🇲🇺Mauritius

Mauritius lies at 19°59′–20°31′S as a small Indian Ocean island nation of approximately 2,040 km² positioned east of Madagascar and roughly 170 km northeast of Réunion. The country comprises the main island of Mauritius plus Rodrigues, Agalega, and the Cargados Carajos shoals; the main island is ringed by a coral reef that encloses its lagoons.

Volcanic in origin, the landscape features a central plateau encircled by a broken ring of mountains, with Piton de la Petite Rivière Noire in the southwest at 828 m the nation's highest peak, and summits including Le Morne Brabant, Pieter Both, and Trois Mamelles.

The climate is tropical maritime, wetter on the southeastern windward side and the central plateau and drier, with tropical savanna (Aw), on the leeward northwest coast around Port Louis, all modulated by steady southeast trade winds.

Port Louis, in the rain shadow of the trade winds, is warm and comparatively dry, with most of its rainfall in the austral summer November through April. Curepipe on the central plateau at about 560 m elevation is noticeably cooler and rainier than the coast. Vacoas sees highs of about 22°C and lows of 16°C in July and highs of 28°C and lows near 22°C in February with 1,900–2,200 mm.

Plaisance Airport registers highs of 25°C and lows of 19°C in July and highs of 30°C and lows of 24°C in February with 1,600–1,700 mm. Rodrigues Island sees highs of 25°C and lows of 19°C in July and highs of 29°C and lows of 24°C in February with 1,070 mm. Major climate events include severe Tropical Cyclone Carol (February 1960), Cyclone Gervaise (February 1975, whose gusts surpassed Carol's record), Cyclone Berguitta in 2018, the August 2020 MV Wakashio oil spill, recurrent severe southwest Indian Ocean cyclone strikes, the severe March 2013 Port Louis flash floods that killed 11 people, coral bleaching, and growing sea-level rise threatening lagoon-bounded coastal villages.

Our archive covers 3 Mauritian cities with daily ERA5 reanalysis data going back to 1940. The hottest July afternoons are in Port Louis, with average highs around 23.5°C, while Vacoas has the coldest January nights, with average lows near 22.3°C. Comparing the last decade against the 1940–1970 baseline, mean temperatures across these cities have risen by about 0.8°C.