Madagascar
Weather locations in Madagascar
Choose a location in Madagascar to view its available forecast products.
Madagascar illustrated weather map
22 mapped locations
Only locations with a verified coordinate are marked. The complete location list is below.
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Climate of Madagascar
Country climate guideMadagascar is the fourth largest island in the world, standing in the Mozambique Channel about 250 kilometres off the coast of south-east Africa, and stretching from roughly 12°S to 26°S. It is a long, narrow island with a spine of mountains the whole length of the interior, a wet eastern flank rising to 1,500 metres and more, and a dry western and southern side falling away toward the channel. Because the island is narrow, no point is far from the sea, and the ocean moderates temperatures everywhere.
Main climate types
The classification runs from tropical rainforest on the windward eastern coast, through tropical savanna across the central highlands and the west, to hot semi-arid and desert types in the south and south-west around Toliara and Androy. A montane type covers the high plateau, where a mean elevation above 1,000 metres cuts temperatures by 5 °C or more relative to the coast. The far south, near Cape Sainte-Marie, is the driest region of the island.
Temperatures
Coastal lowlands are consistently warm. Toamasina on the east coast averages about 26 °C in January and about 24 °C in July, while Toliara in the hot south-west averages about 27 °C in January and about 22 °C in July. The central highlands behave differently: Antananarivo, at about 1,280 metres, averages about 21 °C in January and only about 15 °C in July. In the far south, June and July nights can fall to about 5 °C.
Rainfall
The eastern flank is one of the wettest places on earth: Toamasina receives about 3,000 mm to 4,000 mm a year. The central highlands take about 1,200 mm to 1,500 mm, mostly in the warm months. The west coast around Mahajanga gets about 1,000 mm, and the south-west is semi-arid at around 500 mm. A wet season from January to March follows the sun.
When to go
Because the south-east trades bring the rain from May to September, the dry months are the best time to travel. Between May and October the weather is clearest, although the far south stays cool. The heaviest rain in January and February can wash out highland roads, and the cyclone season from November to April occasionally reaches the eastern coast.