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In 2024, Tanzania experienced its hottest year on record, marked by sharply rising nighttime temperatures. The country’s average annual minimum temperature, a key indicator of nighttime warmth, reached 19.3°C, which was 1.1°C higher than the long-term average.
This increase outpaced the rise in maximum temperatures, which stood at 28.8°C, just 0.4°C above average, highlighting a pronounced warming trend during nighttime.
Across most of the country, maximum temperatures were 0°C to 1°C above average, with the exception of parts of Tabora and Shinyanga, where anomalies ranged between 0°C and -1°C.
Meanwhile, minimum temperatures were 1°C to 2°C higher in the northeast, including the Lake Victoria basin, northeastern highlands, northern coast, and the islands of Unguja and Pemba, as well as in the south and southwestern highlands. Central and western regions, along with inland areas of the northern and southern coastal belts, saw smaller increases of 0°C to 1°C.
The Tanzania Meteorological Authority’s annual climate report revealed that nighttime heat exceeded long-term averages in 11 of 12 months, surpassing daytime anomalies and influencing the annual mean temperature.
February saw the most significant deviation at 1.5°C above average, while March, April, and May all recorded minimum temperature anomalies exceeding 1°C, far outpacing daytime rises.
This trend aligns with a 2024 study published in Nature, which projected increasing warm days and nights throughout the 21st century under the RCP4.5 emissions scenario. A 2017 study by the TMA warned that rising temperatures could negatively impact maize yields, Tanzania’s staple crop.
The national average temperature for 2024 reached 24.3°C, 0.7°C above normal, surpassing the previous record set in 2023 and marking the highest since records began in 1970.
Regions near Lake Victoria and the northeastern highlands experienced the most intense anomalies, ranging from 1°C to 2°C above average. July 2024 recorded the highest monthly anomaly at 1.1°C above average, while May, June, and November were the warmest on record for their respective months in 55 years. February ranked as the third warmest, with August and September being the second warmest since 1970.
The year was also Tanzania’s fourth wettest since 1970 and the wettest in two decades, with total rainfall reaching 1,307.6 mm, 285.2 mm (28 per cent) above average.
The November 2023 to April 2024 rainy season was the wettest since 1970, with 1,354.6 mm of rainfall, equivalent to 172 per cent of the long-term average. January 2024, typically a dry month, became the wettest January on record, with eastern regions receiving over 200 per cent of average rainfall. April 2024 ranked as the fifth wettest April, while May was the ninth driest on record.
The extreme rainfall was linked to El Niño and a positive Indian Ocean Dipole, particularly affecting the northeast. Meteorological stations in Dar es Salaam (JNIA), Kibaha, Morogoro, Zanzibar and Tanga reported rainfall three to six times higher than long-term averages.
With 80 per cent of Tanzania’s population reliant on farming, the report underscores the immediate reality of the climate crisis, which threatens food security and livelihoods through erratic temperatures and rainfall patterns.