🇲🇼Malawi

Malawi is a small landlocked southern African nation spanning 118,484 km² between 9°22′ and 17°08′ south, bordered by Tanzania, Mozambique, and Zambia. The country is dominated by the Great Rift Valley, which cradles Lake Malawi (Lake Nyasa), Africa's third-largest lake at 29,500 km². Stretching 580 km along the Tanzanian and Mozambican borders, this remarkable lake is the world's most species-diverse freshwater body.

The terrain rises from the lower Shire valley in the south through the Shire Highlands to Mount Mulanje at 3,002 m, the country's highest peak, while the north features the Nyika Plateau and Viphya Highlands. Climate zones range from tropical savanna (Aw) on lakeshore lowlands and the Shire valley, to humid subtropical (Cwa) on intermediate plateaus, and subtropical highland (Cwb) on the Nyika and Mulanje massifs.

Temperature and rainfall patterns vary dramatically with elevation and latitude. Lilongwe averages 14°C in July and 23°C in November with 880 mm of rainfall concentrated almost entirely in the austral summer from November to April. Blantyre records 15°C in July and 24°C in November with 1,150 mm annually, while Mzuzu in the north sees 13°C to 21°C with 1,290 mm.

Lakeshore Karonga is warmer at 19°C to 26°C with 950 mm, and Mulanje town averages 14°C to 25°C with 1,500 mm. The Mulanje massif summit drops to 7°C with occasional frost, while the Nyika Plateau averages 10°C, ranking among southern Africa's coolest stations.

Major climate events include the severe Tropical Storm Ana in January 2022, Cyclone Gombe in March 2022, and the historic Cyclone Freddy in March 2023—the longest-lived cyclone on record, which killed over 670 people in Malawi. The severe 2015–16 ENSO-driven drought caused widespread famine, followed by the 2018–19 multi-year drought, the January 2019 Phalombe River floods, intensifying Lake Malawi level swings, and accelerating Shire Highlands deforestation that amplifies flood risk while reducing climatic suitability for tea cultivation.

Our archive covers 0 Malawian cities with daily ERA5 reanalysis data going back to 1940.