Harare climate

Name: Harare
Address: ZW

Harare is warmest in October, with average highs of 28 °C, and coldest in July, when nights average 7.8 °C. January is the wettest month (215 mm) and August the driest (0.7 mm). Figures are 1991–2020 climate normals.

Across a full year Harare averages 771 mm of rain and 139 days above 25 °C.

Zimbabwe · population 1,542,813 · 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 28 °C
Coldest month July 7.8 °C
Driest month August 1 mm
Wettest month January 215 mm
Least cloud August 15 % cloud
Hottest on record October 35 °C
Coldest on record June 3.0 °C

What to expectHarare through the year

Harare has a clear annual cycle: average daily highs run from 20 °C in July to 28 °C in October, a swing of 7.8 °C in mean temperature across the year.

Counted across a normal year, 139 days a year reach 25 °C, 17 of them reach 30 °C. The warmest reading in the 1991–2020 record is 35 °C, in October.

Rain is strongly seasonal. January averages 215 mm against 1 mm in August — 320 times as much. Planning around the dry months matters more here than planning around temperature.

Month by month

Month	Avg high	Rainfall	Cloud
January	24.6 °C	215 mm	74 %
February	24.7 °C	145 mm	69 %
March	24.4 °C	92 mm	58 %
April	23.5 °C	28 mm	41 %
May	22.2 °C	6 mm	26 %
June	20.4 °C	2 mm	21 %
July	20.2 °C	1 mm	22 %
August	23.3 °C	1 mm	15 %
September	26.6 °C	3 mm	17 %
October	28.1 °C	21 mm	28 %
November	27.2 °C	79 mm	53 %
December	25.1 °C	179 mm	72 %

Temperature month by month

Month	Avg high	Avg low	Mean	Record high	Record low	Days above 25 °C	Days above 30 °C
January	24.6 °C	16.3 °C	20.1 °C	31.8 °C	11.0 °C	12	0
February	24.7 °C	16.1 °C	20.1 °C	33.3 °C	9.5 °C	11	0
March	24.4 °C	15.3 °C	19.6 °C	30.1 °C	9.0 °C	10	0
April	23.5 °C	13.0 °C	18.2 °C	29.9 °C	8.1 °C	7	0
May	22.2 °C	10.6 °C	16.3 °C	28.6 °C	5.0 °C	3	0
June	20.4 °C	8.4 °C	14.2 °C	25.4 °C	3.0 °C	0	0
July	20.2 °C	7.8 °C	13.7 °C	26.4 °C	3.3 °C	1	0
August	23.3 °C	9.6 °C	16.3 °C	31.0 °C	3.2 °C	8	0
September	26.6 °C	12.5 °C	19.6 °C	32.7 °C	4.7 °C	23	2
October	28.1 °C	14.9 °C	21.5 °C	34.9 °C	6.6 °C	27	8
November	27.2 °C	16.2 °C	21.5 °C	33.8 °C	9.6 °C	23	6
December	25.1 °C	16.3 °C	20.4 °C	33.2 °C	10.5 °C	16	1

Rain, sun and wind month by month

Month	Rainfall	Wet days	Daylight	Cloud cover	Humidity	Wind
January	215 mm	20	13 h/day	74 %	78 %	14 km/h
February	145 mm	15	13 h/day	69 %	78 %	14 km/h
March	92 mm	12	12 h/day	58 %	76 %	14 km/h
April	28 mm	4	12 h/day	41 %	69 %	14 km/h
May	6 mm	1	11 h/day	26 %	61 %	13 km/h
June	2 mm	0	11 h/day	21 %	60 %	14 km/h
July	1 mm	0	11 h/day	22 %	57 %	15 km/h
August	1 mm	0	12 h/day	15 %	50 %	15 km/h
September	3 mm	1	12 h/day	17 %	44 %	17 km/h
October	21 mm	4	12 h/day	28 %	48 %	18 km/h
November	79 mm	12	13 h/day	53 %	60 %	17 km/h
December	179 mm	20	13 h/day	72 %	75 %	15 km/h

How Harare 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
Harare	28 °C	7.8 °C	771 mm	139
Chitungwiza · Zimbabwe	28 °C	7.6 °C	746 mm	157
Mutare · Zimbabwe	27 °C	9.2 °C	864 mm	159
Gweru · Zimbabwe	29 °C	8.4 °C	701 mm	170
Chimoio · Mozambique	29 °C	12 °C	906 mm	227
Tete · Mozambique	36 °C	17 °C	667 mm	353
Bulawayo · Zimbabwe	30 °C	7.8 °C	599 mm	200

Where Harare ranks

Ranking	Position	Value
Places with the best weather in Africa in April	2nd of 50	96/100
Places with the best weather in Africa in May	3rd of 50	97/100
Places with the best weather in the world in May	5th of 50	97/100
Places with the best weather in Africa in August	14th of 50	96/100
Places with the best weather in the world in April	16th of 50	96/100
Places with the best weather in Africa year-round	18th of 50	86/100

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

QuestionsCommon questions about Harare’s climate

When is the best time to visit Harare?

That depends on what you want, so the honest answer is a comparison rather than a single month. January, February, 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 Harare get?

In October, the warmest month, daily highs average 28 °C. About 17 days a year pass 30 °C. The highest value in the 1991–2020 record is 35 °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 Harare?

January, averaging 215 mm over 20 days with rain. The driest month is August with 1 mm. The year as a whole averages 771 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 Harare 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: -17.828°, 31.053° (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.