Cyclone season in Madagascar: when it is, and how to plan around it

Madagascar's cyclone season normally runs from November to April, and the risk is highest from January to March. The east and north coasts are exposed, but western Madagascar can be hit too. Fytia reached the north-west in January 2026 and Gezani the east coast in February. For most road trips, May to October gives more scope for a route with fewer rain-related access problems.

If your dates fall in the rains, a trip can still work. The Tsingy de Bemaraha normally closes for the rains, while Andasibe trips operate year-round subject to local conditions, and Île Sainte-Marie is a gamble from January to March. We're Malagasy and we drive these roads every season, so here's how the storms and the rains change a trip, region by region.

When is cyclone season in Madagascar?

The UK Foreign Office gives the season as November to April, and France's travel advice says the violent cyclones come between January and April. The heart of it is the southern summer, January to March. Météo-France, whose centre on Réunion tracks every storm in the south-west Indian Ocean, has also seen mature cyclones there as early as October and as late as May. December storms do happen: Belna came ashore near Soalala, on the north-west coast, on 9 December 2019.

A normal season brings about ten named storms to the whole basin, and about five reach cyclone strength. Most never touch Madagascar. ACAPS, a humanitarian analysis group, counts 47 tropical storms and cyclones that hit the island between 2000 and 2023, about two a year.

A seasonal forecast describes the wider basin, not the weather on your beach or the condition of one road. Use it for broad planning, then check local alerts close to departure.

Which coasts get hit most often

The east and north coasts are the most exposed, and France's travel advice says most cyclones arrive from the east. ACAPS's list of the regions hit most often from 2000 to 2023 bears that out: Analanjirofo, which includes Sainte-Marie, Atsinanana around Toamasina, Vatovavy Fitovinany in the south-east, Sava in the north-east and Sofia in the north-west. The surprise is Menabe, the region around Morondava and the Avenue of the Baobabs, on the west coast.

The dry south-west isn't exempt from storms or their rain. A region's low average rainfall doesn't make a boat trip or a canyon walk safe during a warning.

Recent cyclones, and what they mean for planning

Météo-France's review of the 2025 to 2026 season records Fytia making landfall in north-western Madagascar on 31 January 2026, followed by Gezani on the east coast on 10 February. Two different coasts were affected in less than a fortnight.

That matters when choosing a route. A west-coast beach is not a guaranteed escape from a storm forecast for the wider island, and damage to a connecting road can affect a lodge far from the landfall.

The immediate question is whether to travel. After that comes whether the road, hotel and next transfer are operating. A spare night helps with a delay, but it doesn't make a closed road passable. Ask for a revised route and any extra costs in writing before setting off.

What the rainy season is really like

On most days of the rainy season the weather is simply wet and warm, and hot on the coasts. The long-term averages for 1991 to 2020:

• The highlands. Nearly 90% of Antananarivo's rain falls from November to March. January brings about 310 mm on 17 days, with highs around 26 °C.
• The west. Morondava gets about 290 mm in January, on 14 days, with highs of 32 °C, and almost nothing from May to October.
• The south-west. Tulear (Toliara) averages about 360 mm in a whole year, and only about seven rainy days even in January.
• The east coast. Wet in every month: Toamasina and Sainte-Marie get 440 to 470 mm in February and March, with rain on 17 to 21 days a month.
• The far north. Diego Suarez stays fairly dry until December. Nosy Be doesn't: about 300 mm in December and nearly 400 mm in January.

The rains have their rewards: from November to March reptiles are at their most active and newborn chameleons cling to the leaves, as our reptiles and insects page says. The cost is on the roads. From December to April, the UK Foreign Office warns, many secondary roads are impassable except in a 4x4, and bridges are often washed away.

The RN7 and the south

The RN7 is the main road south and tarred for most of its length, but tarred doesn't mean storm-proof, as Alvaro showed near Fianarantsoa. Rain makes the worst stretches worse: in November 2025, as the rains began, L'Express found no tarmac at all between Vineta and Mahaboboka, on the way to Tulear, and rainwater hiding how deep the holes were. In Isalo, France advises against walking the canyons in the rains, especially in the afternoon, because sudden downpours can bring deadly floods.

At the end of the road, the south-west coast is the driest part of the island, so on the rainfall figures Ifaty is worth comparing with the wetter east coast for a beach stay between December and March, subject to the local forecast. Our Classic South page puts the wet season at November to March: send us your dates and we'll tell you honestly what to expect.

The north: Diego Suarez and Nosy Be

Diego Suarez averages about 30 mm of rain in November and about 130 mm in December, but Nosy Be, off the north-west coast, gets about 300 mm in December. From January to March, swollen rivers can cut off remote places in the north, and cyclones reach the north-east coast often enough: Dikeledi came ashore near Vohémar on 11 January 2025.

Our 11-day Northern Madagascar trip runs from April to December. By December, though, Nosy Be is in its wet season, and the trip ends there with four nights and boat days that depend on the sea. Our Nosy Be guide has the months.

Flights in cyclone season

Flights can stop when a storm is close. As Batsirai came ashore in February 2022, Air France cancelled its Saturday flight from Paris to Antananarivo. Domestic flights, run at the time of writing by Madagascar Airlines, can be grounded the same way. Several of our trips start or end with one, at Morondava, Diego Suarez, Sainte-Marie or Nosy Be. Never book a domestic flight on the same day as your flight home.

What we do when a storm is forecast

Nobody can promise a storm-free fortnight, and we won't. What a private trip gives you is room to move. You have your own vehicle and driver-guide and you set the departure times, so the day can follow the forecast. The person who answers your first message arranges the trip and checks in while you're here. And our set trips are starting points, not fixed departures: if your dates fall between January and March, reshape the route and build in spare days before you go.

What nobody controls is a lodge that shuts or a boat that doesn't sail. So before you book, with us or anyone, ask who pays for an extra night if a storm closes a road, and get the answer in writing. Send your dates on the booking form and we'll say honestly whether they work. We reply within 24 hours.

Photos: Sandy Ravaloniaina and iAko Randrianarivelo on Unsplash.