21226
Apr11119
May368
Jun103
Jul103
Aug124
Sep135
Oct247
Nov5110
Dec15421

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Mocímboa da Praia, 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 26 and lasts for 7.3 months, ending around December 2. 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 December 3 and lasts for 4.7 months, ending around April 25. The cloudiest month is February, 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 15 · 93%Feb 15 · 22%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastcloudierclearercloudier
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan2575
Feb2278
Mar3070
Apr5545
May8119
Jun8614
Jul8515
Aug8812
Sep928
Oct8911
Nov7723
Dec4852

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 June 11, 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)
Jan12.65:105:46
Feb12.45:225:44
Mar12.15:265:31
Apr11.85:265:11
May11.55:304:59
Jun11.35:394:59
Jul11.45:425:06
Aug11.65:345:11
Sep11.95:155:11
Oct12.34:565:11
Nov12.54:485:20
Dec12.74:555:35

Sunny days

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

Mocímboa da Praia averages about 14 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 3 and 23 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 7.1 months, from around Apr 28 to Nov 29. The sunniest month is September, with roughly 23 sunny days (bright).

The greyest month is February, down near 3 sunny days — about 87% fewer than the September peak.

0510152025JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgreyersunniergreyergloomymixedbrightbrilliantSep 2023 daysFeb 83 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan3Gloomy
Feb3Gloomy
Mar4Gloomy
Apr10Mixed
May20Bright
Jun20Bright
Jul20Bright
Aug21Bright
Sep22Bright
Oct22Bright
Nov18Bright
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.

Mocímboa da Praia 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 July, the mildest month, the air is dry or comfortable only 7% of the time.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecJul 15 · 8%Jan 1 · 0%miserablemuggyoppressivehumidhumidcomfortablehumid
Comfortable (%)Humid (%)Muggy (%)Oppressive (%)Miserable (%)
Jan0017920
Feb0007030
Mar0016237
Apr00107514
May1744471
Jun5305870
Jul7434900
Aug3296710
Sep1118540
Oct0367310
Nov0026731
Dec0038611

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 Mocímboa da Praia is typically calm, near 11 km/h, and varies moderately with the seasons.

The windier part of the year lasts 5.0 months, from around Apr 16 to Sep 13. The windiest month is July, averaging about 15 km/h (light breeze).

The calmer part of the year runs from around Sep 14 to Apr 15, with March the calmest month at about 8 km/h.

05101520JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDeccalmerwindiercalmercalmlight breezeJul 10 · 15 km/hMar 13 · 7 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan10calm
Feb9calm
Mar8calm
Apr11calm
May14light breeze
Jun14light breeze
Jul15light breeze
Aug13light breeze
Sep11calm
Oct11calm
Nov10calm
Dec9calm

Hazard calendar for Mocímboa da Praia

In seasonPeak

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

Mocímboa da Praia sits in the South Indian Ocean cyclone belt; the season peaks January–March.

Mocímboa da Praia'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 Mocímboa da Praia

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

Around mid September, Mocímboa da Praia 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 Mocímboa da Praia for general outdoor tourist activities is from mid May to late September, with a peak score in the first week of July.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationJul 4 · 7.8

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
Jan3.1poor
Feb3.1poor
Mar3.1poor
Apr4.3fair
May6.2good
Jun7.4good
Jul7.8ideal
Aug7.3good
Sep6.5good
Oct5.6good
Nov4.5fair
Dec3.3poor

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 Mocímboa da Praia for hot-weather activities is from early May to mid November, with a peak score in the first week of June.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationJun 7 · 8.5

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 Mocímboa da Praia, 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.

Mocímboa da Praia 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 December, Mocímboa da Praia sees daytime highs around 31°C and nights near 24°C. Pack light clothes, rain gear and sun protection. About 21 days see rain.

Sea temperature near Mocímboa da Praia

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 30 km away) is warmest in March at about 29°C and coldest in August near 26°C.

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

24°26°28°30°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwarmtropicalcomfortable to swim
Sea temperature (°C)Comfort
Jan29Tropical
Feb29Tropical
Mar29Tropical
Apr29Tropical
May28Tropical
Jun27Warm
Jul26Warm
Aug26Warm
Sep26Warm
Oct27Warm
Nov28Warm
Dec29Tropical

UV index (midday) in Mocímboa da Praia 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 Mocímboa da Praia peaks around March 11 at about 14 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near June 20 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 highExtremeMar 11UV 14Jun 20UV 9
UV index (midday)Level
Jan14Extreme
Feb14Extreme
Mar14Extreme
Apr12Extreme
May10Very high
Jun9Very high
Jul9Very high
Aug10Extreme
Sep13Extreme
Oct13Extreme
Nov12Extreme
Dec13Extreme

Average hourly UV index in Mocímboa da Praia

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
May75
Jun74.5
Jul74.5
Aug75
Sep86
Oct86.5
Nov86
Dec8.56.5
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free dayFrost-free year round

Mocímboa da Praia 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. Mocímboa da Praia banks about 5,785 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)
Jan541
Feb483
Mar522
Apr486
May476
Jun427
Jul425
Aug431
Sep441
Oct492
Nov513
Dec547

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.

Mocímboa da Praia receives about 5.5 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — bright — with a clear seasonal swing between 4.6 and 6.5 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 5.6 months, from around Aug 24 to Feb 8. The brightest month is November, averaging about 6.5 kWh/m² (intense).

The dimmest month is June, down near 4.7 kWh/m² — roughly 27% less than the November peak.

012345678JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbrighterdimmerbrighterdimmoderatebrightintenseNov 96.5 kWhJun 304.6 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan5.6Bright
Feb5.5Bright
Mar5.3Bright
Apr5.1Bright
May5.0Bright
Jun4.7Bright
Jul4.7Bright
Aug5.3Bright
Sep6.0Bright
Oct6.4Intense
Nov6.5Intense
Dec6.1Intense

Where is Mocímboa da Praia?

Mocímboa da Praia sits at 11.4°S, 40.4°E, 25 m above sea level, in Mozambique. The nearest listed city is Mocímboa, 4.0 km away.

MacomiaLuchinguMtwara

Topography around Mocímboa da Praia

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Mocímboa da Praia has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 44 m around an average of 19 m above sea level; within 16 km, only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 94 m; within 80 km, large variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 718 m.

The land around Mocímboa da Praia is covered by grassland (35%) within 3 km, trees (35%), grassland (27%) and water (21%) within 16 km, and trees (49%) and water (30%) within 80 km.

3 km
44 m
16 km
94 m
80 km
718 m
treesshrubsgrasslandcroplandartificial surfaceswaterwetlandmangroves
Nearby: Mocímboa 4.0 km · Nanyamba 93 km · Mueda 94 km · Kitama 98 km · Macomia 103 km · Tandahimba 103 km · Luchingu 122 km · Mtwara 122 km

Mozambique travel facts

Travel advisory
Level 2
Exercise Increased Caution
Power plugs
Type C / F / M
220 V · 50 Hz
Prices
≈ 37% of US
price level, 2025
GDP per capita
$627
2025
Happiness
5.3 / 10
World Happiness, 2025
Safe drinking water
28%
of population, 2024
Homicide rate
3.6
per 100k, 2011
Road deaths
30
per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group
Low
World Bank
English
Low
EF EPI 465
Religion
Catholic 27%Islam 19%Pentecostal 17%Saio/Zione 16%

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 Mocímboa da Praia (-11.3517°, 40.3516°, elevation 25 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).