Weather in Zanzibar

14-day forecast · updated today, Thursday, October 29, at 5:53 am (GMT+3)

Now · clear 76 °F

Feels like: 84 °F
Low / high: 76 / 85 °F
Rain: 14%
Wind: 2 mph SE

↗ 29.91 inHg · rising UV 13 · extreme

Today in Zanzibar: overcast, 76 °F to 85 °F, with a 14% chance of rain and a light air from the southeast (2 mph). Tomorrow, light drizzle, 77 °F to 87 °F and a 89% chance of rain. The warmest day of the week is Friday 30, at 87 °F.

Measured now at the airport

Zanzibar/Karume (HTZA), 4.4 mi away · 53 min ago

Visibility6.2 mi or more

WeatherNothing to note

Temperature73 °F

WindCalm

It's what the airport's weather station measured, not a forecast: on the coast, wind and fog can be different. Airports report every 30 or 60 minutes.

Airport METAR report, via NOAA's Aviation Weather Center (aviationweather.gov). Sources and licenses

Temperatures for the next 14 days

85° 76°
Today
87° 77°
Fri 30
84° 77°
Sat 31
83° 75°
Sun 1
84° 74°
Mon 2
83° 77°
Tue 3
85° 77°
Wed 4
84° 78°
Thu 5
85° 77°
Fri 6
87° 77°
Sat 7
87° 77°
Sun 8
86° 78°
Mon 9
85° 78°
Tue 10
87° 78°
Wed 11

Day by day

Day	Sky	Low / high	Rain	Max wind	Max wave	High tides	Model
Today · 29	Overcast	76 / 85 °F	14%	13 mph ESE	0.9 ft	5:35 am · 6:01 pm	ECMWF
Fri 30	Light drizzle	77 / 87 °F	89% · 0.07 in	12 mph E	0.9 ft	6:16 am · 6:43 pm	ECMWF
Sat 31	Drizzle	77 / 84 °F	84% · 0.15 in	12 mph ESE	0.7 ft	7:03 am · 7:34 pm	ECMWF
Sun 1	Drizzle	75 / 83 °F	93% · 0.30 in	12 mph E	0.9 ft	8:00 am · 8:44 pm	ECMWF
Mon 2	Drizzle	74 / 84 °F	92% · 0.22 in	13 mph ESE	1.0 ft	9:20 am · 10:33 pm	ECMWF
Tue 3	Light drizzle	77 / 83 °F	91% · 0.10 in	11 mph ESE	0.7 ft	11:14 am	ECMWF
Wed 4	Light drizzle	77 / 85 °F	82% · 0.11 in	11 mph SE	0.9 ft	12:19 am · 12:44 pm	ECMWF
Thu 5	Mainly clear	78 / 84 °F	53%	13 mph SE	1.2 ft	1:20 am · 1:43 pm	ECMWF
Fri 6	Light drizzle	77 / 85 °F	49% · 0.05 in	9 mph ESE	1.0 ft	2:05 am · 2:28 pm	ECMWF
Sat 7	Overcast	77 / 87 °F	43%	10 mph E	1.8 ft	2:42 am · 3:06 pm	ECMWF
Sun 8	Light drizzle	77 / 87 °F	75% · 0.09 in	10 mph E	1.8 ft	3:15 am · 3:40 pm	ECMWF
Mon 9	Drizzle	78 / 86 °F	75% · 0.14 in	8 mph E	1.8 ft	3:46 am · 4:11 pm	ECMWF
Tue 10	Light drizzle	78 / 85 °F	69% · 0.14 in	8 mph E	1.8 ft	4:16 am · 4:41 pm	ECMWF
Wed 11	Light drizzle	78 / 87 °F	67% · 0.02 in	13 mph ESE	1.9 ft	4:46 am · 5:11 pm	ECMWF

Each day comes from the best model covering this spot: regional ones first (HRRR and NBM in the U.S., AROME, ICON-EU), then ECMWF; day 16, NOAA GFS. Waves: Météo-France up to day 10, then ECMWF WAM, coarser and further offshore. High tides: our own tide calculation.

Today, every 3 hours

Time	12:00 am	3:00 am	6:00 am	9:00 am	12:00 pm	3:00 pm	6:00 pm	9:00 pm
Sky	Clear	Overcast	Clear sky	Mainly clear	Mainly clear	Clear sky	Clear sky	Clear
Temperature	78°	76°	76°	83°	84°	85°	83°	80°
Chance of rain	0%	0%	0%	0%	14%	8%	0%	0%
Rain	0.00 in	0.00 in	0.00 in	0.00 in	0.00 in	0.00 in	0.00 in	0.00 in
Wind (mph)	7 E	3 E	3 SE	3 SSE	7 SSW	10 SSE	12 ENE	10 ENE
Humidity	85%	90%	90%	70%	68%	64%	71%	83%
UV	0	0	0	5	13	5	0	0
Model	ECMWF	ECMWF	ECMWF	ECMWF	ECMWF	ECMWF	ECMWF	ECMWF

Do the models agree?

Low confidence

They don't agree on temperature today: it may change, so check again closer to the day.

What 4 forecast models say for the next few days. The closer they are, the more reliable the forecast.

HighRainWind

Do the models agree? · High
High (°F)	Today	Fri 30	Sat 31	Sun 1	Mon 2	Tue 3	Wed 4
ECMWF	85°	87°	84°	83°	84°	83°	85°
AIFS	85°	85°	83°	84°	84°	85°	85°
GFS	96°	95°	91°	92°	93°	91°	97°
ICON	94°	95°	91°	92°	89°	90°	93°
Confidence	low	medium	medium	medium	medium	medium	low

Do the models agree? · Rain
Rain	Today	Fri 30	Sat 31	Sun 1	Mon 2	Tue 3	Wed 4
ECMWF	0	0.07 in	0.15 in	0.30 in	0.22 in	0.10 in	0.11 in
AIFS	0	0.06 in	0.14 in	0.14 in	0.14 in	0.12 in	0.06 in
GFS	0	0.00 in	0.09 in	0.04 in	0.04 in	0	0
ICON	0	0	0.05 in	0	0.05 in	0.01 in	0
Confidence	high	medium	high	medium	medium	medium	medium

Do the models agree? · Wind
Wind (mph)	Today	Fri 30	Sat 31	Sun 1	Mon 2	Tue 3	Wed 4
ECMWF	1320	1219	1219	1224	1319	1115	1120
AIFS	10	10	12	11	10	9	11
GFS	1117	1419	1416	1217	1318	1221	1220
ICON	817	919	919	1020	1020	918	1021
Confidence	high	high	high	high	high	high	high

Chance of rain from the ensemble models

Model	Today	Fri 30	Sat 31	Sun 1	Mon 2	Tue 3	Wed 4
ECMWF (51 scenarios)	14%	89%	84%	93%	92%	91%	82%
GFS (GEFS, 31 scenarios)	0%	27%	72%	65%	29%	10%	10%

Each model's day runs midnight to midnight local time; models that reach fewer days are left blank. Rain: daily total. Wind: the day's highest average wind and, in small type, the strongest gust. Highlighted: values that stand out from the rest. The chance of rain comes from many runs of the same model with slightly different starting data.

Outlook

How the coming weeks and months compare with what is normal for the time of year. It is a trend, not a day-by-day forecast.

Next few weeks, compared with normal: a bit warmer and normal rain.

Next 6 weeks

When	TemperatureTemp.	Rain	Typical high / low
Nov 2 – Nov 8Nov 2–Nov 8	A bit above +0.9 °F	Normal	—
Nov 9 – Nov 15Nov 9–Nov 15	A bit above +1.6 °F	A bit below −31%	—
Nov 16 – Nov 22Nov 16–Nov 22	A bit above +1.3 °F	Normal	85° / 78°
Nov 23 – Nov 29Nov 23–Nov 29	A bit above +1.1 °F	Normal	85° / 79°
Nov 30 – Dec 6Nov 30–Dec 6	A bit above +1.1 °F	Normal	86° / 79°

Coming months

When	TemperatureTemp.	Rain
November	A bit above +1.6 °F	Normal
December	A bit above +2.0 °F	Normal
January	A bit above +2.2 °F	A bit above +41%
February	Above +2.7 °F	Above +51%
March	A bit above +2.3 °F	A bit above +40%

Weeks: ECMWF 46-day (average of its scenarios), against the normal of the last 20 years for those dates. Months: ECMWF SEAS5. Rain: total against normal. The further ahead, the closer it gets to normal and the less detail it can give. The long-range sea temperature isn't usable at this spot (the model's grid cell falls on land).

Zanzibar climate by monthClimate by month

Normal weather for each month (1991–2020 averages)

The best time to visit Zanzibar is from June to September: highs of 86 °F, about 4 rainy days a month and 6 hours of sunshine a day.

90° 75°

JanJ
91° 75°

FebF
90° 76°

MarM
88° 75°

AprA
87° 74°

MayM
86° 72°

JunJ
85° 70°

JulJ
85° 69°

AugA
86° 69°

SepS
88° 71°

OctO
88° 73°

NovN
90° 75°

DecD

Highs and lows
Monthly rainfall
Best time

Month	High	Low	Rain	Rainy daysDays	Sun (h/day)	Water	Waves
JanuaryJan	90°	75°	2.77 in	11	5.4	83°	2.2 ft
FebruaryFeb	91°	75°	2.33 in	10	5.7	83°	1.8 ft
MarchMar	90°	76°	6.11 in	18	5.0	85°	1.2 ft
AprilApr	88°	75°	14.28 in	23	4.2	84°	1.4 ft
MayMay	87°	74°	10.00 in	17	4.7	82°	1.9 ft
JuneJun	86°	72°	1.93 in	4	5.4	81°	2.0 ft
JulyJul	85°	70°	1.30 in	3	5.3	79°	2.0 ft
AugustAug	85°	69°	1.20 in	4	5.7	78°	1.8 ft
SeptemberSep	86°	69°	1.44 in	5	5.5	79°	1.7 ft
OctoberOct	88°	71°	3.12 in	10	5.6	80°	1.5 ft
NovemberNov	88°	73°	6.24 in	17	5.2	82°	1.2 ft
DecemberDec	90°	75°	5.78 in	17	5.3	83°	1.6 ft

Month	Water	Waves
Jan	83°	2.2 ft
Feb	83°	1.8 ft
Mar	85°	1.2 ft
Apr	84°	1.4 ft
May	82°	1.9 ft
Jun	81°	2.0 ft
Jul	79°	2.0 ft
Aug	78°	1.8 ft
Sep	79°	1.7 ft
Oct	80°	1.5 ft
Nov	82°	1.2 ft
Dec	83°	1.6 ft

Days: rainy days in the month. Sun: hours a day.

A normal year brings 56.51 in of rain on about 136 days and about 1,900 hours of sunshine.

1991–2020 averages. Highs, lows and rainfall: TerraClimate; rainy days (0.04 in or more): NASA POWER (MERRA-2); sunshine hours: estimated from solar radiation; water: NOAA OISST; waves (average height): ERA5, 2011–2020. Normals are not a forecast: any given year can turn out very different. Sources and licenses

Temperature

Now76 °Ffeels like 84 °F

Tomorrow77 / 87 °F

It's 76 °F now (feels like 84 °F). Today, 76 °F to 85 °F; tomorrow, 77 °F to 87 °F.

Chance of rain

Today 14%
Fri 30 89% 0.07 in
Sat 31 84% 0.15 in
Sun 1 93% 0.30 in
Mon 2 92% 0.22 in
Tue 3 91% 0.10 in
Wed 4 82% 0.11 in

Today the chance of rain reaches 14%. The next day with likely rain is Friday 30: 89% and 0.07 in.

Recent rain: last 24 hours, 0.02 in; last 3 days, 0.06 in; last 7 days, 0.26 in.

Humidity and dew point

Humidity90%

Dew point73 °F

Humidity is 90% now and the dew point is 73 °F. With a dew point this high, it feels muggy. The temperature is very close to the dew point: fog may form.

The dew point is the temperature at which the air becomes saturated: the higher it is, the heavier the air feels.

Visibility and fog

Now15 migood

Clouds8%

Visibility is good now (15 mi). No fog expected today.

The model gives visibility up to about 15 mi: beyond that, the horizon is clear.

UV index

Now0

Today's peak13extreme

Fri 30: 11 · Sat 31: 10 · Sun 1: 9

Index	Level	What to do
0–2	low	No special protection needed.
3–5	moderate	Hat, sunglasses and sunscreen around midday.
6–7	high	Sunscreen, hat and shade between 12 and 4 pm.
8–10	very high	Avoid the midday sun; reflection off the water adds to it.
11+	extreme	Avoid the sun between 11 am and 5 pm; protect yourself even if it is cloudy.

Reflection off water and sand adds radiation: protect yourself more on a boat or at the beach.

Barometric pressure

↗ Rising · now Anglers say fish bite less for a while
→ Steady Anglers expect normal activity
↘ Falling Anglers say fish feed more before the change

29.8029.9030.00 29.80

Rising now (+0.03 inHg in 3 hours). Over the next 48 hours: +0.04 inHg. Rising pressure: anglers say fish bite less for a while. Fast changes, either way, tend to affect fishing.

Air and pollen

Air qualityFair · 30

Saharan dustNo

Previous days

The weather over the last 30 days, as the models analyzed it. Tap a day to see it hour by hour.

Day	Sky	Low / high	Rain	Max wind
Wed 28	Light drizzle	77 / 85 °F	0.02 in	12 mph SE
Tue 27	Light drizzle	78 / 85 °F	0.01 in	14 mph SE
Mon 26	Light drizzle	79 / 85 °F	0.05 in	16 mph SE
Sun 25	Light drizzle	78 / 85 °F	0.08 in	18 mph SSE
Sat 24	Light drizzle	77 / 86 °F	0.05 in	13 mph SE
Fri 23	Mainly clear	77 / 85 °F	0	13 mph SE
Thu 22	Light drizzle	76 / 85 °F	0.05 in	13 mph SE

Show all 30 days

Day	Sky	Low / high	Rain	Max wind
Wed 21	Light drizzle	76 / 84 °F	0.02 in	12 mph ESE
Tue 20	Drizzle	76 / 84 °F	0.11 in	11 mph ESE
Mon 19	Light drizzle	76 / 84 °F	0.06 in	13 mph ESE
Sun 18	Drizzle	76 / 85 °F	0.08 in	12 mph ESE
Sat 17	Light drizzle	76 / 83 °F	0.13 in	13 mph SE
Fri 16	Light drizzle	78 / 84 °F	0.06 in	16 mph SE
Thu 15	Light drizzle	78 / 85 °F	0.06 in	16 mph SE
Wed 14	Light drizzle	78 / 84 °F	0.06 in	16 mph SE
Tue 13	Light drizzle	76 / 84 °F	0.06 in	16 mph SE
Mon 12	Light drizzle	76 / 85 °F	0.08 in	12 mph SE
Sun 11	Light drizzle	76 / 85 °F	0.04 in	14 mph SE
Sat 10	Light drizzle	78 / 83 °F	0.08 in	13 mph SE
Fri 9	Heavy drizzle	78 / 83 °F	0.15 in	16 mph SE
Thu 8	Light drizzle	76 / 85 °F	0.04 in	16 mph SE
Wed 7	Light drizzle	77 / 85 °F	0.04 in	13 mph SE
Tue 6	Overcast	77 / 85 °F	0	15 mph SE
Mon 5	Drizzle	75 / 79 °F	0.14 in	12 mph SSE
Sun 4	Light drizzle	77 / 85 °F	0.05 in	15 mph SE
Sat 3	Light drizzle	75 / 84 °F	0.06 in	13 mph SE
Fri 2	Light drizzle	77 / 84 °F	0.04 in	14 mph SE
Thu 1	Light drizzle	75 / 83 °F	0.06 in	12 mph SE
Wed 30	Light drizzle	76 / 83 °F	0.05 in	16 mph SE
Tue 29	Light drizzle	76 / 83 °F	0.02 in	15 mph SE

These are the models at the start of each day (ECMWF and GFS; waves from Météo-France), not readings from a weather station: there can be differences at specific spots.

Questions about the weather in ZanzibarQuestions

What's the weather like today in Zanzibar?

Overcast, from 76 °F to 85 °F, with a light air from the southeast (2 mph) and a 14% chance of rain.

Will it rain tomorrow in Zanzibar?

On Friday 30 the chance of rain is 89% (0.07 in): light drizzle.

How warm will it be this week?

Between a low of 74 °F and a high of 87 °F; the warmest day, Friday 30.

What's the UV index today?

It reaches 13 (extreme). Avoid the sun between 11 am and 5 pm; protect yourself even if it is cloudy.

Is the pressure rising or falling?

It's 29.91 inHg and rising: −0.03 inHg over the last 24 hours.

When is the best time to visit Zanzibar?

The best time to visit Zanzibar is from June to September: highs of 86 °F, about 4 rainy days a month and 6 hours of sunshine a day.

What is the weather like in Zanzibar in October?

In October, Zanzibar normally sees highs of 88 °F and lows of 71 °F, with about 10 rainy days (3.12 in for the month) and 6 hours of sunshine a day. The sea is around 80 °F. These are 1991–2020 averages.

What are the warmest and wettest months in Zanzibar?

The warmest is February, with average highs of 91 °F, and the coldest August, with lows of 69 °F. The wettest is April (14.28 in) and the driest, August.

More about Zanzibar today

Weather near Zanzibar

Only places with a different forecast: spots a few miles apart share the same model cell and wouldn't add anything.

Learn more

Weather: Open-Meteo, CC BY 4.0, with the best model for each spot and lead time (NOAA HRRR and NBM in the U.S., Météo-France AROME, DWD ICON-EU, ECMWF IFS and NOAA GFS); ECMWF grid point 6.9 mi away. The comparison also uses ICON (DWD), AIFS (ECMWF) and ARPEGE (Météo-France). Outlook: ECMWF 46-day and SEAS5. Chance of rain from ensemble models (ECMWF, GEFS and NBM). UV, air quality and pollen: CAMS (Copernicus).

Forecast from Open-Meteo (CC BY 4.0) with models from ECMWF, NOAA, Météo-France, DWD, Copernicus Marine and CAMS. Updated at 5:53 am (local time).

Spotted a mistake? Tell us · Where the weather and sea data come from