Namibia, formerly South-West Africa, has a sub-tropical climate, desert along the coast and in the south, and arid, with a rainy season from November to March, in the north-central and north-eastern inland areas.
The country is crossed by the Tropic of Capricorn, but along the coast a cold current flows, called Benguela Current, while the interior is occupied by a plateau. It follows that the climate is cooler and drier than you might think. Nevertheless, in summer it can get hot, especially at some distance from the sea and in areas located at not too high altitudes. There may be blistering days from September to March in the north, from November to January in Windhoek, which is located at a pretty high altitude, and from September to Avril or early May in the centre-south. On the contrary, during winter, the plateau can get cold at night, with possible light frosts everywhere.
The country is home to nature reserves and parks of great beauty, like the Etosha National Park.
Being in the Southern Hemisphere, its seasons are reversed in comparison with Europe or North America, and the coolest period goes from May to August.

The driest region is the coastal area, where the Namib Desert is located, as well as the south, where there is the Kalahari Desert, which is slightly rainier, so that it's home to xerophyte plants such as cacti and other succulent species. The rainiest area of Namibia is the north-east, where rainfall ranges from 500 to 600 millimetres (20 to 23.5 in) per year. Winter is dry everywhere, while in non-desert regions (north and east) it rains in summer, from November to March, usually in the form of showers or thunderstorms in the afternoon. The peak of the rainy season is from January to March.


Along the coast, the climate is desert but mild: it almost never rains, but the air is humid and there are often fogs, mists and low clouds, especially in the early hours of the day. Temperatures are mild all year round, but with fog, humidity and wind, you can feel cold, especially in winter.
Here are the average temperatures of Swakopmund, in the central part of the coast.
Average temperatures - Swakopmund

Swakopmund	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Swakopmund	J	F	M	A	M	J	J	A	S	O	N	D
Min (°C)	15	16	15	13	11	11	9	9	10	11	13	14
Max (°C)	20	21	20	18	18	20	18	16	16	16	18	19
Min (°F)	59	61	59	55	52	52	48	48	50	52	55	57
Max (°F)	68	70	68	64	64	68	64	61	61	61	64	66

As you can see from the average rainfall, in Swakopmund it hardly ever rains.
Average precipitation - Swakopmund

Swakopmund	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Swakopmund	J	F	M	A	M	J	J	A	S	O	N	D	Y
Prec. (mm)	1	2	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	8
Prec.(in)	0	0.1	0.1	0.1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.3
Days	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1

In Swakopmund, the amount of sunshine is decent, but not great, all year round, due to the already mentioned mists and low clouds, more frequent at night and in the morning.
Sunshine - Swakopmund

Swakopmund	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Swakopmund	J	F	M	A	M	J	J	A	S	O	N	D
Sun (hours)	7	6	6	7	8	8	8	7	6	7	7	7

The temperature of the sea is very cool, if not cold, all year round, however, it reaches 17 °C (63 °F) from January to March. Only in the northernmost part of the Skeleton Coast, the sea becomes a bit warmer, so that it reaches 22/23 °C (72/73 °F) in March.
Sea temperature - Swakopmund

Swakopmund	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Swakopmund	J	F	M	A	M	J	J	A	S	O	N	D
Sea (°C)	17	17	17	16	15	14	14	14	14	14	15	16
Sea (°F)	63	63	63	61	59	57	57	57	57	57	59	61

Along the coast, the temperature can suddenly increase, when the wind called Oosweer, which can also cause sandstorms, blows from inland. In addition, it's sufficient to move inland for not too many kilometres, to note the shrinking influence of the sea, so that the air temperature will increase rapidly, at least during the day and in summer. To understand how strong is the cooling influence of the sea, it's enough to say that in summer the temperatures in inland areas are higher than on the coast, even at altitudes above 1,500 metres (5,000 feet). The coast is not advisable for beach tourism, but rather for watching birds, or animals such as the sea lions at Cape Cross, and also the remains of shipwrecks of past centuries in the Skeleton Coast to the north.



In the west, about 600 metres (2,000 feet) above sea level, in the area of the ancient Tsauchab river, today almost always dry, there are salt and clay pans (called Sossusvlei), which are almost always dry as well, and are surrounded by huge orange sand dunes, probably the highest sand dunes in the world. In particular, the "Big Daddy" dune is about 390 metres (1,280 feet) high. Another very high dune is located near the coast, and is the so-called "Dune 7", near Walvis Bay, about 385 metres (1,263 feet) high. In the Sandwich Bay area there are very high sand dunes that descend directly to the sea.


The interior of the country, already a short distance from the sea, is occupied by a plateau, whose altitude ranges from 1,200 to 1,700 metres (3,900 to 5,600 ft). Occasionally, there are higher zones, and mountain peaks exceeding 2,000 metres (6,500 feet), for instance the Brandberg Massif. In the southern regions (Hardap and Karas), in the hottest months (December and January), the maximum temperatures are around 35 °C at 1,000 metres (95 °F at 3,300 feet) of altitude. In the north, where the rainy season is more pronounced, in the warmest months the temperatures are a bit lower, with highs around 30 °C (86 °F). North of the Tropic, the warmest period is from September to November, before the rainy season. For example in Tsumeb, located in the north at 1,300 metres (4,250 feet) of altitude, the hottest month is October, when daytime temperatures are slightly higher than in January: 33 °C (91 °F) instead of 31 °C (88 °F), while in the Zambezi Region, in the far north-east, average highs in October are 35 °C (95 °F). Here are the average temperatures in Tsumeb.
Average temperatures - Tsumeb

Tsumeb	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Tsumeb	J	F	M	A	M	J	J	A	S	O	N	D
Min (°C)	18	18	17	15	11	8	8	10	15	18	18	18
Max (°C)	31	30	29	28	26	24	24	27	31	33	32	31
Min (°F)	64	64	63	59	52	46	46	50	59	64	64	64
Max (°F)	88	86	84	82	79	75	75	81	88	91	90	88

In Tsumeb, 555 mm or rain per year fall. Here is the average precipitation.
Average precipitation - Tsumeb

Tsumeb	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Tsumeb	J	F	M	A	M	J	J	A	S	O	N	D	Y
Prec. (mm)	120	140	80	40	6	0	0	0	1	20	55	95	556
Prec.(in)	4.7	5.5	3.1	1.6	0.2	0	0	0	0	0.8	2.2	3.7	21.9
Days	12	12	9	5	1	0	0	0	0	3	6	11	59

In Tsumeb the sun shines all year round, but especially in the dry season, from May to September, when the sky is almost always serene.
Sunshine - Tsumeb

Tsumeb	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Tsumeb	J	F	M	A	M	J	J	A	S	O	N	D
Sun (hours)	8	8	8	10	11	11	11	11	11	10	9	10

As mentioned, the north, where Tsumeb is located, is the wettest area of the country. In the vast Etosha National Park, where there are protected species such as the black rhino, not far from Tsumeb and 1,100 metres (3,600 feet) above sea level we find the Etosha Pan, a salt lake which is dry most of the year, but during the rainy season becomes a shallow lake. In the wettest years, there may be flooding in the Etosha region and in the Cuvelai Basin.
The northeast is the rainiest area: the Kavango Region and the Caprivi Strip are covered by the savannah biome, also there are major rivers such as Okavango and Zambezi, along whose banks the forest flourishes.



In the capital Windhoek, located in the centre of the country and at 1,700 metres (5,600 ft) above sea level, the average temperature goes from 14 °C (57 °F) in June and July, to 24 °C (75 °F) in December and January. So the summer is hot despite the altitude, and much warmer than along the coast. In winter the days are very mild, actually even slightly warm, but at night it can get cold. Here are the average temperatures.
Average temperatures - Windhoek

Windhoek	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Windhoek	J	F	M	A	M	J	J	A	S	O	N	D
Min (°C)	18	17	16	13	10	7	7	9	12	15	16	17
Max (°C)	30	29	27	26	23	21	21	24	28	29	30	31
Min (°F)	64	63	61	55	50	45	45	48	54	59	61	63
Max (°F)	86	84	81	79	73	70	70	75	82	84	86	88

Winter is a very sunny season, during which it almost never rains. On the other hand, from November to April some rain falls, but only from January to March the rainfall reaches on average 70/80 mm (2.8/3.1 in) per month. The total annual rainfall of 370 mm makes the climate arid, but in some years, when tropical air masses from Angola arrive up here, in the rainy season it can rain a lot. Here is the average precipitation.
Average precipitation - Windhoek

Windhoek	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Windhoek	J	F	M	A	M	J	J	A	S	O	N	D	Y
Prec. (mm)	75	75	80	40	6	1	1	0	1	12	35	45	371
Prec.(in)	3	3	3.1	1.6	0.2	0	0	0	0	0.5	1.4	1.8	14.6
Days	8	9	8	3	1	0	0	0	0	2	4	6	41

Also in Windhoek, as generally in the plateau, the sun shines all year round, with a maximum in the dry season.
Sunshine - Windhoek

Windhoek	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Windhoek	J	F	M	A	M	J	J	A	S	O	N	D
Sun (hours)	9	9	9	9	10	10	11	11	11	10	10	9

In the southern part of the plateau, the climate is more arid, in fact as mentioned we are in the Kalahari desert. Here the summer rains are too poor to lower the temperature, so that the hottest season is just the summer, with highs of 34/35 °C (93/95 °F) from December to February, and peaks around 40 °C (104 °F). On the other hand, the southern position makes the winter colder than in the centre and north, at the same altitude. Here are the average temperatures of Keetmanshoop, located at 1,000 metres (3,300 feet) of altitude.
Average temperatures - Keetmanshoop

Keetmanshoop	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Keetmanshoop	J	F	M	A	M	J	J	A	S	O	N	D
Min (°C)	18	18	16	13	9	6	5	7	9	12	15	17
Max (°C)	35	34	32	29	25	21	21	24	26	30	32	34
Min (°F)	64	64	61	55	48	43	41	45	48	54	59	63
Max (°F)	95	93	90	84	77	70	70	75	79	86	90	93

Keetmanshoop receives a desert-like amount of rainfall, 145 mm (5.7 in) per year, with a peak of 40 mm (1.6 in) in February.
Average precipitation - Keetmanshoop

Keetmanshoop	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Keetmanshoop	J	F	M	A	M	J	J	A	S	O	N	D	Y
Prec. (mm)	23	40	37	15	4	2	1	0	2	5	9	9	147
Prec.(in)	0.9	1.6	1.5	0.6	0.2	0.1	0	0	0.1	0.2	0.4	0.4	5.8
Days	4	5	5	2	1	0	0	0	0	1	2	2	22

Southwest of Keetmanshoop is the Richtersveld National Park. In areas located at lower altitudes (see the Fish River Canyon, and the Orange River, which marks the border with South Africa, where the altitude drops to sea level, in villages like Aussenkehr and Noordoewer), in the hot period the temperature can reach 45 °C (113 °F).




The best time to visit Namibia as a whole is the austral winter, from May to August: it's a dry and sunny period, and it's the only one that allows to avoid the intense heat; on the plateau, however, nights are cold.
It's true that along the coast it is cool, and there are mists in the morning (on the coast the best time would be from November to February).


In winter (June to August): on the coast, spring/autumn clothes, a sweatshirt or sweater and a jacket. In Windhoek and the plateau, spring/autumn clothes, being ready to add or remove the outer layer; sweater, hat and warm jacket for the evening.

In summer (December to February): along the coast, spring/autumn clothes, t-shirt, shirt, sweatshirt and light jacket. In Windhoek and the plateau, light clothes for the day, sun hat, a sweatshirt for the evening, light raincoat or umbrella.