Climate - Zambia

Index

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• Introduction
• The lowlands - Lake Tanganyika
• The plateau - Lusaka, Livingstone
• Cyclones

Introduction

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Zambia, a country located in southern Africa, is almost entirely covered by a plateau, which tempers the climate, making the temperature generally acceptable for most of the year.
In Zambia, the climate is tropical or sub-tropical depending on altitude, with a hot, humid, and rainy season from mid-November to March and a dry season from April to mid-November. In the dry season, there's a cool period from mid-May to mid-August, and a progressively hotter period from September to mid-November, when the heat becomes torrid, that is, intense but with low humidity. In fact, October is typically the hottest month of the year. On the other hand, moisture is high during the rainy season, which begins around the middle of November, and lasts until the end of March.
During the coolest period, from mid-May to mid-August, it can get cold at night, especially in the southern regions, where the temperature can drop to around freezing (0 °C or 32 °F). The driest months are June, July, and August, when it practically never rains. During the dry season, weather conditions are generally very good: the sky is clear and the air is clear. Sometimes, however, owing to the ancestral custom of burning harvest residues in order to prepare the land for crop rotation, the air may smell of smoke, and some scattered fires can be seen. In contrast, in October and November, the first thunderstorms after the dry season can trigger natural fires, when trees are struck by lightning.
In the rainy season, the rains occur mainly in the form of downpours or thunderstorms. In Zambia, floods caused by heavy rains are quite normal. The wettest areas are the northern ones, namely, the North-Western Province, the Copperbelt Province, and the Northern Province, where precipitation exceeds 1,000 millimeters (40 inches) per year, and in some areas, it can reach 1,400 mm (55 in). The most arid area is, in the south-west, the southern part of Barotseland, where the Zambezi River separates Zambia from Namibia and Zimbabwe: in this area, annual rainfall is around 600 mm (23.5 in) or even a little below. On the border with Zimbabwe, the Zambezi River feeds the magnificent Victoria Falls, which are about 100 meters (330 feet) high, twice as wide and one and a half taller than the Niagara Falls.
The temperature in Zambia varies according to altitude and latitude. The plateau's altitude ranges mostly from 900 to 1,500 meters (3,000 to 4,900 feet), but some areas descend to almost 500 meters (1,600 feet), in the far south along the Zambezi River (and in Lake Kariba, created by a dam on the river), and also in the east, in the Luangwa National Park, where the Luangwa River flows. On the contrary, in the north, the altitude reaches 1,800 meters (5,900 ft) near Mbala, while in the north-east, near the border with Malawi, where the cool grassland of the Nyika National Park is found, it even reaches 2,200 meters (7,200 ft).

The lowlands

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In the areas of the north located below 1,000 meters (3,300 feet), and on the shores of Lake Kariba in the south, the winter climate is milder, especially at night.

Lake Tanganyika

In the far north, a small portion of Lake Tanganyika belongs to Zambia, and its banks are at 770 meters (2,500 ft). Here, the temperature remains high even in winter, also because we are just 8 degrees south of the Equator. Here are the average temperatures of Mpulungu, on the shores of the lake.

Here, 1,200 mm (48 in) of rain fall per year, with heavy rains from December to March; the rainy season is slightly longer than in the rest of the country, in fact, more than 100 mm (4 in) fall even in April and November. From May to October, it almost never rains.

The smaller Lake Mweru, located at no great distance from Lake Tanganyika, sits at 920 meters (3,020 ft); further south but still in the Northern Province, Lake Bangweulu is at 1,150 meters (3,770 ft).

The plateau

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On the plateau, the night temperature from May to August drops a lot, becoming very cool, and sometimes even cold.

Lusaka

The capital city, Lusaka, is located in the south-central, 1,250 meters (4,100 feet) above sea level. In December, January, and February, at the height of the rainy season, temperatures hover around 28 °C (82 °F) during the day and around 18 °C (64 °F) at night. On the other hand, in the coolest months, June and July, the temperature is around 25 °C (77 °F) in the daytime and 9 °C (48 °F) at night; sometimes, however, it can approach freezing. At the end of the dry season, from September to November, the highest temperatures of the year are recorded, with peaks of about 35/37 °C (95/99 °F).
Here are the average temperatures of Lusaka.

Rainfall in Lusaka amounts to 850 mm (33.5 in) per year, with a maximum from December to February, when about 200 mm (8 in) of rain fall per month, while from May to October, it almost never rains. Here is the average precipitation.

In Lusaka, and in general in Zambia, the sun shines regularly in the dry season, while in the rainy season, the sun alternates with the clouds.

North of Lusaka and north-east of the Kafue National Park, we find the Lukanga Swamp, a vast wetland area located at 1,100 meters (3,600 feet) above sea level. Here are the average sunshine hours per day.

Livingstone

Livingstone, a city named after the Scottish explorer who discovered the Victoria Falls, is located in the far south, 900 meters (3,000 ft) above sea level, just a few kilometers (or miles) from the falls. Here, the heat is intense from September to November, with peaks of 40 °C (104 °F), while the winter nights are cold because of the more southern location, even though the altitude is slightly lower than in the capital. The cold record is -2 °C (28 °F).
Here are the average temperatures.

In Livingstone, rainfall amounts to 700 mm (27 in) per year: we are in one of the driest areas of the country.

Tropical cyclones

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Zambia is located at a certain distance from the sea, so it is not directly affected by tropical cyclones; however, it can not be excluded that a cyclone coming from the Indian Ocean could penetrate inland, bringing heavy rains, as happened in January 1996 with Cyclone Bonita. The cyclone season in the Southwest Indian Ocean runs from November to mid-May, but the period when they are most likely goes from late December to mid-April.

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