The climate in Zambia
Average daytime and nighttime temperaturesAll climate diagrams on this page come from the collected data of 19 weather stations.
Weather stations at an altitude above 1670m have not been included.
All data correspond to the average monthly values of the last 20 years.
Back to overview: Zambia
Climate zone: tropics
The climate in Zambia is very warm, with an annual average of 29 degrees, but has few truly tropical and sticky months. It is warm or hot yearlong. The warmest and rainiest part of the country is Eastern. The coldest is Northern. Due to less rain, the best time for traveling is from April to October. The most rain days occur from from November to March.The days with heavy rain and large amounts of precipitation are in October.
The climate in Zambia is very warm, with an annual average of 29 degrees, but has few truly tropical and sticky months. It is warm or hot yearlong. The warmest and rainiest part of the country is Eastern. The coldest is Northern. Due to less rain, the best time for traveling is from April to October. The most rain days occur from from November to March.The days with heavy rain and large amounts of precipitation are in October.
Hours of sunshine per day

Rain days per month

Precipitation in mm/day

Relative humidity in %

Absolute humidity in g/m³

Regions in Zambia
All figures per year. For detailed climate data click on the name of the region.Region | Temperature max Ø day | Temperature min Ø night | Sunshine hours | Rainy days | Precipitation | Humidity |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Central | 27.7 °C | 15.1 °C | 2,774 h | 74 | 1,084 l | 61.0 % |
Copperbelt | 27.8 °C | 14.2 °C | 2,446 h | 101 | 65.0 % | |
Eastern | 31.6 °C | 17.0 °C | 84 | 7,015 l | ||
Lusaka | 30.9 °C | 17.8 °C | 2,920 h | 49 | 537 l | 61.0 % |
Northern | 27.1 °C | 14.7 °C | 2,409 h | 114 | 4,767 l | 66.0 % |
Southern | 30.9 °C | 15.7 °C | 3,066 h | 61 | 548 l | 57.0 % |
Western | 30.3 °C | 16.6 °C | 2,592 h | 89 | 1,292 l | 56.0 % |
Temperature records of the last 73 years
The hottest temperature measured from 1949 to December 2022 was reported by the Mongu weather station. In September 2015, the record temperature of 41.5 °C was reported here. The hottest summer from July to September, based on all 16 weather stations in Zambia below 1,670 meters altitude, was recorded in 2015 with an average temperature of 25.8 °C. This average temperature will normally be measured every four to six hours, thus also including the nights. Normally, this value is 20.0 degrees Celsius. The average maximum daily temperature at that time was 36.5 °C.The coldest day in these 73 years was reported by the Mongu weather station. Here the temperature dropped to 5.5 °C in June 2010. Mongu lies at an altitude of 1,053 meters above sea level. The coldest winter (January to March) was in 1965 with an average temperature of 21.1 °C. In Zambia, it is usual to have about 1.0 degrees more at 22.1 °C for this three-month period.
The most precipitation fell in October 2015. With 322.5 mm per day, the Mpika weather station recorded the highest monthly average of the last 73 years.