Climatology
This page presents Maldives'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.
Maldives is characterized by a warm and humid tropical monsoon climate with an annual mean temperature of 28°C. The islands experience little variation in temperatures throughout the year. The seasonal cycle is strongest in the north recording an average maximum temperature of around 29.3°C just prior to the onset of the southwest monsoons (April-May) and an average minimum temperature of around 27.4°C prior to the onset of the northeast monsoons (December-January). The southern equatorial regions experience precipitation throughout the year and do not experience a very significant dry spell related to the northeast monsoons.