Madagascar > Weather and climate

Weather and climate  Madagascar is home to a number of microclimates. However, there are 5 major climatic zones, which follow the physical geography of the island by differentiating : - the mild Highlands,   - the hot and dry western regions,   - the rainy eastern coastal regions under the influence of trade winds,   - the hot and wet North,   - and the semiarid South.    Rainfalls decrease progressively from the North-East to the South-West with several variants between these two extremes.     The dry and mild season or the southern winter is from April to October, and summer (the hot and wet season) is from November to March. In summer, the flora blooms and the fauna is at its most active.    While, at sea level, temperatures range from 27° and 32° in summer and 22° in winter, on the Highlands, they may go down to 4°C or even less in winter nights.    The East of Madagascar suffers from cyclones in February and March.  Temperatures   Towns Southern Winter (average) Southern Summer (average) Antsiranana  25°C / 77 F  27°C / 81 F  Toamasina   22°C / 72 F  25°C / 77 F  Nosy Be  26°C /79 F  32°C / 90 F   Mahajanga 26°C / 79 F  30°C / 86 F  Antananarivo  18°C / 64 F  25°C / 77 F  Tolagnaro (Fort-Dauphin)  21°C / 70 F  25°C / 77 F  Toliary (Tuléar)  23°C / 73 F  28°C / 82 F  The best time to visit Madagascar is from May to December, when you can take advantage of the lower temperatures and sunniest weather.    For further details about the seasons and the current weather conditions in Madagascar, see detailled figures below and visit the following links.   Climate in Tananarivo    Month  Mean Temperature  °C  Mean Total Rainfall (mm)   Mean Number of Rain Days   Daily Minimum  Daily Maximum  Jan  16.6  27.7  270.4  18  Feb  16.9  25.9  256.9  17  Mar  16.3  25.4  183.1  17  Apr  15.2  24.8  50.5  9  May  12.9  22.9  20.1  6  Jun  10.8  20.9  7.2  6  Jul  10.3  20.2  11.1  8  Aug  10.3  20.6  15.0  9  Sep  11.3  23.0  9.5  4  Oct  13.4  25.2  66.6  8  Nov  15.1  26.0  170.8  14  Dec  16.3  25.8  304.1  20    Climate in Toamasina (Eastern coast)    Jan  22.5  30.1  410.1  23  Feb  22.7  30.3  382.1  20  Mar  22.4  29.5  478.4  24  Apr  21.4  28.8  322.8  21  May  19.5  27.3  228.3  22  Jun  17.8  25.6  259  21  Jul  17.1  24.8  288.6  25  Aug  17  24.9  218.2  24  Sep  17.3  25.8  121.1  19  Oct  18.7  26.9  132.6  18  Nov  20.4  28.4  169.7  17  Dec  21.9  29.4  357.3  21    Climate in Antsiranana (Northern Madagascar)    Jan  22.8  30.2  337.5  20  Feb  22.7  30.2  305.8  18  Mar  22.9  30.6  179.4  17  Apr  22.6  31  52.3  9  May  21.6  30.4  13.4  7  Jun  20.2  29.3  19.1  6  Jul  19.6  28.7  19  7  Aug  19.4  28.7  18.7  8  Sep  20  29.5  8.8  6  Oct  21.2  30.5  17.4  7  Nov  22.5  31.5  54.6  9  Dec  22.9  31.4  170.8  16    Climate in Mahajanga (Western coast)    Month  Mean Temperature  °C  Mean Total Rainfall (mm)   Mean Number of Rain Days   Daily Minimum  Daily Maximum  Jan  23.6  31.1  401.7  20  Feb  23.8  30.8  385.9  18  Mar  23.6  32.0  196.3  14  Apr  22.9  32.5  69.7  6  May  20.6  32.0  8.6  2  Jun  18.6  31.0  0.7  1  Jul  18.0  30.8  1.8  1  Aug  18.4  31.4  2.9  1  Sep  19.6  32.1  2.3  1  Oct  22.0  32.5  19.9  3  Nov  23.5  32.2  118.0  9  Dec  23.7  31.3  278.2  16    Climate in Toliara (Southwestern coast)    Jan  22.9  32.2  94.8  8  Feb  22.9  32.3  88.7  9  Mar  21.9  32  35.9  5  Apr  19.9  30.6  17.7  3  May  16.9  28.6  15.8  3  Jun  14.8  26.9  14.9  3  Jul  14.4  26.8  6.2  2  Aug  14.8  27.7  5.6  1  Sep  16.2  28.5  7.8  2  Oct  18.5  29.3  11.9  2  Nov  20.3  30.3  21.7  3  Dec  22.1  31.3  97  7  Direction of Meteorology and Hydrology, Madagascar Links • world meteorological organization : weather and climate of madagascar, by region • thirdworldtraveler : the climate of madagascar • africaguide : climate of madagascar See also • Madagascar > Weather and climate > Weather forecast: international sources Links in other languages                          (3) (6) (1) (2) (2) Same category in a different destination Comoros Maldives Mauritius Mayotte Nepal Réunion Seychelles Sri Lanka Zanzibar