Climate averages 1991–2020
Kota Kinabalu weather
in March.
A hot, wet month: the 7th warmest and the driest of the year.
Long-term climate patterns, not a forecast for a particular trip.
March is a hot month in Kota Kinabalu: daytime highs average 28.8°C and nights cool to about 23.9°C. By daytime temperature it is the 7th warmest of the 12 months.
Expect about 93 mm of rain on roughly 16 days, which makes March a wet month (the driest month of the year). Daylight, from sunrise to sunset, lasts about 12 h 05 min on an average March day.
The nearest other city in this atlas is Putatan (6 km away). In March its highs average 29.0°C, about as warm as Kota Kinabalu, with 93 mm of rain.
Among the 72 cities listed in Malaysia, Kota Kinabalu ranks 70th of 72 for the warmest March highs and joint 3rd of 72 for the driest March (rainfall, lowest first). The mean March high of those 72 cities is 30.1°C; Kota Kinabalu is 1.3°C cooler than that mean.
From March to April, average highs rise by 0.4°C to 29.2°C, and monthly rainfall rises from 93 mm to 110 mm.
The annual picture
March in context
Monthly rainfall
Average total · mmAverages from hourly ERA5 reanalysis data. Actual weather varies from year to year. How these numbers are calculated
Every month, side by side
Kota Kinabalu climate table
| Month | Average highHigh / low | Average low | Rainfall mm/month | Rain days ≥1 mm/day | Daylight hours/dayDaylight h/day |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 28.1°C23.6°C | 23.6°C | 153 | 18.5 | 11.812 h |
| February | 28.3°C23.5°C | 23.5°C | 99 | 14.3 | 11.912 h |
| March, selected | 28.8°C23.9°C | 23.9°C | 93 | 15.9 | 12.112 h |
| April | 29.2°C24.5°C | 24.5°C | 110 | 19.4 | 12.212 h |
| May | 29.3°C24.8°C | 24.8°C | 163 | 21.8 | 12.412 h |
| June | 29.3°C24.5°C | 24.5°C | 187 | 18.5 | 12.512 h |
| July | 29.2°C24.2°C | 24.2°C | 166 | 18.3 | 12.412 h |
| August | 29.4°C24.3°C | 24.3°C | 178 | 17.9 | 12.312 h |
| September | 29.1°C24.2°C | 24.2°C | 173 | 19.8 | 12.212 h |
| October | 28.3°C24.0°C | 24.0°C | 264 | 26.1 | 12.012 h |
| November | 28.2°C23.9°C | 23.9°C | 229 | 26.2 | 11.912 h |
| December | 28.2°C23.9°C | 23.9°C | 212 | 24.8 | 11.812 h |
Rainfall is the average of the 30 separate monthly totals. A rain day is a local calendar day with at least 1 mm of precipitation. Daylight is the calculated sunrise-to-sunset length, not measured sunshine.
Compare places
March in nearby cities
- Putatan in MarchMalaysia · 6 kmHigh 29.0°C · Low 23.7°C · 93 mm rain
- Keningau in MarchMalaysia · 72 kmHigh 30.0°C · Low 21.6°C · 134 mm rain
- Labuan in MarchMalaysia · 120 kmHigh 29.4°C · Low 25.1°C · 54 mm rain
- Bandar Seri Begawan in MarchBrunei · 174 kmHigh 29.9°C · Low 24.3°C · 91 mm rain
- Sandakan in MarchMalaysia · 227 kmHigh 29.0°C · Low 24.1°C · 197 mm rain
- Lahad Datu in MarchMalaysia · 271 kmHigh 29.3°C · Low 23.7°C · 123 mm rain
- Marudi in MarchMalaysia · 278 kmHigh 30.9°C · Low 23.3°C · 206 mm rain
- Tawau in MarchMalaysia · 279 kmHigh 29.6°C · Low 24.3°C · 144 mm rain
Read the numbers correctly
Climate, not a promise.
These patterns help compare months. They cannot tell you the weather on a specific day of your trip.
Sources, method and limitsHow these numbers are made (what the highs, lows and rain days mean, the sources and the model cell used for Kota Kinabalu) is explained once on the Kota Kinabalu year overview and on the Sources, method and limits page.
Putatan lies in the same rainfall cell, so its rainfall figures are identical to these; temperatures differ because they come from smaller 0.1° cells.