Average Weather in Chikwawa Malawi

1. World
2. Malawi
3. Southern Region
4. Chikwawa District
5. Chikwawa

In Chikwawa, the wet season is oppressive and mostly cloudy, the dry season is mostly clear, and it is hot year round. Over the course of the year, the temperature typically varies from 61°F to 102°F and is rarely below 57°F or above 109°F.

The hot season lasts for 2.3 months, from September 19 to November 29, with an average daily high temperature above 98°F. The hottest day of the year is October 31, with an average high of 102°F and low of 75°F.

The cool season lasts for 2.6 months, from May 19 to August 6, with an average daily high temperature below 88°F. The coldest day of the year is July 9, with an average low of 61°F and high of 85°F.

The figure below shows you a compact characterization of the entire year of hourly average temperatures. The horizontal axis is the day of the year, the vertical axis is the hour of the day, and the color is the average temperature for that hour and day.

In Chikwawa, the average percentage of the sky covered by clouds experiences extreme seasonal variation over the course of the year.

The clearer part of the year in Chikwawa begins around March 28 and lasts for 7.6 months, ending around November 16. On June 25, the clearest day of the year, the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 92% of the time, and overcast or mostly cloudy 8% of the time.

The cloudier part of the year begins around November 16 and lasts for 4.4 months, ending around March 28. On January 12, the cloudiest day of the year, the sky is overcast or mostly cloudy 78% of the time, and clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 22% of the time.

A wet day is one with at least 0.04 inches of liquid or liquid-equivalent precipitation. The chance of wet days in Chikwawa varies very significantly throughout the year.

The wetter season lasts 4.0 months, from November 24 to March 25, with a greater than 38% chance of a given day being a wet day. The chance of a wet day peaks at 72% on January 18.

The drier season lasts 8.0 months, from March 25 to November 24. The smallest chance of a wet day is 2% on August 18.

Among wet days, we distinguish between those that experience rain alone, snow alone, or a mixture of the two. Based on this categorization, the most common form of precipitation throughout the year is rain alone, with a peak probability of 72% on January 18.

Rainfall

To show variation within the months and not just the monthly totals, we show the rainfall accumulated over a sliding 31-day period centered around each day of the year. Chikwawa experiences extreme seasonal variation in monthly rainfall.

The rainy period of the year lasts for 6.9 months, from October 7 to May 3, with a sliding 31-day rainfall of at least 0.5 inches. The most rain falls during the 31 days centered around January 20, with an average total accumulation of 9.0 inches.

The rainless period of the year lasts for 5.1 months, from May 3 to October 7. The least rain falls around August 30, with an average total accumulation of 0.1 inches.

The length of the day in Chikwawa varies over the course of the year. In 2017, the shortest day is June 21, with 11 hours, 10 minutes of daylight; the longest day is December 21, with 13 hours, 5 minutes of daylight.

The earliest sunrise is at 4:58 AM on November 23, and the latest sunrise is 1 hour, 10 minutes later at 6:09 AM on July 8. The earliest sunset is at 5:15 PM on June 3, and the latest sunset is 1 hour, 4 minutes later at 6:19 PM on January 19.

Daylight saving time (DST) is not observed in Chikwawa during 2017.

We base the humidity comfort level on the dew point, as it determines whether perspiration will evaporate from the skin, thereby cooling the body. Lower dew points feel drier and higher dew points feel more humid. Unlike temperature, which typically varies significantly between night and day, dew point tends to change more slowly, so while the temperature may drop at night, a muggy day is typically followed by a muggy night.

Chikwawa experiences extreme seasonal variation in the perceived humidity.

The muggier period of the year lasts for 5.9 months, from November 7 to May 4, during which time the comfort level is muggy, oppressive, or miserable at least 24% of the time. The muggiest day of the year is February 7, with muggy conditions 96% of the time.

The least muggy day of the year is July 12, when muggy conditions are essentially unheard of.

This section discusses the wide-area hourly average wind vector (speed and direction) at 10 meters above the ground. The wind experienced at any given location is highly dependent on local topography and other factors, and instantaneous wind speed and direction vary more widely than hourly averages.

The average hourly wind speed in Chikwawa experiences mild seasonal variation over the course of the year.

The windier part of the year lasts for 3.7 months, from August 9 to November 30, with average wind speeds of more than 4.3 miles per hour. The windiest day of the year is October 13, with an average hourly wind speed of 5.5 miles per hour.

The calmer time of year lasts for 8.3 months, from November 30 to August 9. The calmest day of the year is January 30, with an average hourly wind speed of 3.1 miles per hour.

The predominant average hourly wind direction in Chikwawa varies throughout the year.

The wind is most often from the south for 6.5 months, from January 10 to July 26, with a peak percentage of 54% on April 7. The wind is most often from the east for 5.5 months, from July 26 to January 10, with a peak percentage of 40% on January 1.

This section discusses the total daily incident shortwave solar energy reaching the surface of the ground over a wide area, taking full account of seasonal variations in the length of the day, the elevation of the Sun above the horizon, and absorption by clouds and other atmospheric constituents. Shortwave radiation includes visible light and ultraviolet radiation.

The average daily incident shortwave solar energy experiences some seasonal variation over the course of the year.

The brighter period of the year lasts for 2.3 months, from September 19 to November 27, with an average daily incident shortwave energy per square meter above 6.8 kWh. The brightest day of the year is October 31, with an average of 7.3 kWh.

The darker period of the year lasts for 2.4 months, from May 21 to August 1, with an average daily incident shortwave energy per square meter below 5.4 kWh. The darkest day of the year is June 24, with an average of 5.0 kWh.

For the purposes of this report, the geographical coordinates of Chikwawa are -16.034 deg latitude, 34.801 deg longitude, and 315 ft elevation.

The topography within 2 miles of Chikwawa contains only modest variations in elevation, with a maximum elevation change of 164 feet and an average elevation above sea level of 318 feet. Within 10 miles contains only modest variations in elevation (2,467 feet). Within 50 miles contains large variations in elevation (8,156 feet).

The area within 2 miles of Chikwawa is covered by cropland (55%) and artificial surfaces (31%), within 10 miles by trees (44%) and cropland (41%), and within 50 miles by cropland (50%) and trees (29%).

This report illustrates the typical weather in Chikwawa, based on a statistical analysis of historical hourly weather reports and model reconstructions from January 1, 1980 to December 31, 2016.

Chikwawa is further than 200 kilometers from the nearest reliable weather station, so the weather-related data on this page were taken entirely from NASA's MERRA-2 satellite-era reanalysis . This reanalysis combines a variety of wide-area measurements in a state-of-the-art global meteorological model to reconstruct the hourly history of weather throughout the world on a 50-kilometer grid.

The temperature and dew point estimates are corrected for the difference between the reference elevation of the MERRA-2 grid cell and the elevation of Chikwawa, according to the International Standard Atmosphere .

All data relating to the Sun's position (e.g., sunrise and sunset) are computed using astronomical formulas from the book, Astronomical Tables of the Sun, Moon and Planets , by Jean Meeus.

Land Use data comes from the Global Land Cover SHARE database , published by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

Elevation data comes from the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) , published by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Names, locations, and time zones of places and some airports come from the GeoNames Geographical Database .

Time zones for aiports and weather stations are provided by AskGeo.com .

Maps are © Esri, with data from National Geographic, Esri, DeLorme, NAVTEQ, UNEP-WCMC, USGS, NASA, ESA, METI, NRCAN, GEBCO, NOAA, and iPC.