Climate and average weather in Nampula

In Nampula, the summers are humid, hot, fairly dry, and mostly clear and the winters are warm and mostly clear.

Best: late April to mid September

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Nampula typically varies from 16°C to 33°C, and is rarely below 14°C or above 35°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 Nampula for warm-weather activities is from late April to mid September.

Hottest
Nov
33°
Coldest
Jul
16°
Wettest
Jan
267 mm
Driest
Sep
4 mm
Rain / yr
894 mm
114 wet days
Daylight
11.1–12.9 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
431 m
15.1°S
Clearest
Sep
32% cloud

Nampula is city in Mozambique.

Density
2,407/km²
people per km²
Founded
1919

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

Nampula 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 April to mid September.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

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

Temperatures in Nampula stay fairly even through the year, without a distinct hot or cool season. The warmest month is November, with an average high of 33°C and low of 21°C; the coolest is July, with an average low of 16°C and high of 26°C.

Days typically run about 9°C warmer than nights, with the widest day–night swing (around 12°C) in October.

10°15°20°25°30°35°40°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan3022
Feb3022
Mar2922
Apr2820
May2718
Jun2617
Jul2616
Aug2717
Sep3018
Oct3220
Nov3321
Dec3122

How hot and cold Nampula 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, Nampula feels like about 34°C (around December 10). About 158 days a year carry some heat stress, peaking in December.

15°20°25°30°35°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Feels-like high (°C)Air high (°C)Feels-like low (°C)Air low (°C)
Jan33302222
Feb33302222
Mar32292222
Apr30282020
May28271818
Jun26261717
Jul26261616
Aug27271717
Sep30301818
Oct32322020
Nov34332121
Dec34312222

Average hourly temperature in Nampula

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 33°C, and coldest before dawn in July, near 16°C.

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

Nampula 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° / 22°26725.612.83.2
Feb30° / 22°19521.112.53.5
Mar29° / 22°14320.712.14.0
Apr28° / 20°479.711.75.9
May27° / 18°92.411.37.8
Jun26° / 17°62.111.18.2
Jul26° / 16°6211.28.2
Aug27° / 17°51.511.58.0
Sep30° / 18°4111.96.5
Oct32° / 20°122.612.35.2
Nov33° / 21°476.712.74.1
Dec31° / 22°15418.612.93.4

Chance of rain

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

Nampula gets about 894 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 4.6 months, from around Nov 27 to Apr 14, peaking in January at about 84% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Sep 11.

January is the wettest month by volume, with 267 mm over about 26 wet days; September is the driest, with 4 mm.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwetterdrierwettermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetJan 18 · 84%Sep 11 · 3%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan8126
Feb7621
Mar6621
Apr3210
May92
Jun72
Jul62
Aug52
Sep41
Oct93
Nov237
Dec6019

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Nampula collects about 894 mm of rain across 114 wet days — roughly 74 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. January is the wettest month with 267 mm, while September is the driest at just 4 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 69% of the year’s total.

050100150200250300JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec26719514347966541247154
Rainfall (mm)Rain days
Jan26726
Feb19521
Mar14321
Apr4710
May92
Jun62
Jul62
Aug52
Sep41
Oct123
Nov477
Dec15419

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Nampula, 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 13 and lasts for 7.5 months, ending around November 26. The clearest month is September, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 89% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around November 27 and lasts for 4.5 months, ending around April 12. The cloudiest month is January, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 83% 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 23 · 89%Jan 16 · 14%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastcloudierclearercloudier
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan1783
Feb2575
Mar3961
Apr6535
May7624
Jun7822
Jul7723
Aug8119
Sep8911
Oct8614
Nov7228
Dec3862

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 54 min of light; the shortest, around June 5, only 11 h 06 min — a swing of roughly 1 h 48 min.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan12.85:085:56
Feb12.55:225:53
Mar12.15:295:36
Apr11.75:335:13
May11.35:404:58
Jun11.15:504:56
Jul11.25:535:04
Aug11.55:425:12
Sep11.95:205:15
Oct12.34:585:18
Nov12.74:475:30
Dec12.94:525:46

Sunny days

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

Nampula averages about 11 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 1 and 20 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 7.2 months, from around Apr 25 to Nov 30. The sunniest month is September, with roughly 20 sunny days (bright).

The greyest month is January, down near 2 sunny days — about 91% fewer than the September peak.

0510152025JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgreyersunniergreyergloomymixedbrightbrilliantSep 2320 daysJan 161 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan2Gloomy
Feb2Gloomy
Mar4Gloomy
Apr8Mixed
May14Mixed
Jun13Mixed
Jul12Mixed
Aug16Bright
Sep19Bright
Oct19Bright
Nov15Mixed
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 Nampula, how humid it feels changes dramatically over the year.

The more humid part of the year lasts 7.5 months, from around October 11 to May 25. 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 26 to October 10, and July is the most comfortable month — the air is dry or comfortable 76% of the time.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecJul 17 · 79%Jan 1 · 0%oppressivemuggyhumidcomfortabledryhumidcomfortablehumid
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)Humid (%)Muggy (%)Oppressive (%)Miserable (%)
Jan00014860
Feb00015850
Mar00124741
Apr011952280
May115533010
Jun54545400
Jul116524100
Aug96228100
Sep44945200
Oct120611800
Nov05404970
Dec00838540

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 Nampula is typically calm, near 10 km/h, and varies little with the seasons.

The windier part of the year lasts 7.6 months, from around Apr 11 to Nov 26. The windiest month is October, averaging about 11 km/h (calm).

The calmer part of the year runs from around Nov 27 to Apr 10, with February the calmest month at about 8 km/h.

051015JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDeccalmerwindiercalmercalmlight breezeOct 3 · 11 km/hFeb 20 · 8 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan8calm
Feb8calm
Mar8calm
Apr10calm
May11calm
Jun11calm
Jul11calm
Aug11calm
Sep11calm
Oct11calm
Nov11calm
Dec8calm

Hazard calendar for Nampula

In seasonPeak

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

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

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

Best time to visit Nampula

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

Around early May, Nampula is still near the start of its best-weather window — great conditions with the peak-season crowds not yet at full swing.

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 Nampula for general outdoor tourist activities is from late April to mid September, with a peak score in the last week of July.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationJul 22 · 8.3

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
Jan3.2poor
Feb3.5poor
Mar4.0fair
Apr5.9good
May7.8ideal
Jun8.2ideal
Jul8.2ideal
Aug8.0ideal
Sep6.6good
Oct5.2fair
Nov4.1fair
Dec3.4poor

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 Nampula for hot-weather activities is from mid April to mid November, with a peak score in the second week of September.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationSep 9 · 8.9

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 Nampula, 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 November (highs near 33°C), the essentials are light clothes and sun protection. In the cold season around July (highs near 26°C), pack light clothes.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In November, Nampula sees daytime highs around 33°C and nights near 21°C. Pack light clothes and sun protection. About 7 days see rain.

UV index (midday) in Nampula 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 Nampula peaks around January 13 at about 16 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near June 18 at about 8 (very high).

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

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecExtremeVery highExtremeJan 13UV 16Jun 18UV 8
UV index (midday)Level
Jan16Extreme
Feb15Extreme
Mar14Extreme
Apr12Extreme
May9Very high
Jun8Very high
Jul8Very high
Aug10Very high
Sep11Extreme
Oct13Extreme
Nov13Extreme
Dec15Extreme

Average hourly UV index in Nampula

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 January 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
Feb8.56.5
Mar86.5
Apr7.55.5
May74.5
Jun6.53.5
Jul6.54
Aug75
Sep7.55.5
Oct86
Nov8.56.5
Dec97

Air quality in Nampula 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 Nampula is worst in September — around 24 µg/m³ PM2.5 (moderate), about 3.9× the cleanest month (December, 6 µg/m³).

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

0102030JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecGoodModerateGoodSep 1723 µg/m³Dec 136 µg/m³
PM2.5 (µg/m³)Level
Jan8Good
Feb9Good
Mar8Good
Apr8Good
May8Good
Jun7Good
Jul8Good
Aug13Moderate
Sep24Moderate
Oct16Moderate
Nov7Good
Dec6Good
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free dayFrost-free year round

Nampula 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. Nampula banks about 5,214 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around November.

02,0004,000JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°C·days)
Jan496
Feb442
Mar480
Apr433
May398
Jun338
Jul334
Aug369
Sep413
Oct485
Nov508
Dec518

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.

Nampula receives about 5.4 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — bright — with a clear seasonal swing between 4.1 and 6.9 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 5.9 months, from around Aug 27 to Feb 22. The brightest month is November, averaging about 6.8 kWh/m² (intense).

The dimmest month is June, down near 4.2 kWh/m² — roughly 38% less than the November peak.

012345678JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbrighterdimmerbrighterdimmoderatebrightintenseNov 96.9 kWhJun 304.1 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan5.4Bright
Feb5.5Bright
Mar5.3Bright
Apr4.9Bright
May4.6Bright
Jun4.2Bright
Jul4.3Bright
Aug5.0Bright
Sep6.1Intense
Oct6.6Intense
Nov6.8Intense
Dec6.2Intense

Where is Nampula?

Nampula sits at 15.1°S, 39.3°E, 431 m above sea level, in Mozambique. The nearest listed city is Nametil, 68 km away.

MonapoIapalaAngocheMossuril

Topography around Nampula

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Nampula has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 95 m around an average of 405 m above sea level; within 16 km, significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 541 m; within 80 km, very significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 1,336 m.

The land around Nampula is covered by artificial surfaces (84%) within 3 km, grassland (36%), shrubs (24%) and cropland (21%) within 16 km, and shrubs (44%), trees (24%) and grassland (24%) within 80 km.

3 km
95 m
16 km
541 m
80 km
1,336 m
treesshrubsgrasslandcroplandartificial surfacesbare terrain
Nearby: Nametil 68 km · Murrupula 74 km · Namialo 80 km · Ribáuè 103 km · Monapo 113 km · Iapala 132 km · Angoche 142 km · Mossuril 151 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 Nampula (-15.1165°, 39.2666°, elevation 431 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. 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).