Bulawayo climate

Name: Bulawayo
Address: ZW

Bulawayo is warmest in October, with average highs of 30 °C, and coldest in July, when nights average 7.8 °C. December is the wettest month (146 mm) and August the driest (0.9 mm). Figures are 1991–2020 climate normals.

Across a full year Bulawayo averages 599 mm of rain and 200 days above 25 °C.

Zimbabwe · population 665,952 · 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 30 °C
Coldest month July 7.8 °C
Driest month August 1 mm
Wettest month December 146 mm
Least cloud August 16 % cloud
Hottest on record October 38 °C
Coldest on record June 1.5 °C

What to expectBulawayo through the year

Bulawayo has a clear annual cycle: average daily highs run from 20 °C in July to 30 °C in October, a swing of 8.7 °C in mean temperature across the year.

Counted across a normal year, 200 days a year reach 25 °C, 58 of them reach 30 °C. The warmest reading in the 1991–2020 record is 38 °C, in October.

Rain is strongly seasonal. December averages 146 mm against 1 mm in August — 171 times as much. Planning around the dry months matters more here than planning around temperature.

Month by month

Month	Avg high	Rainfall	Cloud
January	26.6 °C	131 mm	62 %
February	26.4 °C	108 mm	58 %
March	26.0 °C	64 mm	49 %
April	24.8 °C	21 mm	35 %
May	23.2 °C	6 mm	20 %
June	20.9 °C	4 mm	19 %
July	20.3 °C	3 mm	22 %
August	24.2 °C	1 mm	16 %
September	28.1 °C	5 mm	21 %
October	29.6 °C	22 mm	33 %
November	28.7 °C	85 mm	55 %
December	27.0 °C	146 mm	66 %

Temperature month by month

Month	Avg high	Avg low	Mean	Record high	Record low	Days above 25 °C	Days above 30 °C
January	26.6 °C	16.9 °C	21.5 °C	37.4 °C	11.4 °C	22	5
February	26.4 °C	16.7 °C	21.2 °C	35.8 °C	9.3 °C	19	4
March	26.0 °C	15.8 °C	20.6 °C	34.3 °C	9.5 °C	20	3
April	24.8 °C	13.5 °C	18.8 °C	33.0 °C	7.2 °C	15	1
May	23.2 °C	10.8 °C	16.7 °C	30.5 °C	4.3 °C	8	0
June	20.9 °C	8.4 °C	14.3 °C	27.4 °C	1.5 °C	2	0
July	20.3 °C	7.8 °C	13.7 °C	28.5 °C	1.8 °C	2	0
August	24.2 °C	10.0 °C	16.9 °C	32.0 °C	1.5 °C	14	1
September	28.1 °C	13.2 °C	20.5 °C	34.5 °C	5.3 °C	24	10
October	29.6 °C	15.5 °C	22.4 °C	38.0 °C	6.8 °C	27	17
November	28.7 °C	16.7 °C	22.4 °C	37.0 °C	8.5 °C	24	12
December	27.0 °C	16.8 °C	21.6 °C	35.0 °C	10.1 °C	23	5

Rain, sun and wind month by month

Month	Rainfall	Wet days	Daylight	Cloud cover	Humidity	Wind
January	131 mm	15	13 h/day	62 %	70 %	19 km/h
February	108 mm	11	13 h/day	58 %	70 %	19 km/h
March	64 mm	9	12 h/day	49 %	69 %	19 km/h
April	21 mm	4	12 h/day	35 %	63 %	18 km/h
May	6 mm	1	11 h/day	20 %	55 %	17 km/h
June	4 mm	1	11 h/day	19 %	56 %	17 km/h
July	3 mm	1	11 h/day	22 %	54 %	18 km/h
August	1 mm	0	11 h/day	16 %	45 %	18 km/h
September	5 mm	1	12 h/day	21 %	41 %	20 km/h
October	22 mm	5	13 h/day	33 %	46 %	21 km/h
November	85 mm	12	13 h/day	55 %	57 %	19 km/h
December	146 mm	16	13 h/day	66 %	69 %	18 km/h

How Bulawayo 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
Bulawayo	30 °C	7.8 °C	599 mm	200
Gweru · Zimbabwe	29 °C	8.4 °C	701 mm	170
Chitungwiza · Zimbabwe	28 °C	7.6 °C	746 mm	157
Harare · Zimbabwe	28 °C	7.8 °C	771 mm	139
Livingstone · Zambia	34 °C	10 °C	749 mm	302
Polokwane · South Africa	27 °C	6.7 °C	606 mm	162

Where Bulawayo ranks

Ranking	Position	Value
Places with the best weather in Africa in May	6thof 50	96/100
Places with the best weather in the world in May	11thof 50	96/100
Places with the best weather in Africa in April	18thof 50	94/100
Places with the best weather in Africa in August	29thof 50	93/100
Places with the best weather in Africa year-round	37thof 50	85/100
Places with the best weather in Africa in June	44thof 50	93/100

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

QuestionsCommon questions about Bulawayo’s climate

When is the best time to visit Bulawayo?

That depends on what you want, so the honest answer is a comparison rather than a single month. March, April, September 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 Bulawayo get?

In October, the warmest month, daily highs average 30 °C. About 58 days a year pass 30 °C. The highest value in the 1991–2020 record is 38 °C.

How cold does it get in winter?

Nights average 7.8 °C in July, the coldest month. Freezing nights are not part of a normal year here.

Which month is wettest in Bulawayo?

December, averaging 146 mm over 16 days with rain. The driest month is August with 1 mm. The year as a whole averages 599 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 Bulawayo 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
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.