The climate in 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.

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.

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. There are 17 stations in Zambia itself. In 2 cases, neighboring but nearby weather stations were also used to obtain more accurate values.