Climatology
This page presents Seychelles's climate context for the current climatology, 1991-2020, derived from observed, historical data. Information should be used to build a strong understanding of current climate conditions in order to appreciate future climate scenarios and projected change. You can visualize data for the current climatology through spatial variation, the seasonal cycle, or as a time series. Analysis is available for both annual and seasonal data. Data presentation defaults to national-scale aggregation, however sub-national data aggregations can be accessed by clicking within a country, on a sub-national unit. Other historical climatologies can be selected from the Time Period dropdown list.
Observed, historical data is produced by the Climatic Research Unit (CRU) of University of East Anglia. Data is presented at a 0.5º x 0.5º (50km x 50km) resolution.
The climate of the Seychelles archipelago is strongly influenced by the ocean, especially through changes in monsoonal winds, ocean currents and sea surface temperature patterns, hence a tropical maritime climate. The temperature varies between 25°C and 26°C in July and August, and between 27°C and 28°C in March and April. Near sea-level, the maximum temperature is about 4°C higher than at higher altitude, reaching an average of 31°C at mid-day in April. The topography of the Seychelles strongly influences rainfall patterns. The rainfall varies according to the height above sea level, and ranges from 76.2 mm in July to 404.8 mm in January. The mean annual rainfall total for Mahe is 2,369.4 mm over the coastal areas but it is expected to exceed that amount over most of the hilly interiors.