Malaysia · 5.42°N 100.33°E · monthly climate normals, judged against the Tropical preset (mean 24–33 °C75–91 °F, anything but the monsoon)
The best time to visit Penang is January to March and June, when mean temperatures run from 27 °C81 °F to 28 °C82 °F and rainfall runs 96–160 mm3.8–6.3 in a month.
The rainy season runs March to December, and July to December and April to May is a true monsoon — 184–392 mm7.2–15 in a month, peaking in October at 392 mm15 in. The mean temperature barely moves through the year, 27–28 °C81–82 °F, warmest in March.
Figures are 30-year monthly averages (WorldClim 2.1 monthly normals 1970–2000) for the 0.25° grid cell at 5.42, 100.33 — a climate guide, not a forecast.
Pick the weather you like and every month is judged against it — temperature above the month names, rain below.
Good time to go for a Tropical holiday: January to March and June.
Open Penang on the interactive map ↗ the same verdict for every place on Earth, any month
Reading the chart. Gold is good: the month fits what you picked. Any other colour names the reason it doesn't — the temperature bar can be too cold or too hot, the rain bar too dry, too rainy or monsoon. A faded gold bar is a half that fits while the other half fails; a gold month name means both fit.
What the verdicts mean. Temperature is the monthly mean, judged against the preset's band (mean 24–33 °C75–91 °F for Tropical). Rain is judged by each month's class within Penang's own year rather than raw millimetres: dry under 60 mm2.4 in, showers 60–100 mm2.4–3.9 in, rainy from 100 mm3.9 in and 35 % of the wettest month. Too rainy is a rainy-season month the preset doesn't 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 whose wettest month is at least three times its driest — so every monsoon month is rainy season too; the label says which kind. Full rules on the method page.
| Month | Rain | Mean | Season | Tropical verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 1124.4 | 2781 | showers | good |
| February | 963.8 | 2882 | showers | good |
| March | 1606.3 | 2882 | rainy | good |
| April | 2329.1 | 2882 | monsoon | monsoon |
| May | 2168.5 | 2882 | monsoon | monsoon |
| June | 1606.3 | 2882 | rainy | good |
| July | 1927.6 | 2882 | monsoon | monsoon |
| August | 2088.2 | 2781 | monsoon | monsoon |
| September | 29612 | 2781 | monsoon | monsoon |
| October | 39215 | 2781 | monsoon | monsoon |
| November | 28811 | 2781 | monsoon | monsoon |
| December | 1847.2 | 2781 | monsoon | monsoon |
| Looking for | Rule | Months that fit |
|---|---|---|
| Warm | mean 14–24 °C57–75 °F, dry or showers | |
| Tropical | mean 24–33 °C75–91 °F, anything but the monsoon | January to March and June |
| Beach | mean 24–33 °C75–91 °F, dry or showers | January to February |
| Cool | mean 0–14 °C32–57 °F, anything but the monsoon | |
| Snow | mean below 0 °C32 °F, any rain |
Yes. The rainy season runs March to December, and July to December and April to May is a true monsoon — 184–392 mm7.2–15 in a month, peaking in October at 392 mm15 in. Outside it, rain eases but never stops.
The mean temperature barely moves through the year, 27–28 °C81–82 °F, warmest in March. Annual rainfall totals about 2,536 mm100 in.
The nearest destinations that do fit the Tropical preset in the months Penang doesn't:
The interactive map colours the whole world by how it fits your picks in any month, and shows this chart for any place you tap.