Weather in Mwanza in November

A good month. November is a solid month to be in Mwanza. You should expect rain on 26 days of the month, which is more days wet than dry.

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

Rain on 26 of the month's 30 days, 4 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. Nothing specialised needed — this is the month you pack for the trip rather than for the weather.

What the averages hide

Averages flatten a month, and this one hides a few things: 4 days top 30 °C — hot spells arrive, but they break. Across the twenty years measured, the hottest November day reached 33.1 °C and the coldest night fell to 18.1 °C, and the wettest single day dropped 92 mm — roughly 48% 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 413 mm against 42 mm in the driest. In a month this wet, even a tame spread is a lot of rain in absolute terms — the 191 mm average is a reasonable planning figure, not a promise.

Wind is light at 8.7 km/h, so the temperature on the page is close to the temperature on your skin, and humidity is unremarkable at 71%.

How November sits in the year

Temperatures hold steady either side: 29.4 °C in October, 27 here, 26.5 in December. Nothing about the timing within the month matters much. Rain has already shifted: 5 days more than October had.

Daylight in November

Mwanza sits close enough to the equator that daylight barely moves all year — 12.2 hours in November, against a range of just 0.3 hours across the whole calendar. Sunrise and sunset land at roughly the same time whenever you come.

An inland climate

Despite being inland, the year stays fairly even: 11.8 °C between the year's warmest afternoons and coldest nights. At 1144 m the air is thin enough to matter — sun that burns faster than the temperature suggests, and nights that cool off quickly.

How busy it gets

Quiet. Few other visitors, cheaper rooms, and a real chance some seasonal operators are shut.

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

November in Mwanza versus nearby

If Mwanza is one option among several, the nearby comparison is worth making. Kakamega is close enough to be a coin toss — within a degree on temperature, 3 days less rain. Nakuru is close enough to be a coin toss — 2 °C cooler, 1 day less rain.

So: November is a compromise. July is 20 points better and is what Mwanza 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 Mwanza

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