The climate in Angola

Climate zone: tropics

The climate in Angola is very warm, with an annual average of 27 degrees, but has few truly tropical and sticky months. It is warm to hot all year round, inviting bathing at average water temperatures of 24 degrees. The warmest and rainiest part of the country is Zaire. The coldest is Namibe. Due to less rain, the best time for traveling is from May to September. The most rain days occur from from December to March.The days with heavy rain and large amounts of precipitation are in August.

Temperature records of the last 73 years

The hottest temperature measured from 1949 to September 2022 was reported by the Luanda weather station. In April 2016, the record temperature of 35.6 °C was reported here. The hottest summer from July to September, based on all 16 weather stations in Angola below 1,710 meters altitude, was recorded in 1999 with an average temperature of 29.0 °C. This average temperature will normally be measured every four to six hours, thus also including the nights. Normally, this value is 19.7 degrees Celsius.

The coldest day in these 73 years was reported by the Luanda weather station. Here the temperature dropped to 16.0 °C in August 2013. Luanda lies at an altitude of 74 meters above sea level. The coldest winter (January to March) was in 1971 with an average temperature of 21.6 °C. In Angola, it is usual to have about 1.4 degrees more at 23.0 °C for this three-month period.

The most precipitation fell in March 1951. With 16.1 mm per day, the Huambo weather station recorded the highest monthly average of the last 73 years. Incidentally, the region with the most rainfall for the whole year is around Huambo. The driest region is near Mocamedes.

Long-term development of temperatures from 1949 - 1974

In contrast to single record values, long-term development cannot simply be brought about by all weather stations in the country. Both the number and the locations are constantly changing. An average value would give a distorted result. If several measuring stations in particularly cold mountain or coastal regions are added in one year, the average would decrease as a result of this alone. If a station fails during the summer or winter months, it does not provide any values and distorts the average again. The subsequent long-term development was therefore reduced to only 3 measuring points in order to have comparable data over as long a period as possible.

In the years 1949 to 1974, there were only these 3 weather stations in the whole country, which reported continuous temperature values (Luanda, Luena, Huambo). From these weather reports, we have created a long-term development that shows the monthly average temperatures. The hottest month in this entire period was January 1952 at 23.7 °C. July 1954 was the coldest month with an average temperature of 17.3 °C.

The average annual temperature was about 21.5 °C in the years after 1949 and about 21.1 °C in the last years before 1974. So it has dropped by about 0.4 °C. This trend only applies to the selected 3 weather stations in Angola. A considerably more comprehensive evaluation of global warming has been provided separately.

Data basis and methodology

The data from the individual measuring stations are based on the archives of the German Weather Service, individual values averaged and supplemented by own elements. In order to determine a representative national average, average values were first calculated for each part of the country, which were then summarized at the national level. Thus, if a disproportionate number of weather stations are located in a small area, their number does not affect the national average.