# Wildfires in Mozambique in 2020

193 fires larger than 3,000 hectares in Mozambique in 2020, with 1,414,155 hectares burned according to their perimeters. Here is the whole year: what the official record says, when and where it burned and what the weather was like.

## The year in a few sentences

- According to Copernicus GWIS, 17,314,886 hectares burned in Mozambique in 2020, in line with the average of the other years from 2012 to 2024 (18,141,863 ha). (Copernicus GWIS)
- The worst week was 9 September to 15 September: 1,890,420 hectares burned in seven days, 11% of the year according to Copernicus GWIS. (Copernicus GWIS)
- The largest fire was the Lugela fire, which started on 6 September 2020 and burned 110,845 hectares: 8% of the area of the year's 193 fires with a page. (WorldFires)
- The day of highest danger at a fire this year was 22 October 2020: a Fire Weather Index of 76 (very extreme on the EFFIS scale) at the Changara fire, calculated by WorldFires from ERA5. (WorldFires · ERA5)

## Month by month

Hectares within the perimeters by the month the fire started. Tap a month to see it on the map.

| Month | Fires | Hectares |
|---|---:|---:|
| January | 0 | 0 |
| February | 0 | 0 |
| March | 0 | 0 |
| April | 0 | 0 |
| May | 0 | 0 |
| June | 0 | 0 |
| July | 12 | 49,485 |
| August | 46 | 249,730 |
| September | 98 | 905,515 |
| October | 27 | 160,756 |
| November | 10 | 48,668 |
| December | 0 | 0 |

## Week by week, against other years (Copernicus GWIS)

The average and the band are the Copernicus GWIS climatology for 2012–2025, which includes 2020 itself.

| Week | 2020 | That week | average | lowest and highest |
|---|---:|---:|---:|---:|
| 1 (1 Jan–7 Jan) | 16,694 | 16,694 | 5,883 | 0–23,621 |
| 2 (8 Jan–14 Jan) | 20,154 | 3,460 | 8,442 | 0–31,223 |
| 3 (15 Jan–21 Jan) | 20,406 | 252 | 10,602 | 0–33,224 |
| 4 (22 Jan–28 Jan) | 23,249 | 2,843 | 12,781 | 229–33,475 |
| 5 (29 Jan–4 Feb) | 25,726 | 2,477 | 14,339 | 2,608–34,234 |
| 6 (5 Feb–11 Feb) | 26,776 | 1,050 | 16,109 | 3,047–34,451 |
| 7 (12 Feb–18 Feb) | 29,037 | 2,261 | 18,289 | 3,267–46,089 |
| 8 (19 Feb–25 Feb) | 29,806 | 769 | 20,802 | 3,405–50,095 |
| 9 (26 Feb–3 Mar) | 30,393 | 587 | 23,906 | 3,836–55,830 |
| 10 (4 Mar–10 Mar) | 32,844 | 2,451 | 27,261 | 4,420–60,674 |
| 11 (11 Mar–17 Mar) | 34,807 | 1,963 | 29,207 | 4,936–61,061 |
| 12 (18 Mar–24 Mar) | 38,075 | 3,268 | 31,376 | 5,346–63,248 |
| 13 (25 Mar–31 Mar) | 41,305 | 3,230 | 33,457 | 5,730–68,354 |
| 14 (1 Apr–7 Apr) | 44,390 | 3,085 | 35,396 | 6,216–75,391 |
| 15 (8 Apr–14 Apr) | 46,214 | 1,824 | 37,565 | 8,504–76,327 |
| 16 (15 Apr–21 Apr) | 49,868 | 3,654 | 41,490 | 11,801–76,327 |
| 17 (22 Apr–28 Apr) | 54,176 | 4,308 | 46,503 | 12,005–88,095 |
| 18 (29 Apr–5 May) | 72,587 | 18,411 | 55,254 | 12,005–117,364 |
| 19 (6 May–12 May) | 95,961 | 23,374 | 68,832 | 13,901–141,824 |
| 20 (13 May–19 May) | 194,613 | 98,652 | 95,838 | 16,073–199,183 |
| 21 (20 May–26 May) | 265,472 | 70,859 | 128,664 | 23,711–281,796 |
| 22 (27 May–2 Jun) | 390,902 | 125,430 | 185,308 | 30,988–390,902 |
| 23 (3 Jun–9 Jun) | 492,623 | 101,721 | 287,595 | 54,638–649,602 |
| 24 (10 Jun–16 Jun) | 640,146 | 147,523 | 391,271 | 84,320–867,842 |
| 25 (17 Jun–23 Jun) | 749,126 | 108,980 | 475,288 | 154,172–984,270 |
| 26 (24 Jun–30 Jun) | 913,270 | 164,144 | 603,842 | 185,806–1,226,293 |
| 27 (1 Jul–7 Jul) | 1,302,177 | 388,907 | 791,869 | 224,167–1,488,552 |
| 28 (8 Jul–14 Jul) | 1,973,945 | 671,768 | 1,057,196 | 342,753–1,973,945 |
| 29 (15 Jul–21 Jul) | 2,391,412 | 417,467 | 1,403,484 | 423,683–3,011,455 |
| 30 (22 Jul–28 Jul) | 2,592,312 | 200,900 | 1,838,971 | 614,537–3,491,511 |
| 31 (29 Jul–4 Aug) | 3,545,057 | 952,745 | 2,389,067 | 802,540–4,055,227 |
| 32 (5 Aug–11 Aug) | 4,868,013 | 1,322,956 | 3,137,446 | 1,038,740–5,355,454 |
| 33 (12 Aug–18 Aug) | 5,998,397 | 1,130,384 | 4,058,655 | 1,244,128–6,385,642 |
| 34 (19 Aug–25 Aug) | 6,533,121 | 534,724 | 5,188,109 | 2,231,095–7,836,269 |
| 35 (26 Aug–1 Sept) | 8,103,589 | 1,570,468 | 6,419,630 | 3,191,332–9,773,596 |
| 36 (2 Sept–8 Sept) | 8,819,803 | 716,214 | 7,837,392 | 3,813,371–11,564,827 |
| 37 (9 Sept–15 Sept) | 10,710,223 | 1,890,420 | 9,813,910 | 4,653,247–13,162,478 |
| 38 (16 Sept–22 Sept) | 12,428,178 | 1,717,955 | 11,504,992 | 6,761,674–15,114,333 |
| 39 (23 Sept–29 Sept) | 13,985,043 | 1,556,865 | 12,982,321 | 8,209,248–16,732,979 |
| 40 (30 Sept–6 Oct) | 14,749,278 | 764,235 | 14,119,275 | 8,904,402–16,851,898 |
| 41 (7 Oct–13 Oct) | 15,123,212 | 373,934 | 15,157,504 | 9,955,053–17,855,952 |
| 42 (14 Oct–20 Oct) | 15,916,678 | 793,466 | 15,853,687 | 10,441,403–18,307,677 |
| 43 (21 Oct–27 Oct) | 16,303,861 | 387,183 | 16,477,440 | 11,093,946–18,693,412 |
| 44 (28 Oct–3 Nov) | 16,601,636 | 297,775 | 16,835,530 | 11,307,733–19,210,390 |
| 45 (4 Nov–10 Nov) | 16,985,831 | 384,195 | 17,137,247 | 11,357,744–19,643,574 |
| 46 (11 Nov–17 Nov) | 17,105,461 | 119,630 | 17,323,058 | 11,440,251–19,934,399 |
| 47 (18 Nov–24 Nov) | 17,192,340 | 86,879 | 17,424,057 | 11,478,740–20,100,318 |
| 48 (25 Nov–1 Dec) | 17,242,702 | 50,362 | 17,492,153 | 11,502,937–20,233,473 |
| 49 (2 Dec–8 Dec) | 17,264,643 | 21,941 | 17,549,714 | 11,510,032–20,335,424 |
| 50 (9 Dec–15 Dec) | 17,295,626 | 30,983 | 17,582,101 | 11,511,628–20,367,809 |
| 51 (16 Dec–22 Dec) | 17,302,052 | 6,426 | 17,597,470 | 11,511,844–20,382,582 |
| 52 (23 Dec–29 Dec) | 17,313,181 | 11,129 | 17,608,050 | 11,515,341–20,389,876 |

## Largest recorded fires

- [Lugela fire, 6 September 2020](https://worldfires.org/en/fire/lugela-2020-09-2.md) · 110,845 ha
- [Mocuba fire, 8 September 2020](https://worldfires.org/en/fire/mocuba-2020-09.md) · 84,586 ha
- [Milange fire, 9 September 2020](https://worldfires.org/en/fire/milange-2020-09-4.md) · 41,024 ha
- [Morrumbala fire, 8 September 2020](https://worldfires.org/en/fire/morrumbala-2020-09-3.md) · 33,287 ha
- [Alto Molocue fire, 5 September 2020](https://worldfires.org/en/fire/alto-molocue-2020-09.md) · 29,925 ha
- [Mavago fire, 18 September 2020](https://worldfires.org/en/fire/mavago-2020-09-2.md) · 27,813 ha
- [Majune fire, 1 September 2020](https://worldfires.org/en/fire/majune-2020-09.md) · 26,277 ha
- [Lugela fire, 4 October 2020](https://worldfires.org/en/fire/lugela-2020-10.md) · 24,423 ha
- [Mavago fire, 25 September 2020](https://worldfires.org/en/fire/mavago-2020-09-6.md) · 21,223 ha
- [Ile fire, September 2020](https://worldfires.org/en/fire/ile-2020-09.md) · 18,502 ha
- [Marromeu fire, October 2020](https://worldfires.org/en/fire/marromeu-2020-10.md) · 17,683 ha
- [Ribaué fire, 17 August 2020](https://worldfires.org/en/fire/ribaue-2020-08.md) · 17,456 ha
- [Liúpo fire, 6 September 2020](https://worldfires.org/en/fire/liupo-2020-09.md) · 16,678 ha
- [Alto Molocue fire, 18 September 2020](https://worldfires.org/en/fire/alto-molocue-2020-09-4.md) · 16,546 ha
- [Namacurra fire, September 2020](https://worldfires.org/en/fire/namacurra-2020-09.md) · 15,311 ha
- [Gilé fire, 17 September 2020](https://worldfires.org/en/fire/gile-2020-09-6.md) · 14,497 ha
- [Milange fire, 10 September 2020](https://worldfires.org/en/fire/milange-2020-09.md) · 13,746 ha
- [Meconta fire, August 2020](https://worldfires.org/en/fire/meconta-2020-08.md) · 13,642 ha
- [Milange fire, 10 September 2020](https://worldfires.org/en/fire/milange-2020-09-3.md) · 13,179 ha
- [Pebane fire, 6 September 2020](https://worldfires.org/en/fire/pebane-2020-09-5.md) · 12,694 ha

## Sources and limits

Fire-page areas are satellite-measured perimeters and may differ from official statistics. The yearly and weekly record is the Copernicus GWIS estimate. The FWI is our own calculation from ERA5 at each fire's location: it is not an official danger warning.

## How to cite

WorldFires, “Wildfires in Mozambique in 2020”, https://worldfires.org/en/country/mozambique/2020 (accessed 14 November 2026). Sources: Copernicus GWIS, WorldFires, WorldFires · ERA5, NASA FIRMS (VIIRS).

> Experimental site with automatically processed open data: it may contain errors and is not an official emergency service. If there is a fire, call your local emergency number.

Full version with maps: https://worldfires.org/en/country/mozambique/2020