Chipata climate

Name: Chipata
Address: ZM

Chipata is warmest in October, with average highs of 31 °C, and coldest in July, when nights average 12 °C. January is the wettest month (276 mm) and June the driest (0.7 mm). Figures are 1991–2020 climate normals.

Across a full year Chipata averages 1,022 mm of rain and 235 days above 25 °C.

Zambia · population 327,059 · 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 October 31 °C
Coldest month July 12 °C
Driest month June 1 mm
Wettest month January 276 mm
Least cloud September 20 % cloud
Hottest on record October 37 °C
Coldest on record August 8.4 °C

What to expectChipata through the year

Chipata has a clear annual cycle: average daily highs run from 23 °C in July to 31 °C in October, a swing of 7.3 °C in mean temperature across the year.

Counted across a normal year, 235 days a year reach 25 °C, 50 of them reach 30 °C. The warmest reading in the 1991–2020 record is 37 °C, in October.

Rain is strongly seasonal. January averages 276 mm against 1 mm in June — 418 times as much. Planning around the dry months matters more here than planning around temperature.

Month by month

Month	Avg high	Rainfall	Cloud
January	25.4 °C	276 mm	88 %
February	25.4 °C	215 mm	83 %
March	25.5 °C	164 mm	72 %
April	25.2 °C	34 mm	45 %
May	25.0 °C	5 mm	29 %
June	23.5 °C	1 mm	24 %
July	23.2 °C	1 mm	25 %
August	25.8 °C	1 mm	21 %
September	28.9 °C	2 mm	20 %
October	30.6 °C	17 mm	29 %
November	30.2 °C	74 mm	53 %
December	27.0 °C	232 mm	80 %

Temperature month by month

Month	Avg high	Avg low	Mean	Record high	Record low	Days above 25 °C	Days above 30 °C
January	25.4 °C	18.4 °C	21.5 °C	32.5 °C	14.4 °C	19	0
February	25.4 °C	18.2 °C	21.4 °C	30.0 °C	13.8 °C	18	0
March	25.5 °C	17.9 °C	21.2 °C	29.0 °C	12.5 °C	21	0
April	25.2 °C	16.6 °C	20.5 °C	30.8 °C	11.9 °C	16	0
May	25.0 °C	14.8 °C	19.5 °C	30.1 °C	10.8 °C	15	0
June	23.5 °C	12.8 °C	17.8 °C	28.1 °C	8.9 °C	6	0
July	23.2 °C	12.2 °C	17.3 °C	28.7 °C	8.8 °C	6	0
August	25.8 °C	14.0 °C	19.6 °C	31.6 °C	8.4 °C	20	0
September	28.9 °C	16.8 °C	22.6 °C	33.9 °C	10.1 °C	28	9
October	30.6 °C	19.1 °C	24.5 °C	37.1 °C	12.4 °C	30	19
November	30.2 °C	19.8 °C	24.5 °C	36.3 °C	13.7 °C	29	16
December	27.0 °C	18.9 °C	22.4 °C	34.0 °C	14.4 °C	25	4

Rain, sun and wind month by month

Month	Rainfall	Wet days	Daylight	Cloud cover	Humidity	Wind
January	276 mm	27	13 h/day	88 %	84 %	13 km/h
February	215 mm	23	13 h/day	83 %	84 %	13 km/h
March	164 mm	21	12 h/day	72 %	82 %	14 km/h
April	34 mm	7	12 h/day	45 %	73 %	17 km/h
May	5 mm	1	11 h/day	29 %	62 %	16 km/h
June	1 mm	0	11 h/day	24 %	58 %	16 km/h
July	1 mm	0	11 h/day	25 %	56 %	18 km/h
August	1 mm	0	12 h/day	21 %	49 %	18 km/h
September	2 mm	0	12 h/day	20 %	43 %	20 km/h
October	17 mm	3	12 h/day	29 %	44 %	20 km/h
November	74 mm	11	13 h/day	53 %	56 %	18 km/h
December	232 mm	25	13 h/day	80 %	77 %	14 km/h

How Chipata 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
Chipata	31 °C	12 °C	1,022 mm	235
Lilongwe · Malawi	30 °C	11 °C	705 mm	224
Lichinga · Mozambique	27 °C	9.8 °C	1,090 mm	109
Mzuzu · Malawi	26 °C	11 °C	1,382 mm	98
Tete · Mozambique	36 °C	17 °C	667 mm	353
Blantyre · Malawi	29 °C	11 °C	1,099 mm	191
Kasama · Zambia	31 °C	11 °C	1,186 mm	232

Where Chipata ranks

Ranking	Position	Value
Places with the best weather in Africa in June	4th of 50	97/100
Places with the best weather in the world in June	4th of 50	97/100
Places with the best weather in Africa in July	8th of 50	97/100
Places with the best weather in the world in July	10th of 50	97/100
Places with the best weather in Africa in May	18th of 50	95/100
Places with the best weather in Africa in August	30th of 50	93/100

Planning a trip? See the best time to visit Chipata.

QuestionsCommon questions about Chipata’s climate

When is the best time to visit Chipata?

That depends on what you want, so the honest answer is a comparison rather than a single month. April, May, August sit closest to 20 °C on average, October is the warmest month and June the driest. The month-by-month table above has the full picture.

How hot does Chipata get?

In October, the warmest month, daily highs average 31 °C. About 50 days a year pass 30 °C. The highest value in the 1991–2020 record is 37 °C.

How cold does it get in winter?

Nights average 12 °C in July, the coldest month. Freezing nights are not part of a normal year here.

Which month is wettest in Chipata?

January, averaging 276 mm over 27 days with rain. The driest month is June with 1 mm. The year as a whole averages 1,022 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 Chipata 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: -13.633°, 32.650° (the coordinates the reanalysis values are taken for)
Dataset version: era5-1991-2020-scores1.1
Last processed: 1 August 2026

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.