Bujumbura climate
Bujumbura is warmest in September, with average highs of 28 °C, and coldest in July, when nights average 22 °C. December is the wettest month (90 mm) and July the driest (2.1 mm). Figures are 1991–2020 climate normals.
Across a full year Bujumbura averages 475 mm of rain and 344 days above 25 °C.
Burundi · population 769,317 · 1991–2020 normals
Temperature below 0 °C to above 30 °C Rain band height is that month’s share of the wettest month
- Warmest month September 28 °C
- Coldest month July 22 °C
- Driest month July 2 mm
- Wettest month December 90 mm
- Least cloud July 54 % cloud
- Hottest on record February 34 °C
- Coldest on record July 16 °C
What to expectBujumbura through the year
Bujumbura changes little through the year. Average daily highs stay between 26 and 28 °C, so no month stands out as a season in the way it would further from the equator.
Counted across a normal year, 344 days a year reach 25 °C, 4 of them reach 30 °C. The warmest reading in the 1991–2020 record is 34 °C, in February.
Rain is strongly seasonal. December averages 90 mm against 2 mm in July — 44 times as much. Planning around the dry months matters more here than planning around temperature.
Month by month
| Month | Avg high | Rainfall | Cloud |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 27.1 °C | 67 mm | 81 % |
| February | 27.6 °C | 47 mm | 81 % |
| March | 27.4 °C | 56 mm | 81 % |
| April | 26.6 °C | 76 mm | 83 % |
| May | 26.6 °C | 53 mm | 69 % |
| June | 26.5 °C | 11 mm | 60 % |
| July | 26.3 °C | 2 mm | 54 % |
| August | 27.0 °C | 3 mm | 56 % |
| September | 27.9 °C | 7 mm | 64 % |
| October | 27.5 °C | 24 mm | 81 % |
| November | 26.7 °C | 39 mm | 86 % |
| December | 26.7 °C | 90 mm | 83 % |
Temperature month by month
| Month | Avg high | Avg low | Mean | Record high | Record low | Days above 25 °C | Days above 30 °C | Days below 0 °C |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 27.1 °C | 22.0 °C | 24.4 °C | 32.7 °C | 19.0 °C | 29 | 1 | 0 |
| February | 27.6 °C | 22.3 °C | 24.8 °C | 34.2 °C | 19.1 °C | 27 | 1 | 0 |
| March | 27.4 °C | 22.5 °C | 24.8 °C | 32.0 °C | 18.8 °C | 29 | 1 | 0 |
| April | 26.6 °C | 22.3 °C | 24.3 °C | 29.7 °C | 19.0 °C | 28 | 0 | 0 |
| May | 26.6 °C | 22.1 °C | 24.2 °C | 29.4 °C | 16.5 °C | 29 | 0 | 0 |
| June | 26.5 °C | 22.0 °C | 24.1 °C | 29.2 °C | 17.1 °C | 29 | 0 | 0 |
| July | 26.3 °C | 21.8 °C | 24.0 °C | 29.5 °C | 16.3 °C | 29 | 0 | 0 |
| August | 27.0 °C | 22.3 °C | 24.6 °C | 30.5 °C | 17.4 °C | 30 | 0 | 0 |
| September | 27.9 °C | 22.9 °C | 25.3 °C | 32.4 °C | 18.6 °C | 30 | 1 | 0 |
| October | 27.5 °C | 22.7 °C | 25.0 °C | 32.2 °C | 18.9 °C | 30 | 1 | 0 |
| November | 26.7 °C | 22.1 °C | 24.3 °C | 30.9 °C | 19.1 °C | 28 | 0 | 0 |
| December | 26.7 °C | 21.9 °C | 24.1 °C | 30.7 °C | 18.3 °C | 28 | 0 | 0 |
Rain, sun and wind month by month
| Month | Rainfall | Wet days | Daylight | Cloud cover | Humidity | Wind |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 67 mm | 9 | 12 h/day | 81 % | 69 % | 10 km/h |
| February | 47 mm | 6 | 12 h/day | 81 % | 67 % | 11 km/h |
| March | 56 mm | 7 | 12 h/day | 81 % | 67 % | 11 km/h |
| April | 76 mm | 7 | 12 h/day | 83 % | 68 % | 11 km/h |
| May | 53 mm | 5 | 12 h/day | 69 % | 66 % | 12 km/h |
| June | 11 mm | 2 | 12 h/day | 60 % | 63 % | 13 km/h |
| July | 2 mm | 1 | 12 h/day | 54 % | 60 % | 15 km/h |
| August | 3 mm | 1 | 12 h/day | 56 % | 58 % | 15 km/h |
| September | 7 mm | 1 | 12 h/day | 64 % | 58 % | 15 km/h |
| October | 24 mm | 4 | 12 h/day | 81 % | 61 % | 13 km/h |
| November | 39 mm | 6 | 12 h/day | 86 % | 66 % | 12 km/h |
| December | 90 mm | 9 | 12 h/day | 83 % | 69 % | 11 km/h |
How Bujumbura compares
The same four figures for nearby destinations, so the numbers above have something to be read against. Summer high is the warmest month's average high; winter low is the coldest month's average low.
| Destination | Summer high | Winter low | Rain per year | Days above 25 °C |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bujumbura | 28 °C | 22 °C | 475 mm | 344 |
| Uvira · Democratic Republic of the Congo | 28 °C | 22 °C | 499 mm | 350 |
| Gitega · Burundi | 26 °C | 14 °C | 758 mm | 70 |
| Bukavu · Democratic Republic of the Congo | 26 °C | 16 °C | 1,961 mm | 109 |
| Kasulu · Tanzania | 30 °C | 16 °C | 1,540 mm | 291 |
| Kigoma · Tanzania | 28 °C | 22 °C | 1,808 mm | 333 |
| Kigali · Rwanda | 26 °C | 14 °C | 888 mm | 175 |
Planning a trip? See the best time to visit Bujumbura.
QuestionsCommon questions about Bujumbura’s climate
When is the best time to visit Bujumbura?
That depends on what you want, so the honest answer is a comparison rather than a single month. June, July, December sit closest to 20 °C on average, September is the warmest month and July the driest. The month-by-month table above has the full picture.
How hot does Bujumbura get?
In September, the warmest month, daily highs average 28 °C. About 4 days a year pass 30 °C. The highest value in the 1991–2020 record is 34 °C.
How cold does it get in winter?
Nights average 22 °C in July, the coldest month. Freezing nights are not part of a normal year here.
Which month is wettest in Bujumbura?
December, averaging 90 mm over 9 days with rain. The driest month is July with 2 mm. The year as a whole averages 475 mm.
Are these figures a forecast?
No. They are 1991–2020 climate normals: the average of thirty years, which describes what a month is usually like in Bujumbura rather than what any particular week will bring. Individual years can differ substantially from the normal.
Data sources and method
- ERA5 / ERA5-Land reanalysis — Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), ECMWF. Copernicus Licence
- Open-Meteo — Open-Meteo.com. CC BY 4.0
- NOAA OISST v2.1 — NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory. Public domain
- GeoNames — GeoNames.org. CC BY 4.0
- Normal period
- 1991–2020
- Data point
- -3.382°, 29.361° (the coordinates the reanalysis values are taken for)
- Dataset version
- era5-1991-2020-scores1.1
- Last processed
Measured values come from ERA5 reanalysis and are reproduced unchanged. Calculated by us: monthly rankings, daylight hours, beach and comfort scores. Full formulas are on the methodology page.
Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026. Neither the European Commission nor ECMWF is responsible for any use that may be made of the Copernicus information or data it contains.