Climate of Macau
Macau is a city island that is largely independent, but formally belongs to the People’s Republic of China. As a rule, Macau is considered an independent country and therefore has its own place within websites such as climate info. Macau has a warm maritime climate, type Cwa according to the Köppen climate classification. The climate in this most densely populated state in the world is characterized by mild winters and warm and very humid summers.
The relative humidity in Macau is at a fairly high level. The average value over the whole year is more than 79 percent, the period from March to August is the most stuffy, with an average humidity level between 80 and 85 percent. Outliers to ninety percent also occur. In combination with the sharply rising temperatures, it feels muggy in the spring and summer. The damp weather has a negative effect on the airways, mainly due to the severe air pollution from exhaust gases.
Rain occurs all year round in Macau. The city does not have a really dry period, but it is considerably drier from November to March than during the rest of the year. The period from April to October is the rainy season, with in some months easily 300 to 400 millimeters of rain, sometimes even more. In total, Macau records an average of 2123 millimeters of precipitation on an annual basis.
Due to its location on the South China Sea, Macau has an above-average chance of being hit by tropical depressions, tropical storms and even hurricanes. From June there is a chance of such tropical systems, which can result in strong winds and a lot of rain. The hurricane season lasts until December, after which the atmosphere over Macau shows several months of relative calm.
Sun and heat
In Macau, the average daytime temperature of 17 to 20 degrees in the coldest months and the mercury remains well above freezing at night. Only rarely does the mercury approach the freezing point. From April, the temperature rises fairly quickly, in the long summer (May to September) it is almost continuously around the tropical limit of thirty degrees. In the summer months it hardly cools down at night and the minimum temperature of 24 to 26 degrees is not reached until dawn. For a subtropical destination, Macau has a fairly bleak climate. On an annual basis, an average of 1,827 hours of sunshine are recorded, with February, March and April being by far the bleakest months. On average, it is sunny for only 3 to 4 hours a day, which is only a quarter of the total number of hours of daylight.
The figures below are based on long-term average climate statistics. The temperatures are displayed in degrees Celsius (°C).
|Maximum temperature||Minimum temperature||Hours of sunshine per day||Days of rainfall per month||Water temperature|
Best time to visit Macau
Do you want to know when is the best time to travel to Macau? You can determine the best time to travel to a destination based on the weather and climate. In addition, there are other factors that are not directly related to the weather and that can influence the best travel periods for a travel destination. Think, for example, of holidays or festive periods, which makes traveling more interesting or not, because daily life comes to a standstill as a result. Located in Southeast Asia, Macau is officially called the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China. This indicates the bond Macau has with China. Macau is a special destination. The thirty square kilometer city island has been a colony of Portugal for more than four hundred years. You can see this especially well in the historic center of Macau, where the Portuguese influences in the architecture are clearly visible. In 1999, Macau was returned to China. Until 2049, Macau will maintain an independent status within China. Macau’s climate is a subtropical climate type that is seen as a warm maritime climate within the Köppen-Geiger climate classification. The winters are mild and the summer months are hot, clammy and rainy. It is not so easy to formulate a best time to travel to Macau. In this case, this is not due to the wide variety of climate types as in some other destinations. No, in the case of Macau’s weather, there is always something to criticize about every month. The winters are quite gloomy and on the cool side. Spring is warmer, but even more bleak, with Macau sometimes appearing to be shrouded in mist for days. Summers are warm to very hot and have a lot of precipitation, which can make it feel very stuffy. The summer months have more hours of sunshine than spring. Autumn seems to have the best papers to count as the best travel period. The rain decreases from the end of September and the temperatures drop slightly. The sun continues to shine regularly in the fall. The only drawback is that in the months of September, October and also the beginning of November there is a chance that a typhoon (a tropical cyclone) will move towards Macau, causing a lot of wind, a lot of rain and possible flooding. This is not an annual phenomenon.
If you disregard the relatively small chance of a hurricane, the best time to travel to Macau is from October to December. January and February are reasonable alternatives. The disadvantage is that during this period the Chinese New Year is celebrated. This important festival for the Chinese starts at the end of January or in the first three weeks of February. The dates vary as it is based on the Chinese calendar. In Macau, this means extensive fireworks, beautiful parades and possibly extra crowds in hotels and the many casinos that Macau has.