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Lilongwe, the capital of Malawi, sits on a plateau in the centre of the country at around 1,050 metres above sea level, well inland from Lake Malawi at approximately -13.98°S, 33.79°E. Its altitude tempers the tropical latitude to give a mild subtropical highland climate (Köppen Cwa) — warm, rainy summers and mild, dry winters — with a sharply defined wet and dry season.
The wet season, from November to April — the austral summer — is warm and rainy, with highs around 28–29°C and warm nights, kept from becoming truly hot by the plateau altitude. Heavy afternoon and evening thunderstorms bring nearly all of the year's rain, greening the plateau, with December to February the wettest months. 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 8–10°C in June and July. Rain is essentially absent, skies are clear, and this bright, mild stretch is comfortably the best time of year, before the heat builds in October.
Lilongwe receives on the order of 800–900 mm of rain a year, overwhelmingly concentrated in the wet season from November to April, while it practically never rains from June to September — a long, pronounced dry season. The rains are unreliable, and drought is a recurring risk. Live rainfall, humidity, and pressure readings for the city are shown in the panels above.
Lilongwe's plateau altitude gives it a milder, more comfortable climate than the hot lowlands of the Shire valley, with cool winter nights and a sharply defined dry season. The hottest month is October, at the end of the long dry season just before the rains break — a period Malawians call the 'suicide month' for its oppressive, waiting heat.
To follow any single measurement in Lilongwe 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.