Malaysia · 5.98°N 116.07°E · monthly climate normals, judged against the Tropical preset (mean 24–33 °C75–91 °F, anything but the monsoon)
Kota Kinabalu fits the Tropical preset all year: mean temperatures run from 25 °C77 °F to 27 °C81 °F.
Rain falls year-round, 96–272 mm3.8–11 in a month, so there is no dry season to aim for; February is the driest month and October the wettest. The mean temperature barely moves through the year, 25–27 °C77–81 °F, warmest in April.
Figures are 30-year monthly averages (WorldClim 2.1 monthly normals 1970–2000) for the 0.25° grid cell at 5.98, 116.07 — 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: all year.
Open Kota Kinabalu 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 Kota Kinabalu'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 | 1445.7 | 2577 | rainy | good |
| February | 963.8 | 2577 | showers | good |
| March | 963.8 | 2679 | showers | good |
| April | 1445.7 | 2780 | rainy | good |
| May | 2489.8 | 2780 | rainy | good |
| June | 2409.4 | 2780 | rainy | good |
| July | 2088.2 | 2679 | rainy | good |
| August | 2088.2 | 2679 | rainy | good |
| September | 2329.1 | 2679 | rainy | good |
| October | 27211 | 2679 | rainy | good |
| November | 2489.8 | 2678 | rainy | good |
| December | 2248.8 | 2678 | rainy | good |
| 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 | all year |
| Beach | mean 24–33 °C75–91 °F, dry or showers | February to March |
| Cool | mean 0–14 °C32–57 °F, anything but the monsoon | |
| Snow | mean below 0 °C32 °F, any rain |
Not a distinct one. Rain falls year-round, 96–272 mm3.8–11 in a month, so there is no dry season to aim for; February is the driest month and October the wettest.
The mean temperature barely moves through the year, 25–27 °C77–81 °F, warmest in April. Annual rainfall totals about 2,360 mm93 in.
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.