Lilongwe month by month — at a glance
Hover each month for the summary. Click to pin it.
01 Zero, two months running
Key moments at a glance
1 mm, no rain days recorded and 279 hours of sun.
306.6 hours of sun, the year's peak: 9.1 hours a day on average.
12 mm, 260 hours of sun and 25.5 °C highs, without July's chill.
223 mm over 18 days and the annual sunshine minimum: 140 hours.
The rain-day figure confirms it without room for doubt. June, July and August each record one rain day a month, and September records zero. That is: in September, a whole month without a single day of measurable precipitation. October rises to two days and May to four.
The sun accompanies that void with notable generosity. October adds up to 306.6 hours — 9.1 a day on average — July 295.1 and August 285.7. Against that, January stops at 140.1 hours and December at 164.5. The year totals 2,688 hours of sun, but the dry half takes most of them.
02 All the water in three months
The annual total is 869 millimetres. December, January and February share out 609 of them: seventy per cent of the year in three months.
The distribution is almost caricaturally asymmetric. January 223 millimetres, December 199, February 187 and March 128. Adding November (63) and April (44), those six months hold practically all the year's water, which is 869 millimetres spread over 91 rain days.
That concentration changes the landscape visibly. In the wet season the country around the city is green and the watercourses run; in the dry, the ground turns ochre and reddish and the river shrinks to a narrow channel inside a much wider sand bed.
03 The air dries with the ground
Relative humidity follows the same calendar and is the variable most felt physically. In January and February it is at 83 %; in September it falls to 52 % and in October to 53 %. Thirty points of difference within the same year, in the same city.
The practical effect is counter-intuitive. October is the hottest month by day — 29.5 degrees mean high — but at 53 % humidity it is far more bearable than January, which stops at 26.2 degrees with 83 %. Here the number to look at when judging comfort is not the thermometer's.
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There is a trade-off in the dry season, and it is the night temperature. The city sits at about 1,050 metres, and in June and July the mean low falls to 9.2 and 8.6 degrees. The lowest reading in the series is −0.6 degrees in July. It is not a problem, but it is a layer of clothing many people do not pack.
04 Which month to pick
September and October are the two best months of the year. September: 1 millimetre, zero rain days, 279 hours of sun, 27.2 degrees by day and humidity at its annual minimum of 52 %. October: 10 millimetres, 306.6 hours of sun and 29.5 degrees, with nights at 16.3.
May is the most balanced alternative if you prefer less heat: 12 millimetres, 260 hours of sun, 25.5 degrees by day and nights at 11.9. And August works very well — 0 millimetres, 285.7 hours of sun and 24.5 degrees — with the sole caveat of its 10.3-degree low.
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The months to avoid are December, January and February: 199, 223 and 187 millimetres over 17, 18 and 16 rain days, with sunshine sunk to 164, 140 and 160 hours and humidity at 78, 83 and 83 %. March improves little: 128 millimetres but still 15 rain days. November is the hinge month and usually turns out well: 63 millimetres and 236.6 hours of sun.
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