Weather in Kota Bharu in November

Shoulder season. November sits in between. You will get good days and you will lose some. You should expect rain on 29 days of the month, which is more days wet than dry.

November ranks 7 of 12 in Kota Bharu: past the worst of the year but short of February, which is the month to book if the dates are open.

Rain on 29 of the month's 30 days, 15 of them heavy. At that frequency a wet-weather backup is not a contingency, it is the itinerary — book the indoor things first and treat the clear days as the bonus. Natural fibres and a second shirt for the day. At 86% nothing dries, including you.

What the averages hide

Averages flatten a month, and this one hides a few things: the day barely swings — 2.7 °C between the overnight low and the afternoon high. Across the twenty years measured, the hottest November day reached 32.7 °C and the coldest night fell to 24.6 °C, and the wettest single day dropped 109 mm — roughly 22% of the month's rain in one day.

November is statistically steady but not small: the year-to-year variation is modest in relative terms, yet the wettest November on record still delivered 999 mm against 179 mm in the driest. In a month this wet, even a tame spread is a lot of rain in absolute terms — the 493 mm average is a reasonable planning figure, not a promise.

Wind is light at 8.4 km/h, so the temperature on the page is close to the temperature on your skin, and humidity at 86% is the real story though — it is the number that decides how the day feels, not the 28.6 °C.

How November sits in the year

Temperatures hold steady either side: 29.6 °C in October, 28.6 here, 27.9 in December. Nothing about the timing within the month matters much.

Daylight in November

Kota Bharu sits close enough to the equator that daylight barely moves all year — 11.8 hours in November, against a range of just 0.7 hours across the whole calendar. Sunrise and sunset land at roughly the same time whenever you come.

Sea temperature

The sea sits at about 29 °C in November — warm enough that the water offers no relief from the heat. The sea peaks at 30.5 °C in May and bottoms out at 27.7 °C — water lags the air by a month or two, which is why the best swimming often comes after the best weather.

How busy it gets

Off season. The genuine off season: cheapest by a distance, with the caveat that some tours and restaurants close entirely.

Crowd levels are estimated from climate desirability and school-holiday calendars, not from visitor numbers.

November in Kota Bharu versus nearby

If Kota Bharu is one option among several, the nearby comparison is worth making. Ipoh is the weaker option in November — within a degree on temperature, the same number of rain days. Kota Kuala Muda is close enough to be a coin toss — within a degree on temperature, 1 day less rain.

So: November is a compromise. February is 24 points better and is what Kota Bharu is actually like at its best — worth moving the trip for if that is possible, and worth adjusting expectations for if it is not.

Every month in Kota Bharu

See all twelve months in Kota Bharu, or where else to go in November.