🇲🇿Mozambique

Mozambique spans 10°27′–26°52′S as a southern African country (approximately 801,590 km²) on the Indian Ocean coast bordering Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, South Africa, and Eswatini, with a 2,470 km coastline. The landscape is dominated by a wide tropical and subtropical coastal lowland in the south and centre rising to a western highland — Monte Binga at 2,436 m (the country's highest peak, on the Zimbabwean border), the Manica Highlands, and the rugged Niassa plateau in the north.

The Zambezi River bisects the country before emptying into the Mozambique Channel. This strong relief gradient produces a diverse climate spectrum — tropical savanna (Aw) across most of the country, tropical monsoon (Am) on the wet northern coast (Pemba, Quelimane), humid subtropical (Cwa) on the southern lowlands and Maputo, hot semi-arid (BSh) in the dry inland Limpopo basin, and subtropical highland (Cwb) tendency on the Manica massif.

Maputo averages 18°C in July and 26°C in January with 800 mm rainfall almost entirely October–March. Beira records 20°C in July and 27°C in January with 1,470 mm. Nampula in the north averages 20°C in July and 27°C in January with 1,160 mm. Pemba on the far northern coast registers 24°C in July and 28°C in January with 1,000 mm. Quelimane records 23°C in July and 28°C in January with 1,250 mm.

Mozambique experiences recurring tropical cyclones and droughts with severe socioeconomic impacts. Cyclone Idai (March 2019) remains the deadliest cyclone in Mozambican history, killing over 600 people and completely destroying Beira. Cyclone Kenneth struck four weeks later in April 2019 as the second consecutive Category-4 system affecting the north.

Cyclone Eline (2000) triggered extensive flooding in the Limpopo Basin, killing approximately 700 people and displacing 500,000. Cyclone Freddy (February–March 2023) made two landfalls, setting a record as the longest-lived cyclone on record. The 2015–16 ENSO drought severely affected southern Mozambique, part of a pattern of recurring multi-year droughts recurring throughout the region.

Intensifying marine heatwaves in the Mozambique Channel add to regional environmental stress. Sea-level rise accelerates, threatening coastal infrastructure in Maputo, Beira, and Quelimane. Climate-driven displacement pressures are mounting in coastal urban centers as impacts intensify. Rainfall patterns have become increasingly erratic, with cascading effects on agricultural productivity, urban water supplies, and shared hydropower systems.

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