Ndola climate

Name: Ndola
Address: ZM

Ndola is warmest in October, with average highs of 31 °C, and coldest in July, when nights average 11 °C. January is the wettest month (277 mm) and August the driest (0.09 mm). Figures are 1991–2020 climate normals.

Across a full year Ndola averages 1,072 mm of rain and 244 days above 25 °C.

Zambia · population 627,503 · 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 277 mm
Least cloud August 17 % cloud
Hottest on record November 36 °C
Coldest on record July 6.5 °C

What to expectNdola through the year

Ndola has a clear annual cycle: average daily highs run from 24 °C in July to 31 °C in October, a swing of 7.6 °C in mean temperature across the year.

Counted across a normal year, 244 days a year reach 25 °C, 56 of them reach 30 °C. The warmest reading in the 1991–2020 record is 36 °C, in November.

Rain is strongly seasonal. January averages 277 mm against 0 mm in August — 3,201 times as much. Planning around the dry months matters more here than planning around temperature.

Month by month

Month	Avg high	Rainfall	Cloud
January	24.9 °C	277 mm	90 %
February	25.2 °C	221 mm	86 %
March	25.4 °C	157 mm	74 %
April	25.6 °C	29 mm	48 %
May	25.7 °C	4 mm	29 %
June	24.2 °C	under 1 mm	18 %
July	24.1 °C	under 1 mm	17 %
August	27.0 °C	under 1 mm	17 %
September	30.1 °C	1 mm	22 %
October	31.3 °C	16 mm	38 %
November	29.0 °C	109 mm	66 %
December	25.6 °C	258 mm	86 %

Temperature month by month

Month	Avg high	Avg low	Mean	Record high	Record low	Days above 25 °C	Days above 30 °C
January	24.9 °C	17.3 °C	20.6 °C	29.0 °C	14.2 °C	16	0
February	25.2 °C	17.2 °C	20.6 °C	29.3 °C	13.3 °C	17	0
March	25.4 °C	16.9 °C	20.7 °C	29.0 °C	12.3 °C	19	0
April	25.6 °C	15.6 °C	20.3 °C	30.7 °C	10.3 °C	19	0
May	25.7 °C	13.9 °C	19.6 °C	30.4 °C	9.3 °C	21	0
June	24.2 °C	11.7 °C	17.7 °C	28.3 °C	7.2 °C	10	0
July	24.1 °C	11.2 °C	17.4 °C	29.0 °C	6.5 °C	10	0
August	27.0 °C	13.5 °C	20.1 °C	32.5 °C	7.7 °C	25	2
September	30.1 °C	16.6 °C	23.4 °C	35.3 °C	9.9 °C	30	17
October	31.3 °C	18.7 °C	25.0 °C	35.2 °C	11.6 °C	30	24
November	29.0 °C	18.5 °C	23.4 °C	35.7 °C	13.4 °C	27	12
December	25.6 °C	17.5 °C	21.0 °C	32.2 °C	13.1 °C	20	1

Rain, sun and wind month by month

Month	Rainfall	Wet days	Daylight	Cloud cover	Humidity	Wind
January	277 mm	28	13 h/day	90 %	85 %	11 km/h
February	221 mm	24	13 h/day	86 %	84 %	11 km/h
March	157 mm	21	12 h/day	74 %	82 %	12 km/h
April	29 mm	6	12 h/day	48 %	70 %	15 km/h
May	4 mm	1	12 h/day	29 %	57 %	15 km/h
June	under 1 mm	0	11 h/day	18 %	53 %	16 km/h
July	under 1 mm	0	11 h/day	17 %	50 %	16 km/h
August	under 1 mm	0	12 h/day	17 %	42 %	17 km/h
September	1 mm	0	12 h/day	22 %	35 %	18 km/h
October	16 mm	3	12 h/day	38 %	39 %	17 km/h
November	109 mm	15	13 h/day	66 %	62 %	14 km/h
December	258 mm	27	13 h/day	86 %	82 %	11 km/h

How Ndola 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
Ndola	31 °C	11 °C	1,072 mm	244
Luanshya · Zambia	32 °C	12 °C	934 mm	265
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
Kabwe · Zambia	31 °C	11 °C	869 mm	222
Lubumbashi · Democratic Republic of the Congo	32 °C	11 °C	1,043 mm	286

Where Ndola ranks

Ranking	Position	Value
Places with the best weather in Africa in June	9th of 50	97/100
Places with the best weather in the world in June	12th of 50	97/100
Places with the best weather in Africa in July	15th of 50	96/100
Places with the best weather in the world in July	24th of 50	96/100
Places with the best weather in Africa in May	34th of 50	94/100
The driest places in Africa in August	37th of 50	0.09 mm

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

QuestionsCommon questions about Ndola’s climate

When is the best time to visit Ndola?

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 August the driest. The month-by-month table above has the full picture.

How hot does Ndola get?

In October, the warmest month, daily highs average 31 °C. About 56 days a year pass 30 °C. The highest value in the 1991–2020 record is 36 °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 Ndola?

January, averaging 277 mm over 28 days with rain. The driest month is August with 0 mm. The year as a whole averages 1,072 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 Ndola 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: -12.959°, 28.637° (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.