Kabwe climate

Name: Kabwe
Address: ZM

Kabwe is warmest in October, with average highs of 31 °C, and coldest in July, when nights average 11 °C. January is the wettest month (231 mm) and August the driest (0.2 mm). Figures are 1991–2020 climate normals.

Across a full year Kabwe averages 869 mm of rain and 222 days above 25 °C.

Zambia · population 288,598 · 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 11 °C
Driest month August 0 mm
Wettest month January 231 mm
Least cloud August 14 % cloud
Hottest on record October 37 °C
Coldest on record July 6.4 °C

What to expectKabwe through the year

Kabwe has a clear annual cycle: average daily highs run from 23 °C in July to 31 °C in October, a swing of 8.7 °C in mean temperature across the year.

Counted across a normal year, 222 days a year reach 25 °C, 55 of them reach 30 °C. The warmest reading in the 1991–2020 record is 37 °C, in October.

Rain is strongly seasonal. January averages 231 mm against 0 mm in August — 1,263 times as much. Planning around the dry months matters more here than planning around temperature.

Month by month

Month	Avg high	Rainfall	Cloud
January	25.6 °C	231 mm	85 %
February	25.6 °C	180 mm	79 %
March	25.5 °C	119 mm	67 %
April	25.0 °C	23 mm	41 %
May	24.5 °C	3 mm	25 %
June	22.8 °C	1 mm	19 %
July	22.5 °C	1 mm	20 %
August	25.8 °C	under 1 mm	14 %
September	29.5 °C	1 mm	16 %
October	31.3 °C	11 mm	29 %
November	29.7 °C	88 mm	60 %
December	26.4 °C	213 mm	82 %

Temperature month by month

Month	Avg high	Avg low	Mean	Record high	Record low	Days above 25 °C	Days above 30 °C
January	25.6 °C	18.1 °C	21.4 °C	32.1 °C	14.6 °C	20	0
February	25.6 °C	18.0 °C	21.3 °C	31.0 °C	13.7 °C	18	0
March	25.5 °C	17.6 °C	21.1 °C	31.6 °C	11.8 °C	18	0
April	25.0 °C	15.8 °C	20.1 °C	31.8 °C	10.2 °C	15	0
May	24.5 °C	13.7 °C	18.8 °C	31.0 °C	8.1 °C	11	0
June	22.8 °C	11.6 °C	16.8 °C	29.1 °C	7.2 °C	5	0
July	22.5 °C	11.1 °C	16.5 °C	29.8 °C	6.4 °C	6	0
August	25.8 °C	13.3 °C	19.3 °C	34.1 °C	6.9 °C	19	2
September	29.5 °C	16.7 °C	22.9 °C	36.6 °C	10.2 °C	28	14
October	31.3 °C	19.2 °C	25.1 °C	37.1 °C	11.8 °C	30	22
November	29.7 °C	19.5 °C	24.3 °C	37.0 °C	13.1 °C	28	14
December	26.4 °C	18.4 °C	21.9 °C	34.0 °C	13.9 °C	24	2

Rain, sun and wind month by month

Month	Rainfall	Wet days	Daylight	Cloud cover	Humidity	Wind
January	231 mm	25	13 h/day	85 %	84 %	14 km/h
February	180 mm	21	13 h/day	79 %	84 %	14 km/h
March	119 mm	17	12 h/day	67 %	82 %	16 km/h
April	23 mm	5	12 h/day	41 %	72 %	20 km/h
May	3 mm	1	11 h/day	25 %	62 %	19 km/h
June	1 mm	0	11 h/day	19 %	59 %	19 km/h
July	1 mm	0	11 h/day	20 %	56 %	21 km/h
August	under 1 mm	0	12 h/day	14 %	47 %	21 km/h
September	1 mm	0	12 h/day	16 %	39 %	21 km/h
October	11 mm	2	12 h/day	29 %	40 %	21 km/h
November	88 mm	12	13 h/day	60 %	58 %	18 km/h
December	213 mm	23	13 h/day	82 %	79 %	14 km/h

How Kabwe 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
Kabwe	31 °C	11 °C	869 mm	222
Lusaka · Zambia	31 °C	11 °C	901 mm	192
Luanshya · Zambia	32 °C	12 °C	934 mm	265
Ndola · Zambia	31 °C	11 °C	1,072 mm	244
Kitwe · Zambia	32 °C	11 °C	1,088 mm	281
Mufulira · Zambia	32 °C	12 °C	1,114 mm	277
Chingola · Zambia	31 °C	12 °C	1,086 mm	240

Where Kabwe ranks

Ranking	Position	Value
Places with the best weather in Africa in June	21st of 50	96/100
Places with the best weather in Africa in May	25th of 50	95/100
Places with the best weather in Africa in July	26th of 50	95/100
Places with the best weather in the world in June	30th of 50	96/100
The driest places in Africa in September	36th of 50	1.1 mm
Places with the best weather in Africa in August	44th of 50	91/100

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

QuestionsCommon questions about Kabwe’s climate

When is the best time to visit Kabwe?

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

How hot does Kabwe get?

In October, the warmest month, daily highs average 31 °C. About 55 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 11 °C in July, the coldest month. Freezing nights are not part of a normal year here.

Which month is wettest in Kabwe?

January, averaging 231 mm over 25 days with rain. The driest month is August with 0 mm. The year as a whole averages 869 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 Kabwe 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: -14.447°, 28.446° (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.