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Tawau weather by month — averages, rainfall & climate trends

Average temperatures and rainfall by month, a climate graph, today's conditions versus the long-term average, and how the climate has shifted since 1940 — all on one page for Tawau, Malaysia.

Right now

What it's doing today vs the historical average for this date.
Overcast

Right now

27.4°

33°feels like
85%humidity
25°dew point
5 km/hfrom SE
sunrise06:05sunset18:24day length12h 20m
TodayOvercast32°25°
WedShowers30°25°
ThuOvercast30°25°
FriOvercast30°26°
SatOvercast31°25°
SunShowers31°26°
MonPartly cloudy30°26°

On this date — July 21

Today (forecast)
32° / 25°
Average for July 21
28° / 25°

Warmer than usual · 3.1°C above the average high

  • Record high: 30.8° · 2019
  • Record low: 23.9° · 1942
  • One year ago: 29.8°

Every July 21 in history — coldest to hottest

Daily highsDaily lows

Dots show daily highs (top) and lows (bottom) for each July 21 on record (n = 86). Outlined dots are today's forecast.

Area we sample

Each city's history comes from one ERA5 grid cell — about 28 km across, shown by the dashed box. Near mountains or coasts, conditions can vary across the cell.

Location & data

Historical weather for Tawau is sampled from the ECMWF ERA5 reanalysis at 4.24°N, 117.89°E, with daily records since 1940.

Coordinates
4.24°N, 117.89°E
Time zone
Asia/Kuching
Period
1940–2026
Data source
ERA5 (ECMWF)

Last 30 days

29 of the last 30 days were warmer than the historical average for that date. Average difference: +1.2°C.

Each bar is one day, from morning low to afternoon high. Warm-colored bars are days whose mean ran above average; cool bars ran below. The dot inside the bar is the daily mean. The shaded band is the typical 10–90% range expected for that date. Average = the day's mean temperature averaged across every year of record (1940–2026) for that calendar date.

This date over the years

One dot per year — the mean temperature on this calendar date. Dots are warmer or cooler than the long-term average (dashed line); the shaded band is the typical 10–90% range, and the highlighted dot is today's forecast. Based on ERA5 reanalysis — modelled estimates, not station readings.

Weather by month

Average temperatures and rainfall for each month — what a typical year looks like, from the full record.

Climate overview

Warmth in Tawau is remarkably steady: only 0.8°C separates the warmest month from the coolest, so there is no cold season to speak of. May brings the year's peak warmth: daily means of 27.2°C, with afternoons typically reaching 29.0°C. In January, daily means drop to roughly 26.4°C, with nights dipping to 24.8°C.

Rainfall is spread quite evenly across the year. In total, Tawau averages about 2296 mm of precipitation a year; May is usually the wettest month (235 mm) and February the driest (129 mm).

The record here starts in 1940, and since then the annual mean in Tawau has climbed 1.5°C from the first ten years to the last ten. Days above 30°C have grown noticeably more frequent — from around 0 a year in the first decade to about 160 in the last.

Climate graph (climograph)

May is the warmest month, January the coolest — a yearly swing of 1°C. Wettest month: May (~235 mm). Whole year averages ~2296 mm of rain.

Bars = average monthly rainfall (right axis). Lines = average daily high and low (left axis). Average = each month's value averaged across every year of record (1940–2026).

Monthly wind

Average daily peak wind at 10 m, by month.

Monthly solar energy

Average daily incoming solar energy in megajoules per square metre — a measured proxy for how sunny the month is.

Tawau month by month — what to expect

Typical conditions for each month, averaged across the full record (since 1940). Daylight is the time from sunrise to sunset. Record high/low are the most extreme values in the ERA5 dataset (modelled since 1940), so they can differ from official weather-station readings.

MonthAvg highAvg lowRainDaylightRecord highRecord low
January28.5°24.8°164 mm11.8 h32.0° (2020)23.0° (1965)
February28.7°24.8°129 mm11.9 h32.1° (2020)23.0° (1968)
March28.9°25.1°154 mm12.0 h32.7° (2024)23.0° (1943)
April29.1°25.4°177 mm12.1 h32.0° (2007)23.6° (1943)
May29.0°25.5°235 mm12.2 h31.9° (2023)24.0° (1943)
June28.7°25.3°220 mm12.2 h31.9° (2014)23.2° (1949)
July28.5°25.1°206 mm12.2 h31.2° (2025)23.3° (1961)
August28.5°25.1°200 mm12.1 h31.4° (2023)23.6° (1971)
September28.6°25.1°202 mm12.0 h31.8° (2023)23.4° (1941)
October28.7°25.2°222 mm11.9 h32.0° (2024)23.7° (1954)
November28.7°25.1°201 mm11.8 h32.1° (2023)23.6° (1948)
December28.6°25.0°186 mm11.8 h32.5° (2023)23.3° (1964)

How it has changed

Year-by-year signals from 1940 to today.

Climate stripes

Annual mean shifted from 1940–1949 to 2016–2025 by +1.5°C.

Each vertical stripe is one year. Color encodes how much that year's annual mean differed from the long-term average. Average = each year's annual mean compared to the average of all years (1940–2026). cooler ← → warmer

Annual mean temperature

Long-term trend: +0.19°C per decade.

One point per year — the temperature averaged across the whole year. The dashed line is the least-squares long-term trend. Based on ERA5 reanalysis — modelled estimates, not station readings.

Seasonal warming

Dec–Feb is warming fastest: +0.20°C per decade.

Each faint line is one three-month period's average per year; the bold dashed line is its long-term trend. Different parts of the year often warm at different rates. Based on ERA5 reanalysis — modelled estimates, not station readings.

Hot days vs frost days

Days ≥ 30°C per year: 0.3 early in the record → 160.5 recently. Frost days: 0 → 0.

Thin lines are raw yearly counts; thick lines are the smoothed trend that removes year-to-year noise. The hot-day threshold is auto-picked per city so the line actually moves. Average = a centered 5-year rolling average to smooth weather noise.

Yearly hot & cold extremes

All-time high in 2024, all-time low in 1943: 32.7°C / 23.0°C.

One point per year — the single hottest and coldest day recorded that year.

Annual rainfall

~2296 mm/year on average. Last decade ran +17% vs that average. Long-term trend: +60 mm per decade.

One bar per year of total rainfall. Dashed line is the long-term average. Average = the average annual rainfall across every year of record (1940–2026).

Day-by-day grid

Each tiny square is one calendar day across the full record — ~30,000 days per city. Use the mode switch above the chart: Anomaly colors each day by how far it ran from the historical average for that date (red = warmer, blue = cooler), Daily mean temp shows the absolute mean temperature for the day (useful to see seasons and heatwaves), and Precipitation shows daily rainfall (useful to spot wet/dry seasons and droughts). Average = the long-term average for that calendar date (1940–2026).

Tawau — Frequently asked questions

Which is the warmest month in Tawau?
On long-term average, the warmest month in Tawau is May (mean about 27.2°C) and the coolest is January (about 26.4°C).
How does today's temperature in Tawau compare to the historical average?
On 2026-07-21, Tawau is forecast to reach a high of 31.6°C and a low of 25.2°C. The long-term average for this date (the full record since 1940) is a high of 28.5°C and a low of 25.0°C — today's high is 3.1°C warmer than that average.
How much has Tawau warmed since 1940?
Comparing the first decade of the record (1940–1949) with the most recent (2016–2025), the annual mean temperature in Tawau is about 1.5°C warmer.
How much does it rain in Tawau?
Tawau receives about 2296 mm of precipitation per year on long-term average, with May typically the wettest month.
What is the average temperature in Tawau?
Over the full record (since 1940), the annual mean temperature in Tawau is about 26.8°C. The warmest month is May and the coolest is January.
What are the average temperatures in Tawau by month?
Average daily highs and lows for each month in Tawau (°C, full record since 1940): January 28°/25°, February 29°/25°, March 29°/25°, April 29°/25°, May 29°/26°, June 29°/25°, July 28°/25°, August 29°/25°, September 29°/25°, October 29°/25°, November 29°/25°, December 29°/25°.
How many days a year does it rain in Tawau?
On long-term average, Tawau has about 329 days a year with measurable rain, totalling roughly 2296 mm.

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