Malaysia · 5.98°N 116.07°E · 30-year monthly averages, judged against the Tropical preset (highs 28–38 °C82–100 °F, any rain except monsoon)
Kota Kinabalu fits the Tropical preset all year: highs of 29–31 °C84–88 °F and nights of 22–23 °C72–73 °F.
Rain falls all year, 96–272 mm3.8–11 in a month, so there is no dry season. February is the driest month and October the wettest. Afternoon highs change little through the year, 29–31 °C84–88 °F, and peak in May.
The figures are 30-year monthly averages (WorldClim 2.1 monthly normals 1970–2000) for the 0.25° grid cell at 5.98, 116.07. This is a climate guide, not a forecast.
Pick the weather you like. Every month is then judged against it: temperature above the month names, rain below.
Good time to go for a Tropical holiday: all year.
Open Kota Kinabalu on the interactive map ↗ the same verdicts for any place on Earth, in any month
Reading the chart. Gold means good: the month fits what you picked. Any other colour shows the reason it does not. The temperature bar can be too cold or too hot; the rain bar can be too dry, too rainy or monsoon. A faded gold bar means that half fits but the other half does not. A gold month name means both halves fit.
What the verdicts mean. Temperature is the month's average daily high (the afternoon), judged against the preset's band (highs 28–38 °C82–100 °F for Tropical). Rain is judged by each month's class within Kota Kinabalu's own year, not by raw millimetres: dry under 60 mm2.4 in, showers 60–100 mm2.4–3.9 in, rainy from 100 mm3.9 in and at least 35 % of the wettest month. Too rainy is a rainy-season month that the preset does not allow. Monsoon is the heaviest kind of rainy season: 180 mm7.1 in or more (120 mm4.7 in near the yearly peak) in a climate where the wettest month has at least three times the rain of the driest. Every monsoon month is also a rainy-season month; the label says which kind. Full rules on the method page.
| Month | Rain | High | Low | Season | Tropical verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 1445.7 | 2983 | 2272 | rainy | good |
| February | 963.8 | 2983 | 2272 | showers | good |
| March | 963.8 | 3085 | 2373 | showers | good |
| April | 1445.7 | 3086 | 2373 | rainy | good |
| May | 2489.8 | 3187 | 2373 | rainy | good |
| June | 2409.4 | 3086 | 2373 | rainy | good |
| July | 2088.2 | 3086 | 2373 | rainy | good |
| August | 2088.2 | 3086 | 2373 | rainy | good |
| September | 2329.1 | 3085 | 2373 | rainy | good |
| October | 27211 | 3085 | 2373 | rainy | good |
| November | 2489.8 | 2984 | 2272 | rainy | good |
| December | 2248.8 | 2983 | 2272 | rainy | good |
| Looking for | Rule | Months that fit |
|---|---|---|
| Warm | highs 19–28 °C66–82 °F, dry or showers | |
| Tropical | highs 28–38 °C82–100 °F, any rain except monsoon | all year |
| Beach | highs 28–38 °C82–100 °F, dry or showers | February to March |
| Cool | highs 3–19 °C37–66 °F, any rain except monsoon | |
| Snow | highs below 3 °C37 °F, any rain |
Not a clear one. Rain falls all year, 96–272 mm3.8–11 in a month, so there is no dry season. February is the driest month and October the wettest.
Afternoon highs change little through the year, 29–31 °C84–88 °F, and peak in May. Annual rainfall is about 2,360 mm93 in.
The interactive map colours the whole world by how well it fits the weather you like, in any month, and shows this chart for any place you tap.