When to Visit Daressalaam

January is Dar es Salaam's hottest and one of its wettest months, with highs of 33°C (91°F), lows of 23°C (73°F), and 335mm of rainfall. It is a sweaty, punctuated month where afternoon storms give quick relief before the air thickens again.

February cools sharply to 25°C (77°F) by day and 20°C (68°F) at night, with rainfall falling to 51mm. The skies stay dry and clear for most of the month, making it one of the easiest times to be in the city.

March keeps the same temperature profile as February, 25°C (77°F) and 20°C (68°F), with equally modest rainfall at 51mm. It is the last quiet breath before masika, and it feels unhurried.

April is the core of the long rains, delivering 284mm in heavy, committed downpours that can flood low streets and turn red laterite roads outside town into slow, sticky traps. Temperatures hold at 25°C (77°F) and 20°C (68°F), so the air itself is not hostile. Yet the rain never quits.

May is the tail of the long rains, with 137mm and the same temperature range. Early May can still feel soggy. Yet by the final weeks the showers shrink and grow scarce.

June opens the long dry season, with only 51mm of rain and highs of 30°C (86°F) dropping to 20°C (68°F) at night. The air feels lighter, the sky stays blue for days, and moving around the city becomes effortless.

July keeps the dry spell at 25°C (77°F) and 20°C (68°F), with 51mm of rainfall. It is one of the most comfortable months in Dar es Salaam, with humidity at its lowest and sunshine you can set your watch by.

August copies July almost well, with highs of 25°C (77°F), lows of 20°C (68°F), and roughly 51mm of rain. Evenings carry a faint freshness that feels alien for a coastal equatorial city.

September sticks to the same dry-season script, 25°C (77°F) by day, 20°C (68°F) at night, 51mm of rainfall. By now the long dry season has run for four months, and the countryside beyond the city looks parched. Yet Dar es Salaam, perched on the ocean, keeps its green longer than inland zones.

October repeats the same figures across the board. It sits at the end of the dry season and for many travelers marks the final comfortable gap before the short rains gear up.

November unleashes the vuli, Dar es Salaam's short rainy season, with the year's highest single-month total at 353mm. Temperatures stay locked at 25°C (77°F) and 20°C (68°F), yet the rain arrives hard and fast, the sort of warm tropical deluge that shows up with little warning.

December sees the short rains fade fast, slipping back to 51mm and the familiar temperature range of 25°C (77°F) and 20°C (68°F). The city feels festive as the year winds down, and conditions are generally pleasant once November's storms have passed.