Matsaile Airport

FXMA · Qachaʼs Nek, Lesotho

Climate Matsaile Airport 2020-2024

Climate and trends: average temperature, flight conditions, precipitation, wind speed and direction.

Calculated from historical METAR data of Moshoeshoe I International Airport (FXMM) between 2020 and 2024.

VFR conditions (%)

Month Average 2024 2023 2022 2021 2020
January 92.9 90 100 94 85 93
February 86.5 64 97 94 82
March 96.1 50 96 97 98
April 92.1 100 86 100 100
May 94.6 78 100 100 100
June 98.4 83 92 100 100
July 98.2 77 100 100
August 96.1 100 100 97
September 98.3 89 96 100 100
October 97.1 100 100 80 91
November 95.7 76 96 79 95
December 92.6 82 88 87 98
Average 91.5 78.8 85.0 94.2 95.4 93.0

1st best VFR conditions of Lesotho

VFR conditions during daylight period

Percentage of observations where the VFR minimums for ceiling and visibility are met: visibility of 8 km or more and a ceiling of 3,000 ft or more. Only observations between sunrise and sunset are taken into account.

Marginal VFR conditions (%)

Month Average 2024 2023 2022 2021 2020
January 97.8 100 100 99 97 97
February 98.0 100 98 100 96
March 99.2 100 100 99 100
April 97.9 100 99 100 100
May 98.1 100 100 100 100
June 99.3 100 100 100 100
July 99.4 100 100 100
August 97.4 100 100 98
September 99.6 100 100 100 100
October 98.7 100 100 100 97
November 99.2 100 100 100 99
December 98.5 100 100 92 100
Average 98.8 100.0 100.0 99.4 98.5 98.3

Marginal VFR conditions or better during daylight period

Percentage of observations where the MVFR minimums for ceiling and visibility are met: visibility of 5 km or more and a ceiling of 1,000 ft or more. Only observations between sunrise and sunset are taken into account.

Maximum temperatures (°C)

Month Average 2024 2023 2022 2021 2020
January 26.1 28 31 24 25 26
February 24.4 27 26 24 24
March 23.6 21 20 23 24
April 19.8 21 18 23 17
May 18.0 16 18 18 18
June 14.9 13 13 16 13
July 14.8 13 15 15
August 17.7 17 17 17
September 22.2 21 21 21 23
October 24.4 26 25 18 26
November 25.5 26 23 21 25
December 25.6 25 24 24 25
Average 22.1 27.5 20.6 19.9 20.1 24.0

1st highest temperature of Lesotho

Average highest temperature per day

The maximum temperature is typically observed some hours after noon.

Minimum temperatures (°C)

Month Average 2024 2023 2022 2021 2020
January 18.3 23 26 20 20 18
February 18.5 22 21 20 17
March 16.4 14 16 19 15
April 14.3 17 14 18 15
May 10.5 13 12 9 8
June 6.6 11 9 6 5
July 7.0 9 9 10
August 8.6 12 13 9
September 12.9 14 17 21 13
October 16.6 20 21 16 21
November 17.3 21 19 17 16
December 19.0 21 19 19 19
Average 15.5 22.5 15.9 15.4 14.0 16.6

1st lowest temperature of Lesotho

Average lowest temperature per day

The minimum temperature is typically observed just before sunrise.

Precipitation (%)

Month Average 2024 2023 2022 2021 2020
January 5.3 0 0 8 17 5
February 9.5 0 2 13 12
March 3.3 0 8 4 5
April 5.7 0 16 1 19
May 1.6 4 0 0 0
June 0.8 0 11 0 0
July 1.2 0 0 0
August 2.0 0 0 4
September 1.8 0 0 0 0
October 0.8 0 7 0 0
November 2.2 0 0 16 5
December 5.4 6 9 19 3
Average 3.4 1.6 6.1 5.6 5.4

Precipitation during daylight period

Percentage of observations with observed rain, drizzle, snow or hail. Only observations between sunrise and sunset are taken into account.

Wind speed (knots)

Month Average 2024 2023 2022 2021 2020
January 4.8 5 1 4 5 5
February 4.5 6 7 5 4
March 4.3 7 4 5 5
April 4.1 4 4 4 6
May 3.4 5 4 3 2
June 3.2 2 4 3 2
July 3.9 2 4 4
August 5.4 4 5 5
September 6.0 5 7 14 6
October 6.9 5 9 4 6
November 7.5 7 8 9 7
December 6.5 10 6 10 6
Average 5.1 5.3 5.8 5.1 4.7 5.2

1st highest wind speed of Lesotho

Average wind speed

Excluding wind gusts. Only observations between sunrise and sunset are taken into account.

Prevailing wind direction

Month 2024 2023 2022 2021 2020
January 272° 300° 333° 336° 325°
February 325° 292° 278° 268°
March 006° 289° 313° 299°
April 329° 326° 270° 351°
May 353° 333° 276° 247°
June 254° 326° 342° 045°
July 025° 301° 244°
August 277° 322° 310°
September 297° 339° 286° 284°
October 294° 313° 360° 333°
November 312° 344° 329° 302°
December 012° 310° 328° 302°

Prevailing wind direction

Average wind direction, weighed by wind speed. Only observations between sunrise and sunset are taken into account.