Madagascar Seasonal Information
Madagascar has two seasons:

a hot, rainy season from November to April, cyclones mainly from January to April

a cooler, dry season from May to October.
There is, however, great variation in climate owing to elevation and position relative to dominant
winds. The east coast has a subequatorial climate and, being most directly exposed to the trade
winds, has the heaviest rainfall averaging as much as 3.5 meters annually.
This region is notorious not only for a hot, humid climate in which tropical fevers are endemic but also
for the destructive cyclones that occur during the rainy season, coming in principally from the direction
of the Mascarene Islands. Because rain clouds discharge much of their moisture east of the highest
elevations on the island, the central highlands are appreciably drier and, owing to the altitude, also
cooler. Thunderstorms are common during the rainy season in the central highlands, and lightning is
a serious hazard. Antananarivo receives practically all of its average annual 1.4 meters of rainfall
between November and April.
The dry season is pleasant and sunny, although somewhat chilly, especially in the
mornings. Although frosts are rare in Antananarivo, they are common at higher elevations. The west
coast is drier than either the east coast or the central highlands because the trade winds lose their
humidity by the time they each this region. The southwest and the extreme south are semi desert; as
little as one-third of a meter of rain falls annually at Toliara.
Madagascar suffers the impact of cyclones from time to time. The cyclone also significantly damaged
the country’s infrastructure, most notably coastal roads, railroads, and telecommunications, as well as
agriculture.
Three major risks have been noted for Madagascar :

Drought

Cyclones

Locust infestation
Madagascar is classified as a least developed and low-income, food-deficit country. Chronic food
insecurity affect 65 percents of the population, with an eight percent increase during the lean season
(between November and March)
Madagascar’s location off the south-eastern coast of Africa accounts for the high incidence of natural
disasters, particularly cyclones and droughts. The national comprehensive food security and
vulnerability assessment, which was undertaken by WFP in 2005, indicated that coastal regions in the
East and the South as well as western inland areas are all highly vulnerable to natural shocks and
seasonal food insecurity.
More than 70 percent of the sampled households experienced at last one shock in the year preceding
the survey – mostly cyclones, floods or drought.
Southern Madagascar was plagued by chronic food insecurity, which was "an annual phenomenon”
and, despite this recurring natural event, few long-term solutions have been implemented - the
agricultural economy of this region is predominantly weak, limited to subsistence-based agriculture
and raising livestock, and highly vulnerable to natural or economical distortions.
Top 10 Natural Disasters in Madagascar
Disaster
Date
Total Affected
Storm
14-Feb-1972
2,510,056
Drought
1981
1,000,000
Storm
7-Mar-2004
988,139
Drought
Apr-1988
950,000
Storm
17-Feb-2000
736,937
Storm
24-Jan-1997
600,000
Drought
Nov-2002
600,000
Storm
13-Jan-1994
540,043
Storm
9-May-2002
526,200
Storm
17-Feb-2008
524,153