Climate and average weather in Basankusu

In Basankusu, the weather is muggy, hot, wet, and mostly cloudy and remarkably steady, with daytime highs holding near hot levels all year. The wettest stretch peaks around October.

Best: mid May to mid August

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Basankusu typically varies from 22°C to 32°C, and is rarely below 20°C or above 34°C. February is the hottest month of the year, while July is the coldest.

Based on the travel score, the best times of year to visit Basankusu for warm-weather activities are from early January to mid February and mid May to mid August.

Hottest
Feb
32°
Coldest
Jul
22°
Wettest
Oct
197 mm
Driest
Jan
66 mm
Rain / yr
1661 mm
244 wet days
Daylight
11.9–12.1 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
336 m
1.2°N
Clearest
Jan
68% cloud

Basankusu is city.

Air quality: WHO Ambient Air Quality Database. Density & description: Wikidata (CC0), GeoNames.

Basankusu weather by month, at a glance

The whole year in one picture — sky, rain, humidity, temperature and travel score. Click any band to jump to its full chart.

Each stripe is one measure across the whole year, stacked so a single day reads top to bottom. The sky band runs overcast grey on top down to clear blue at the base — more blue means sunnier — followed by the rainfall curve, the humidity band, a temperature strip that tints each stretch of the year by how warm its average high is, and the travel-score line at the foot. Scan straight down any date to read that day across every measure at once; the score climbs highest around mid May to mid August.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

Daily average highs and lows in Basankusu, from 1991–2020 of climate data. The shaded bands show the range most days fall in — 10th to 90th percentile.

Temperatures in Basankusu stay fairly even through the year, without a distinct hot or cool season. The warmest month is February, with an average high of 32°C and low of 23°C; the coolest is July, with an average low of 22°C and high of 29°C.

Days typically run about 8°C warmer than nights year-round.

20°25°30°35°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan3122
Feb3223
Mar3123
Apr3123
May3023
Jun3022
Jul2922
Aug2922
Sep2922
Oct2922
Nov2922
Dec3022

How hot and cold Basankusu really feels

Feels-like highFeels-like lowactual air temp

The felt-temperature range through the year — heat index on the day's high (summer humidity), wind chill on the night's low (winter wind). The dashed lines are the plain thermometer; the gap is how much hotter or colder it really feels.

On the hottest afternoons, once humidity is folded in, Basankusu feels like about 36°C (around March 5). Nearly every day a year carries some heat stress, peaking in March.

20°25°30°35°40°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Feels-like high (°C)Air high (°C)Feels-like low (°C)Air low (°C)
Jan34312222
Feb36322323
Mar36312323
Apr35312323
May35302323
Jun33302222
Jul32292222
Aug32292222
Sep33292222
Oct33292222
Nov33292222
Dec34302222

Average hourly temperature in Basankusu

A compact picture of the whole year, hour by hour: each column is a day, each row an hour, and the color is the modeled average temperature. Darker overlays mark night, lighter ones the civil-twilight hours around sunrise and sunset.

Read left to right for the day of the year and top to bottom for the hour of the day; the color is the modeled temperature, cool blues through to hot reds on the same scale as the other charts. A vertical slice is a single day's swing — coolest just before dawn, warmest in the mid-afternoon — while a horizontal slice follows one hour across the seasons. The darker overlay marks night and the lighter one the twilight around sunrise and sunset. Colors run warmest on February afternoons, near 32°C, and coldest before dawn in July, near 22°C.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec12 AM2 AM4 AM6 AM8 AM10 AM12 PM2 PM4 PM6 PM8 PM10 PM12 AM

Basankusu weather by month

Every month at a glance. Click a month for its detailed page.

MonthHigh / Low (°C)Rainfall (mm)Wet daysDaylight (hours)Travel score
Jan31° / 22°6611.211.94.3
Feb32° / 23°10013.8123.6
Mar31° / 23°15720.2123.2
Apr31° / 23°15321.6123.3
May30° / 23°12321.312.13.5
Jun30° / 22°10519.412.14.0
Jul29° / 22°13120.812.14.0
Aug29° / 22°18525.1123.5
Sep29° / 22°19025.2123.3
Oct29° / 22°19726.5123.2
Nov29° / 22°16723.411.93.5
Dec30° / 22°8615.211.94.2

Chance of rain

How likely it is to rain on a typical day, and how that shifts across the wetter and drier seasons.

Basankusu gets about 1661 mm of precipitation a year. On a typical day the chance of rain is very wet, but that rises and falls sharply with the seasons.

The wetter season lasts 4.5 months, from around Jul 17 to Nov 29, peaking in October at about 86% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Jan 10.

October is the wettest month by volume, with 197 mm over about 27 wet days; January is the driest, with 66 mm.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdrierwetterdriermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetOct 10 · 86%Jan 10 · 34%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan3711
Feb4914
Mar6620
Apr7022
May6921
Jun6419
Jul6821
Aug8125
Sep8425
Oct8527
Nov7823
Dec4915

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Basankusu collects about 1661 mm of rain across 244 wet days — roughly 138 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. October is the wettest month with 197 mm, while January is the driest at just 66 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 34% of the year’s total.

050100150200250JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec6610015715312310513118519019716786
Rainfall (mm)Rain days
Jan6611
Feb10014
Mar15720
Apr15322
May12321
Jun10519
Jul13121
Aug18525
Sep19025
Oct19727
Nov16723
Dec8615

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

How often the daytime sky is clear, partly cloudy or overcast.

In Basankusu, the average share of the sky covered by clouds shows moderate seasonal variation over the course of the year.

The clearer part of the year begins around April 21 and lasts for 2.9 months, ending around July 17. The clearest month is June, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 35% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around July 18 and lasts for 4.4 months, ending around November 27. The cloudiest month is October, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 82% of the time.

0%100%10%90%20%80%30%70%40%60%50%50%60%40%70%30%80%20%90%10%100%0%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecJun 9 · 38%Oct 23 · 18%mostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastcloudierclearercloudier
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan3466
Feb2971
Mar2476
Apr2674
May3565
Jun3565
Jul2773
Aug2080
Sep2278
Oct1882
Nov2278
Dec3466

Daylight, sunrise and sunset

DaylightNight

Hours of daylight through the year, with sunrise and sunset times.

The gold band is daylight — sunrise runs along its lower edge, sunset along the upper — so it widens toward summer and pinches toward winter, with night the dark area above and below. Close to the equator, Basankusu barely changes through the year: days stay near 12 h 06 min of light in every season.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan11.95:525:48
Feb12.05:575:54
Mar12.05:515:50
Apr12.05:405:42
May12.15:355:39
Jun12.15:395:43
Jul12.15:445:48
Aug12.05:445:46
Sep12.05:355:35
Oct12.05:275:25
Nov11.95:285:24
Dec11.95:395:35

Sunny days

How many genuinely sunny days each month brings — days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — banded into plain-language zones.

Basankusu averages about 3 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 1 and 5 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 2.6 months, from around Dec 3 to Feb 20. The sunniest month is January, with roughly 5 sunny days (gloomy).

The greyest month is October, down near 1 sunny days — about 78% fewer than the January peak.

0510JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecsunniergreyersunniergloomymixedJan 85 daysOct 111 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan5Gloomy
Feb3Gloomy
Mar2Gloomy
Apr2Gloomy
May4Gloomy
Jun4Gloomy
Jul3Gloomy
Aug2Gloomy
Sep2Gloomy
Oct1Gloomy
Nov2Gloomy
Dec4Gloomy

Humidity comfort

DryComfortableHumidMuggyOppressiveMiserable

Share of days at each humidity comfort level, based on the dew point — the measure that tracks how muggy it actually feels.

Humidity comfort is graded by the dew point — the temperature at which the air would be fully saturated — because it tracks how muggy it actually feels far better than relative humidity does. A low dew point feels dry and crisp; a high one feels sticky and oppressive no matter the reading on a humidity gauge.

Basankusu is humid all year round — on a typical day the air feels at least humid, and there is no real dry season to wait for.

The stickiest month is February, when it feels muggy, oppressive or miserable about 99% of the time. Even in January, the mildest month, the air is dry or comfortable only 2% of the time.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecmiserableoppressivemuggy
Comfortable (%)Humid (%)Muggy (%)Oppressive (%)Miserable (%)
Jan2516753
Feb019818
Mar0008119
Apr0007723
May0007327
Jun000946
Jul000991
Aug000991
Sep000991
Oct000982
Nov000973
Dec015904

Wind

Average wind speed through the year, banded into plain-language speed zones so a number reads as 'breezy' or 'calm' without knowing the scale.

This is the average sustained wind speed at the standard 10 metres above open ground — the steady flow a weather station reports, not the sharper gusts that come and go, which can run half again as fast. It's the number that says whether a place is generally breezy or calm.

Wind in Basankusu is steady company: average speeds sit near 5 km/hcalm — in every month of the year, with no meaningful windy or calm season.

0510JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDeccalmFeb 15 · 6 km/hNov 1 · 4 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan6calm
Feb6calm
Mar6calm
Apr5calm
May4calm
Jun4calm
Jul4calm
Aug4calm
Sep4calm
Oct4calm
Nov4calm
Dec5calm

Best time to visit Basankusu

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

To characterize how pleasant the weather is in Basankusu throughout the year, we compute two travel scores — one for general sightseeing, one for beach and pool weather.

Around late May, Basankusu is still near the start of its best-weather window — great conditions with the peak-season crowds not yet at full swing.

Inferred from the travel-score curve; month-by-month visitor numbers are a planned addition.

The travel score favors clear, rainless days with daytime highs between 18°C and 28°C. Based on this score, the best times of year to visit Basankusu for general outdoor tourist activities run from late May to mid August and again from late November to mid February, with a peak score in the first week of January.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timebest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationJan 1 · 4.5

The travel score (filled area), and its constituents: the temperature score (red line), the cloud cover score (blue line), and the precipitation score (green line).

Travel score (0–10)Rating
Jan4.3fair
Feb3.6fair
Mar3.2poor
Apr3.3poor
May3.5fair
Jun4.0fair
Jul4.0fair
Aug3.5fair
Sep3.3poor
Oct3.2poor
Nov3.5poor
Dec4.2fair

The beach/pool score favors clear, rainless days with daytime highs between 24°C and 34°C. Based on this score, the best times of year to visit Basankusu for hot-weather activities run from early June to mid July and again from early December to late February, with a peak score in the second week of January.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timebest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationJan 8 · 6.5

The beach/pool score (filled area), and its constituents: the temperature score (red line), the cloud cover score (blue line), and the precipitation score (green line).

What to pack for Basankusu, by month

EssentialRecommendedOptional

Month by month, what's worth putting in the bag — from the temperature range, rain chance, sun and wind. Tap a month for a quick packing note.

Basankusu packs about the same all year — highs hold near 32°C. Across the year the things worth having are light clothes, rain gear and sun protection.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In February, Basankusu sees daytime highs around 32°C and nights near 23°C. Pack light clothes and rain gear. Worth having: sun protection. About 14 days see rain.

UV index (midday) in Basankusu by month

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Clear-sky midday UV index through the year, shaded by the WHO exposure levels — how much sun protection each month calls for.

Under clear skies, the midday UV index in Basankusu peaks around April 11 at about 13 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near June 23 at about 8 (very high).

The index reaches 3 or more — the level where the WHO recommends sun protection — every month of the year.

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecExtremeVery highExtremeVery highApr 11UV 13Jun 23UV 8
UV index (midday)Level
Jan11Extreme
Feb12Extreme
Mar13Extreme
Apr13Extreme
May10Extreme
Jun8Very high
Jul8Very high
Aug12Extreme
Sep12Extreme
Oct12Extreme
Nov9Very high
Dec9Very high

Average hourly UV index in Basankusu

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Modeled clear-sky UV for every hour of every day — when in the day sun protection actually matters.

The whole year hour by hour: each column is a day, each row an hour, and the color is the modeled clear-sky UV index — the midday peak scaled down as the sun sits lower in the sky. Darker overlays mark night, lighter ones the civil-twilight hours around sunrise and sunset.

UV falls off far faster than brightness as the sun drops, so even in April the burn window is concentrated in the middle of the day: about 8 hours a day reach index 3 (protection recommended), and 6 hours reach 6 or more. Mornings and late afternoons stay comparatively gentle year round.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec12 AM2 AM4 AM6 AM8 AM10 AM12 PM2 PM4 PM6 PM8 PM10 PM12 AM
UV ≥ 3 (h/day)UV ≥ 6 (h/day)
Jan7.55.5
Feb86
Mar86
Apr86
May7.55
Jun74.5
Jul74.5
Aug86
Sep7.55.5
Oct86
Nov74.5
Dec74.5

Air quality in Basankusu by month

GoodModeratePoorUnhealthyVery unhealthy

Average fine-particle pollution (PM2.5) through the year — so you can see which months the air is worst, not just the yearly average.

Air quality in Basankusu is worst in February — around 44 µg/m³ PM2.5 (poor), about 4.2× the cleanest month (October, 11 µg/m³).

Modeled monthly averages (CAMS reanalysis, 2015–2024).

0204060JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecPoorModerateGoodModerateFeb 1543 µg/m³Oct 1011 µg/m³
PM2.5 (µg/m³)Level
Jan33Moderate
Feb44Poor
Mar32Moderate
Apr20Moderate
May15Moderate
Jun22Moderate
Jul25Moderate
Aug19Moderate
Sep11Good
Oct11Good
Nov16Moderate
Dec26Moderate
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free dayFrost-free year round

Basankusu is frost-free year round — even the coldest nights rarely reach freezing, so there is no start or end to the growing season.

0%25%50%75%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecfrost-free year round
Frost-free chance (%)Frost nights
Jan1000
Feb1000
Mar1000
Apr1000
May1000
Jun1000
Jul1000
Aug1000
Sep1000
Oct1000
Nov1000
Dec1000

Growing degree days

Degree days (base 10°C)Frost-free shaded

Growing degree days tally heat above 10°C: each day adds however many degrees its average temperature runs over that threshold, and cold days add nothing. Basankusu banks about 5,894 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around March.

02,0004,0006,000JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°C·days)
Jan509
Feb477
Mar529
Apr505
May514
Jun478
Jul478
Aug478
Sep469
Oct485
Nov473
Dec499

Solar energy

Average daily shortwave solar energy reaching the ground, banded into brightness zones so the number means something at a glance.

Solar energy is how much sunlight actually reaches the ground each day, measured in kilowatt-hours per square metre (kWh/m²) — the combined effect of how long the sun is up, how high it climbs, and how much cloud gets in the way. It's the raw fuel a solar panel has to work with: for scale, 1 kWh/m² a day is dim and wintry, while 7+ is desert-bright.

Basankusu receives about 5.2 kWh/m² a day of solar energy — bright — and it stays remarkably steady, holding between 4.8 and 5.8 kWh/m² all year. For solar panels, output here is a flat line, not a seasonal wave.

01234567JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmoderatebrightintenseFeb 275.8 kWhJun 294.8 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan5.7Bright
Feb5.7Bright
Mar5.7Bright
Apr5.5Bright
May5.2Bright
Jun4.8Bright
Jul4.8Bright
Aug4.9Bright
Sep5.1Bright
Oct5.1Bright
Nov5.1Bright
Dec5.3Bright

Where is Basankusu?

Basankusu sits at 1.2°N, 19.8°E, 336 m above sea level, in Democratic Republic of the Congo. The nearest listed city is Binga, 150 km away.

BingaImpfondoBoendeMbandakaLisalaBolengeGemenaBétou

Topography around Basankusu

How much the land rises and falls, and what covers it, within 3, 16 and 80 km of Basankusu.

Within 3 km, the terrain around Basankusu has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 43 m around an average of 334 m above sea level; within 16 km, only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 85 m; within 80 km, only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 146 m.

The land around Basankusu is covered by trees (73%) within 3 km, trees (95%) within 16 km, and trees (97%) within 80 km.

3 km
43 m
16 km
85 m
80 km
146 m
treesshrubsgrasslandartificial surfaceswater
Nearby: Binga 150 km · Impfondo 199 km · Boende 206 km · Mbandaka 215 km · Lisala 217 km · Bolenge 222 km · Gemena 226 km · Bétou 249 km

Democratic Republic of the Congo travel facts

Travel advisory
Level 4
Do Not Travel
Power plugs
Type C / E
220 V · 50 Hz
Prices
≈ 42% of US
price level, 2025
GDP per capita
$807
2025
Happiness
3.8 / 10
World Happiness, 2025
Safe drinking water
12%
of population, 2024
Road deaths
34.9
per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group
Low
World Bank
English
Very low
EF EPI 400

Sources: World Bank, US State Department, World Happiness Report, WHO/UNICEF, EF EPI, CIA World Factbook.

Data sources

Temperature, precipitation, cloud, humidity, wind and solar figures are a 1991–2020 climatology for Basankusu (1.2209°, 19.8021°, elevation 336 m), computed from hourly ERA5 reanalysis — contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information. Sun figures are astronomical calculations, not observations. City data © GeoNames, CC BY 4.0. Map outlines from Natural Earth (public domain); interactive map © Google. UV index is derived from CAMS (Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service) clear-sky UV data — contains modified Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service information. Monthly air-quality (PM2.5) seasonality is from the CAMS EAC4 reanalysis (Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service), scaled to the WHO annual mean where available. Topography is sampled from the Copernicus DEM GLO-90 elevation model (© ESA/Airbus) and ESA WorldCover 2021 land cover (CC BY 4.0).