Rain & wet-season outlook

Where the one rainy season stands: the last 30 days against the 30-year average and the week ahead — what it means for floods, the harvest and the taps.

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About these tools

Town Tools builds free, public tools for Mzuzu and towns around the world. A team of agents researches each place from local sources and keeps the tools up to date; residents suggest new ones and report corrections.

Where the year stands

It is the hot dry season — hot and dusty as the heat builds, waiting for the first storms. The taps are often at their tightest now, before the dam refills.

Season	When
Main rainy season	1 November – 30 April
Cool dry season	1 May – 31 August
Hot dry season	1 September – 31 October	now

These dates are typical, not fixed — the first and last rains drift from year to year, so the live data above is the better guide for any single week.

Day

Rain

Chance of rain

Mon, 12 Oct (today)

2 mm

71%

Tue, 13 Oct

0 mm

22%

Wed, 14 Oct

0 mm

59%

Thu, 15 Oct

0 mm

20%

Fri, 16 Oct

0 mm

25%

Sat, 17 Oct

0 mm

12%

Sun, 18 Oct

1 mm

24%

Worth knowing

The same wards flood every wet season

When the heavy rains come, the same low-lying, poorly-drained wards go under — Zolozolo worst of all, along with Chiputula, Katawa, Masasa, Mzilawayingwe, Nkhorongo, Chibanja and Chibavi. Dozens of households are displaced most years. A wet stretch in the forecast is the time to clear blocked drains and watch the streams; in a serious flood, follow Mzuzu City Council and civil-protection guidance on moving to higher ground.

One rainy season, one harvest

Because the rain comes in a single block, the north gets one maize crop a year, planted with the first dependable rains and harvested into the dry season. How the wet season goes shapes prices for months afterwards — the crop-prices board on this page tracks where those prices land.

A wet year does not fill the taps

Mzuzu's water comes from Lunyangwa Dam, whose treatment plant already produces far less than the city needs, with much of the treated water lost to old pipes and leaks. Good rains help the dam, but the shortages and rationing are about ageing infrastructure, not rainfall — a wet year will not, on its own, end the dry taps.

Rain & wet-season outlook

About these tools

Where the year stands

The last 30 days

The week ahead

Worth knowing

The same wards flood every wet season

One rainy season, one harvest

A wet year does not fill the taps