The weather in Madagascar is dominated by the southeastern trade winds. These winds originate in the Indian Ocean. The Indian Ocean is a center of high atmospheric pressure. This center seasonally changes its position over the ocean and this is what affects the weather of Madagascar.Madagascar has two main seasons. There is the hot, rainy season. This lasts from November to April. After this comes the cooler, dry season that lasts from May to October.
You will notice a great variation in weather and also climate according to the elevation and position relative to dominant winds. The eastern coast of Madagascar has a subequatorial climate as it is directly exposed to the trade winds. This area also has the heaviest rainfall that amounts to 3.5 meters annually. Due to this extremity of climate the people here are troubled with tropical fevers. There is another factor that is very irking. There are frequent destructive cyclones that occur during the rainy season. These usually come from the direction of the Mascarene Islands. The reason for this is because the rain clouds discharge much of their moisture east of the highland areas on the island. The central highlands are drier and the altitude makes it much cooler too. Thunderstorms are common too during the rainy season in the central highlands. Lightning is a serious hazard here.
The west coast is much drier than the east coast or the central highlands. The trade winds lose their humidity by the time they reach the western coast. The southwest and the extreme south are semi desert and average rainfall is about one-third of a meter.
When to visit Madagascar
The summer from November to March is the hottest and moving around is extremely difficult until you are traveling by taxi-brousse. The winter months in these regions are quite pleasant and therefore easy to travel. The winters are marked with the blue skies, cooler temperatures and basically no rain. The east and northeast can have some amount of rain and the skies are overcast with possibility of rain. But these rain showers do not last long during the winter months. But winter is the best time to visit.
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