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Malabo, the capital of Equatorial Guinea, sits on the northern coast of Bioko Island in the Gulf of Guinea, on the flank of a volcanic peak just a few degrees north of the equator at approximately 3.75°N, 8.78°E. It has an equatorial climate — hot, extremely humid and very rainy — with a dry season from November to March and a long, drenching wet season the rest of the year.
There is no summer in the temperate sense: temperatures vary little, with afternoon highs around 30–32°C and warm, humid nights near 21–23°C. The wet season, from April to October, brings the West African monsoon, whose southwesterly winds carry moist ocean air against the island's volcanic slopes, producing heavy, frequent rain — the coastal regions can receive 250–400 mm a month — and near-constant cloud.
There is no true winter, but the dry season from November to March brings less rain and somewhat more sunshine, though the sky remains cloudy and overcast much of the time. Temperatures stay steady and humid throughout, so the difference between the seasons is one of rainfall rather than heat; this drier stretch is the more comfortable time of year.
Malabo is very wet, receiving on the order of 1,800–2,000 mm of rain a year, concentrated in the wet season from April to October; the island's southern side, exposed directly to the monsoon, is far wetter still, receiving among the highest rainfall totals on earth. Live rainfall, humidity, and pressure readings for the city are shown in the panels above.
Malabo sits on volcanic Bioko Island, whose mountains force the monsoon winds upward and generate prodigious rain; the island's exposed southern coast around Ureca receives an astonishing 10,000 mm or more a year, ranking among the wettest places anywhere. Overcast, humid, cloudy skies dominate the equatorial island for most of the year.
To follow any single measurement in Malabo more closely, use our live instruments: the online barometer for atmospheric pressure, the thermometer for temperature, the hygrometer for humidity, the anemometer for wind speed, the wind vane for wind direction, and the rain gauge for rainfall.