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Blantyre, Malawi's commercial capital, sits among hills in the Shire Highlands of the south of the country at around 1,000–1,100 metres above sea level, at approximately -15.79°S, 35.01°E. Its elevation tempers the tropical latitude to give a mild subtropical highland climate (Köppen Cwa) — warm, rainy summers and mild, dry winters — noticeably cooler than the Shire valley below.
The wet season, from November to April — the austral summer — is warm and rainy, with highs around 28–30°C and warm nights. Heavy afternoon and evening thunderstorms bring nearly all the year's rain, and the surrounding hills wring extra moisture from the passing systems, greening the highlands. Being south of the equator, its seasons are reversed relative to the Northern Hemisphere.
The dry season, from May to August — the austral winter — is mild, dry and sunny, with highs around 23–25°C and cool nights that can drop to 9–11°C. A cool, misty drizzle known locally as the chiperoni can drift over the highlands from the southeast, bringing grey, damp days without proper rain. Otherwise the season is bright and pleasant.
Blantyre receives on the order of 1,000–1,150 mm of rain a year — more than Lilongwe, thanks to the surrounding hills — overwhelmingly in the wet season from November to April, while it practically never rains from June to September. Live rainfall, humidity, and pressure readings for the city are shown in the panels above.
Blantyre's Shire Highlands setting brings it a distinctive cold-season phenomenon: the chiperoni, a cool, misty drizzle blowing in from the southeast that shrouds the hills in grey damp for days without ever producing real rain. Tropical cyclones striking Mozambique can also push torrential rain inland, triggering deadly landslides on the steep slopes, as Cyclone Freddy did in 2023.
To follow any single measurement in Blantyre 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.