Climate and average weather in Nungwi

In Nungwi, 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 April.

Best: late July to late October

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Nungwi typically varies from 24°C to 28°C, and is rarely below 23°C or above 29°C. March is the hottest month of the year, while August is the coldest.

Based on the travel score, the best times of year to visit Nungwi for warm-weather activities are from late July to late October and late December to early March.

Hottest
Mar
28°
Coldest
Aug
24°
Wettest
Apr
278 mm
Driest
Sep
27 mm
Rain / yr
1115 mm
191 wet days
Daylight
11.7–12.3 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
8 m
5.7°S
Clearest
Sep
31% cloud

Nungwi 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 July to late October.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

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

Temperatures in Nungwi stay fairly even through the year, without a distinct hot or cool season. The warmest month is March, with an average high of 28°C and low of 26°C; the coolest is August, with an average low of 24°C and high of 25°C.

Days typically run about 2°C warmer than nights year-round.

18°20°22°24°26°28°30°32°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan2826
Feb2827
Mar2826
Apr2826
May2725
Jun2625
Jul2624
Aug2524
Sep2624
Oct2625
Nov2725
Dec2826

How hot and cold Nungwi 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, Nungwi feels like about 33°C (around March 22). About 28 days a year carry some heat stress, peaking in March.

20°25°30°35°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Feels-like high (°C)Air high (°C)Feels-like low (°C)Air low (°C)
Jan31282626
Feb31282727
Mar32282626
Apr31282626
May29272525
Jun26262525
Jul26262424
Aug25252424
Sep26262424
Oct26262525
Nov28272525
Dec31282626

Average hourly temperature in Nungwi

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 March afternoons, near 28°C, and coldest before dawn in August, near 24°C.

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

Nungwi 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° / 26°348.412.36.9
Feb28° / 27°286.612.26.9
Mar28° / 26°13119.8124.8
Apr28° / 26°2782711.93.9
May27° / 25°23324.411.74.5
Jun26° / 25°6619.411.75.3
Jul26° / 24°4616.411.75.9
Aug25° / 24°3311.211.86.9
Sep26° / 24°278127.5
Oct26° / 25°6912.512.16.7
Nov27° / 25°8818.712.35.5
Dec28° / 26°8218.812.35.5

Chance of rain

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

Nungwi gets about 1115 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 4.2 months, from around Mar 10 to Jul 15, peaking in April at about 91% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Feb 4.

April is the wettest month by volume, with 278 mm over about 27 wet days; September is the driest, with 27 mm.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdrierwetterdriermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetApr 16 · 91%Feb 4 · 20%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan288
Feb267
Mar6320
Apr8927
May7924
Jun6519
Jul5316
Aug3611
Sep288
Oct4113
Nov6219
Dec5819

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Nungwi collects about 1115 mm of rain across 191 wet days — roughly 93 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. April is the wettest month with 278 mm, while September is the driest at just 27 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 58% of the year’s total.

050100150200250300JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec342813127823366463327698882
Rainfall (mm)Rain days
Jan348
Feb287
Mar13120
Apr27827
May23324
Jun6619
Jul4616
Aug3311
Sep278
Oct6913
Nov8819
Dec8219

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Nungwi, 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 July 26 and lasts for 5.2 months, ending around December 29. 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 December 30 and lasts for 4.9 months, ending around May 26. The cloudiest month is April, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 48% 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 12 · 90%Apr 26 · 50%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastcloudierclearer
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan6634
Feb6733
Mar6238
Apr5248
May6238
Jun7030
Jul7030
Aug8020
Sep8911
Oct8416
Nov7822
Dec7525

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, Nungwi 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)
Jan12.36:236:41
Feb12.26:326:43
Mar12.06:316:34
Apr11.96:276:19
May11.76:276:11
Jun11.76:336:13
Jul11.76:376:19
Aug11.86:336:21
Sep12.06:186:16
Oct12.16:046:12
Nov12.36:006:16
Dec12.36:096:29

Sunny days

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

Nungwi averages about 16 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 8 and 23 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 5.1 months, from around Aug 8 to Jan 8. The sunniest month is September, with roughly 23 sunny days (bright).

The greyest month is April, down near 9 sunny days — about 61% fewer than the September peak.

051015202530JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgreyersunniergloomymixedbrightbrilliantSep 2323 daysApr 268 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan16Bright
Feb13Mixed
Mar14Mixed
Apr9Mixed
May12Mixed
Jun14Mixed
Jul14Mixed
Aug18Bright
Sep23Bright
Oct21Bright
Nov18Bright
Dec18Bright

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.

Nungwi 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
Humid (%)Muggy (%)Oppressive (%)Miserable (%)
Jan007228
Feb006931
Mar005050
Apr007030
May04924
Jun131680
Jul267310
Aug074260
Sep048520
Oct013870
Nov01927
Dec006832

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 Nungwi is typically light breeze, near 19 km/h, and varies a lot with the seasons.

The windier part of the year lasts 2.4 months, from around Dec 16 to Feb 25. The windiest month is January, averaging about 23 km/h (breezy).

The calmer part of the year runs from around Aug 13 to Dec 15, with November the calmest month at about 14 km/h.

051015202530JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwindiercalmercalmlight breezebreezywindyJan 26 · 24 km/hNov 12 · 13 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan23breezy
Feb21breezy
Mar15light breeze
Apr17light breeze
May20breezy
Jun22breezy
Jul22breezy
Aug18light breeze
Sep16light breeze
Oct15light breeze
Nov14light breeze
Dec19light breeze

Hazard calendar for Nungwi

In seasonPeak

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

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

Nungwi's monsoon runs March–May, 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 Nungwi

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

Around late July, Nungwi 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 times of year to visit Nungwi for general outdoor tourist activities run from late July to late October and again from late December to early March, with a peak score in the third week of September.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationSep 18 · 7.6

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
Jan6.8good
Feb6.9good
Mar4.9fair
Apr3.9fair
May4.5fair
Jun5.3fair
Jul5.9good
Aug6.9good
Sep7.5good
Oct6.7good
Nov5.5good
Dec5.6good

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 Nungwi for hot-weather activities run from early August to late October and again from late December to mid March, with a peak score in the first week of February.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationFeb 4 · 7.5

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 Nungwi, 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.

Nungwi packs about the same all year — highs hold near 28°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 March, Nungwi sees daytime highs around 28°C and nights near 26°C. Pack light clothes and rain gear. Worth having: sun protection. About 20 days see rain.

Sea temperature near Nungwi

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 14 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
Jan28Tropical
Feb28Tropical
Mar29Tropical
Apr29Tropical
May28Tropical
Jun27Warm
Jul26Warm
Aug26Warm
Sep26Warm
Oct27Warm
Nov28Warm
Dec28Tropical

UV index (midday) in Nungwi 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 Nungwi peaks around March 17 at about 15 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near June 18 at about 10 (very high).

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

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecExtremeVery highExtremeMar 17UV 15Jun 18UV 10
UV index (midday)Level
Jan13Extreme
Feb14Extreme
Mar15Extreme
Apr14Extreme
May11Extreme
Jun10Very high
Jul10Extreme
Aug10Extreme
Sep13Extreme
Oct13Extreme
Nov12Extreme
Dec12Extreme

Average hourly UV index in Nungwi

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
Feb86.5
Mar8.56.5
Apr86
May7.55.5
Jun74.5
Jul7.55
Aug7.55
Sep86
Oct86
Nov86
Dec86

Air quality in Nungwi 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 Nungwi is worst in January — around 18 µg/m³ PM2.5 (moderate), about 2.2× the cleanest month (November, 8 µg/m³).

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

01020JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecModerateGoodModerateGoodJan 2018 µg/m³Nov 118 µg/m³
PM2.5 (µg/m³)Level
Jan18Moderate
Feb16Moderate
Mar13Moderate
Apr11Good
May14Moderate
Jun16Moderate
Jul17Moderate
Aug15Moderate
Sep13Moderate
Oct9Good
Nov8Good
Dec13Moderate
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free dayFrost-free year round

Nungwi 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. Nungwi banks about 5,851 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around March.

02,0004,0006,000JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°C·days)
Jan526
Feb479
Mar535
Apr502
May502
Jun464
Jul458
Aug452
Sep447
Oct482
Nov485
Dec520

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.

Nungwi receives about 5.5 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — bright — with a clear seasonal swing between 4.3 and 6.5 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 6.8 months, from around Aug 29 to Mar 22. The brightest month is February, averaging about 6.4 kWh/m² (intense).

The dimmest month is May, down near 4.3 kWh/m² — roughly 32% less than the February peak.

012345678JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbrighterdimmerbrighterdimmoderatebrightintenseFeb 36.5 kWhMay 94.3 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan6.3Intense
Feb6.4Intense
Mar5.7Bright
Apr4.7Bright
May4.3Bright
Jun4.6Bright
Jul4.7Bright
Aug5.2Bright
Sep5.8Bright
Oct6.0Intense
Nov5.9Bright
Dec6.1Intense

Where is Nungwi?

Nungwi sits at 5.7°S, 39.3°E, 8 m above sea level, in Tanzania. The nearest listed city is Zanzibar, 50 km away.

Chake ChakeTangaSokoniMuhezaWeteBagamoyo

Topography around Nungwi

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Nungwi has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 41 m around an average of 6 m above sea level; within 16 km, only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 85 m; within 80 km, large variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 626 m.

The land around Nungwi is covered by water (69%) within 3 km, water (85%) within 16 km, and water (69%) within 80 km.

3 km
41 m
16 km
85 m
80 km
626 m
treesshrubsgrasslandartificial surfacesbare terrainwatermangroves
Nearby: Zanzibar 50 km · Mkoani 56 km · Chake Chake 74 km · Tanga 76 km · Sokoni 83 km · Muheza 84 km · Wete 89 km · Bagamoyo 91 km

Tanzania travel facts

Travel advisory
Level 3
Reconsider Travel
Power plugs
Type D / G
230 V · 50 Hz
Prices
≈ 29% of US
price level, 2025
GDP per capita
$1,319
2025
Happiness
3.9 / 10
World Happiness, 2025
Safe drinking water
31%
of population, 2024
Homicide rate
3.7
per 100k, 2020
Road deaths
31.1
per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group
Lower middle
World Bank
English
Low
EF EPI 479
Religion
Christian 63%Muslim 34%folk religion 1%

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 Nungwi (-5.7265°, 39.2987°, elevation 8 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).