Bukavu weather in December

In December, Bukavu sees average daytime highs of 23°C and overnight lows near 15°C, with 310 mm of rain across 25.1 wet days and about 12.1 hours of daylight. It is the 12th-warmest and 2nd-wettest month of the year here.

Day-to-day highs hold fairly steady near 23°C through the month. The sky is clear or mostly clear about 1% of the time in December, and the air most often feels comfortable.

Daylight stretches from about 12 h 06 min at the start of December to 12 h 06 min by month's end. Set against the rest of the year, December is Bukavu's 9th-clearest and 11th-windiest month. For the whole year in context, see Bukavu's year-round climate.

Daytime high: 23°; 12th warmest
Overnight low: 15°; 6th coldest
Rainfall: 310 mm; 25.1 wet days
Daylight: 12 h 06 min; 5:56 AM – 6:05 PM
Cloud cover: 85%; 9th clearest
Wind: 4 km/h; 11th windiest
Solar energy: 5.1 kWh/m²
Travel score: 4.2; out of 10

← November Bukavu year-round climate January →Best places to visit in December

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

Temperature in December

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

Day-to-day highs hold fairly steady near 23°C through the month.

A typical December day in Bukavu reaches about 23°C in the afternoon and slips back to 15°C overnight — a 8°C spread between the day's warmth and the night's chill. On most days the high lands between 21°C and 24°C. Set against its neighbours, December runs on par with November and on par with January.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Avg high (°C)	23	23	23	23	23	23	23	23	23	23	23	23	23	23	23	23	23	23	23	23	23	23	23	23	23	23	23	23	23	23	23
Avg low (°C)	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14

	Avg high (°C)	Avg low (°C)
1	23	15
2	23	15
3	23	15
4	23	15
5	23	15
6	23	15
7	23	15
8	23	15
9	23	15
10	23	15
11	23	15
12	23	15
13	23	15
14	23	14
15	23	14
16	23	14
17	23	14
18	23	14
19	23	14
20	23	14
21	23	14
22	23	14
23	23	14
24	23	14
25	23	14
26	23	14
27	23	14
28	23	14
29	23	14
30	23	14
31	23	14

Bukavu weather by month

How December compares with the rest of the year at a glance. December is the 12th-warmest and 2nd-wettest month here — the current month is highlighted below.

Month	High / Low (°C)	Rainfall (mm)	Wet days	Daylight (hours)	Travel score
Jan	23° / 14°	302	24.9	12.1	4.3
Feb	23° / 15°	227	21.1	12.1	4.5
Mar	23° / 15°	225	23.1	12	4.6
Apr	23° / 15°	202	22.6	11.9	4.5
May	23° / 15°	93	13.9	11.9	6.1
Jun	23° / 14°	24	4.3	11.9	7.6
Jul	24° / 14°	9	1.4	11.9	8.2
Aug	24° / 15°	26	4	11.9	7.7
Sep	25° / 15°	85	10	12	6.5
Oct	24° / 15°	239	20.9	12.1	4.9
Nov	23° / 15°	310	25	12.1	4.1
Dec	23° / 15°	310	25.1	12.1	4.2

Cloud cover in December

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

The sky is clear or mostly clear about 1% of the time in December.

Beyond those clear spells, partly cloudy skies cover about 6% of December, with mostly cloudy or overcast conditions the remaining 93%.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Clearer (%)	4	4	5	5	5	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8
Cloudier (%)	96	96	95	95	95	94	94	94	94	94	94	94	94	94	93	93	93	93	93	93	93	92	92	92	92	92	92	92	92	92	92

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	4	96
2	4	96
3	5	95
4	5	95
5	5	95
6	6	94
7	6	94
8	6	94
9	6	94
10	6	94
11	6	94
12	6	94
13	6	94
14	6	94
15	7	93
16	7	93
17	7	93
18	7	93
19	7	93
20	7	93
21	7	93
22	8	92
23	8	92
24	8	92
25	8	92
26	8	92
27	8	92
28	8	92
29	8	92
30	8	92
31	8	92

Chance of precipitation in December

Any precipitation

Bukavu gets around 310 mm of rain over 25.1 wet days in December. The line is the day-by-day chance of measurable precipitation.

Day to day, the chance of measurable rain averages around 81% and peaks near 84% on the wettest days.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Rain chance (%)	82	82	82	81	81	81	80	80	80	79	79	79	79	80	80	80	80	80	81	81	81	82	82	82	83	83	83	83	83	83	84

	Rain chance (%)
1	82
2	82
3	82
4	81
5	81
6	81
7	80
8	80
9	80
10	79
11	79
12	79
13	79
14	80
15	80
16	80
17	80
18	80
19	81
20	81
21	81
22	82
23	82
24	82
25	83
26	83
27	83
28	83
29	83
30	83
31	84

Humidity in December

DryComfortableHumidMuggyOppressiveMiserable

Most of December feels comfortable — the stacked bands show each day's mix of comfort levels, read off the dew point.

By dew point, December lands in the comfortable band about 78% of days. It rarely turns muggy — the humid and sticky bands barely register.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Dry (%)	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	4	4	4	4	4	3	3	3	3	3	3	2	2	2	2	2	2	2
Comfortable (%)	80	80	79	79	79	79	79	79	79	78	78	78	78	78	78	78	78	78	79	79	79	78	78	78	79	79	79	79	78	78	78
Humid (%)	15	15	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	17	17	17	17	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	20	20	20

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)	Humid (%)
1	5	80	15
2	5	80	15
3	5	79	16
4	5	79	16
5	5	79	16
6	5	79	16
7	5	79	16
8	5	79	16
9	5	79	16
10	5	78	17
11	5	78	17
12	5	78	17
13	5	78	17
14	4	78	18
15	4	78	18
16	4	78	18
17	4	78	18
18	4	78	18
19	3	79	18
20	3	79	18
21	3	79	18
22	3	78	19
23	3	78	19
24	3	78	19
25	2	79	19
26	2	79	19
27	2	79	19
28	2	79	19
29	2	78	20
30	2	78	20
31	2	78	20

Wind in December

Winds average 4 km/h in December.

Across December, daily wind ranges from about 4 km/h on the calmest days to 4 km/h at its breeziest. It stays fairly steady from day to day.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Wind speed (km/h)	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4
Feels	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm

	Wind speed (km/h)	Feels
1	4	calm
2	4	calm
3	4	calm
4	4	calm
5	4	calm
6	4	calm
7	4	calm
8	4	calm
9	4	calm
10	4	calm
11	4	calm
12	4	calm
13	4	calm
14	4	calm
15	4	calm
16	4	calm
17	4	calm
18	4	calm
19	4	calm
20	4	calm
21	4	calm
22	4	calm
23	4	calm
24	4	calm
25	4	calm
26	4	calm
27	4	calm
28	4	calm
29	4	calm
30	4	calm
31	4	calm

Sunrise & sunset in December

DaylightNight

Daylight runs from about 12 h 06 min at the start of December to 12 h 06 min by month's end. The lit band spans sunrise to sunset each day.

Days grow by about 0 minutes over December. Sunrise moves from 5:50 AM to 6:04 AM, and sunset from 5:58 PM to 6:12 PM.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Daylight (h)	12.1	12.1	12.1	12.1	12.1	12.1	12.1	12.1	12.1	12.1	12.1	12.1	12.1	12.1	12.1	12.1	12.1	12.1	12.1	12.1	12.1	12.1	12.1	12.1	12.1	12.1	12.1	12.1	12.1	12.1	12.1
Sunrise (AM)	5:50	5:51	5:51	5:51	5:52	5:52	5:53	5:53	5:53	5:54	5:54	5:55	5:55	5:56	5:56	5:56	5:57	5:57	5:58	5:58	5:59	5:59	6:00	6:00	6:01	6:01	6:02	6:02	6:03	6:03	6:04
Sunset (PM)	5:58	5:59	5:59	6:00	6:00	6:01	6:01	6:01	6:02	6:02	6:03	6:03	6:04	6:04	6:05	6:05	6:06	6:06	6:07	6:07	6:07	6:08	6:08	6:09	6:09	6:10	6:10	6:11	6:11	6:12	6:12

	Daylight (h)	Sunrise (AM)	Sunset (PM)
1	12.1	5:50	5:58
2	12.1	5:51	5:59
3	12.1	5:51	5:59
4	12.1	5:51	6:00
5	12.1	5:52	6:00
6	12.1	5:52	6:01
7	12.1	5:53	6:01
8	12.1	5:53	6:01
9	12.1	5:53	6:02
10	12.1	5:54	6:02
11	12.1	5:54	6:03
12	12.1	5:55	6:03
13	12.1	5:55	6:04
14	12.1	5:56	6:04
15	12.1	5:56	6:05
16	12.1	5:56	6:05
17	12.1	5:57	6:06
18	12.1	5:57	6:06
19	12.1	5:58	6:07
20	12.1	5:58	6:07
21	12.1	5:59	6:07
22	12.1	5:59	6:08
23	12.1	6:00	6:08
24	12.1	6:00	6:09
25	12.1	6:01	6:09
26	12.1	6:01	6:10
27	12.1	6:02	6:10
28	12.1	6:02	6:11
29	12.1	6:03	6:11
30	12.1	6:03	6:12
31	12.1	6:04	6:12

Solar energy in December

Daily solar energy (kWh/m²)

Average shortwave solar energy reaching the ground each day in December, about 5.1 kWh/m².

For context, solar energy here swings from a low near 5.03 kWh/m² to a high of 5.7 kWh/m² in March across the year — December's 5.1 kWh/m² sits near the bottom.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Solar energy (kWh/m²)	5.1	5.1	5.1	5.1	5.1	5.1	5.1	5.1	5.1	5.1	5.1	5.1	5.1	5.1	5.1	5.1	5.1	5.1	5.1	5.1	5.1	5.1	5.1	5.1	5.2	5.2	5.2	5.2	5.2	5.2	5.2
Level	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright

	Solar energy (kWh/m²)	Level
1	5.1	Bright
2	5.1	Bright
3	5.1	Bright
4	5.1	Bright
5	5.1	Bright
6	5.1	Bright
7	5.1	Bright
8	5.1	Bright
9	5.1	Bright
10	5.1	Bright
11	5.1	Bright
12	5.1	Bright
13	5.1	Bright
14	5.1	Bright
15	5.1	Bright
16	5.1	Bright
17	5.1	Bright
18	5.1	Bright
19	5.1	Bright
20	5.1	Bright
21	5.1	Bright
22	5.1	Bright
23	5.1	Bright
24	5.1	Bright
25	5.2	Bright
26	5.2	Bright
27	5.2	Bright
28	5.2	Bright
29	5.2	Bright
30	5.2	Bright
31	5.2	Bright

Planning a trip in December

Hazard calendar for Bukavu

In seasonPeak

In December, Bukavu sits inside its rainy season season. The full year is below, with each hazard's peak months called out.

Bukavu's rainy season runs October–April, when most of the year's rain falls.

Rainy season

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Is December a good time to visit Bukavu?

Our two travel scores rate December for general sightseeing and for beach or pool weather — 0 (poor) to 10 (ideal).

4.2

Sightseeing

11th-best month of the year

3.2

Beach & pool

11th-best month of the year

December is a reasonable time to visit Bukavu for sightseeing.

What to pack for Bukavu in December

From December's temperature range, rain chance, sun and wind — what's worth putting in the bag.

In December, Bukavu sees daytime highs around 23°C and nights near 15°C. Pack rain gear. Worth having: light clothes and sun protection. About 25 days see rain.

rain gearlight clothessun protection

UV index in Bukavu in December

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Clear-sky midday UV in December peaks around 12 (very high — sun protection essential). The full-year curve, shaded by WHO exposure level, is below.

Under clear skies, the midday UV index in Bukavu peaks around March 21 at about 16 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near July 13 at about 10 (extreme).

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

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
UV index (midday)	11	13	16	15	12	10	10	10	14	14	13	12
Level	Extreme	Extreme	Extreme	Extreme	Extreme	Extreme	Extreme	Extreme	Extreme	Extreme	Extreme	Extreme

	UV index (midday)	Level
Jan	11	Extreme
Feb	13	Extreme
Mar	16	Extreme
Apr	15	Extreme
May	12	Extreme
Jun	10	Extreme
Jul	10	Extreme
Aug	10	Extreme
Sep	14	Extreme
Oct	14	Extreme
Nov	13	Extreme
Dec	12	Extreme

Air quality in Bukavu in December

GoodModeratePoorUnhealthyVery unhealthy

Average fine-particle pollution (PM2.5) through the year — so you can see where December falls, not just the annual average.

Air quality in Bukavu is worst in July — around 64 µg/m³ PM2.5 (unhealthy), about 1.7× the cleanest month (April, 38 µg/m³).

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

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
PM2.5 (µg/m³)	48	51	43	38	44	56	64	64	53	44	40	44
Level	Poor	Poor	Poor	Poor	Poor	Unhealthy	Unhealthy	Unhealthy	Poor	Poor	Poor	Poor

	PM2.5 (µg/m³)	Level
Jan	48	Poor
Feb	51	Poor
Mar	43	Poor
Apr	38	Poor
May	44	Poor
Jun	56	Unhealthy
Jul	64	Unhealthy
Aug	64	Unhealthy
Sep	53	Poor
Oct	44	Poor
Nov	40	Poor
Dec	44	Poor

Location & terrain

Where is Bukavu?

Bukavu sits at 2.5°S, 28.8°E, 1,631 m above sea level, in Democratic Republic of the Congo. The nearest listed city is Kabare, 6.0 km away.

Topography around Bukavu

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Bukavu has significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 477 m around an average of 1,585 m above sea level; within 16 km, large variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 1,177 m; within 80 km, extreme variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 2,650 m.

The land around Bukavu is covered by artificial surfaces (47%) and water (29%) within 3 km, cropland (30%), trees (24%) and grassland (24%) within 16 km, and trees (48%) and grassland (29%) within 80 km.

3 km

477 m

artificial surfaces 47%

16 km

1,177 m

cropland 30%

80 km

2,650 m

trees 48%

treesshrubsgrasslandcroplandartificial surfaceswater

← November Bukavu year-round climate January →Best places to visit in December

December weather nearby: Kabare 6.0 km · Rusizi 7.0 km · Bushenge 16 km · Shangi 21 km · Karengera 21 km · Nyabitekeli 26 km · Bushekeri 29 km · Bugarama 29 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 Bukavu (-2.4908°, 28.8428°, elevation 1,631 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).

	Avg high (°C)	Avg low (°C)
1	23	15
2	23	15
3	23	15
4	23	15
5	23	15
6	23	15
7	23	15
8	23	15
9	23	15
10	23	15
11	23	15
12	23	15
13	23	15
14	23	14
15	23	14
16	23	14
17	23	14
18	23	14
19	23	14
20	23	14
21	23	14
22	23	14
23	23	14
24	23	14
25	23	14
26	23	14
27	23	14
28	23	14
29	23	14
30	23	14
31	23	14

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	4	96
2	4	96
3	5	95
4	5	95
5	5	95
6	6	94
7	6	94
8	6	94
9	6	94
10	6	94
11	6	94
12	6	94
13	6	94
14	6	94
15	7	93
16	7	93
17	7	93
18	7	93
19	7	93
20	7	93
21	7	93
22	8	92
23	8	92
24	8	92
25	8	92
26	8	92
27	8	92
28	8	92
29	8	92
30	8	92
31	8	92

	Rain chance (%)
1	82
2	82
3	82
4	81
5	81
6	81
7	80
8	80
9	80
10	79
11	79
12	79
13	79
14	80
15	80
16	80
17	80
18	80
19	81
20	81
21	81
22	82
23	82
24	82
25	83
26	83
27	83
28	83
29	83
30	83
31	84

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)	Humid (%)
1	5	80	15
2	5	80	15
3	5	79	16
4	5	79	16
5	5	79	16
6	5	79	16
7	5	79	16
8	5	79	16
9	5	79	16
10	5	78	17
11	5	78	17
12	5	78	17
13	5	78	17
14	4	78	18
15	4	78	18
16	4	78	18
17	4	78	18
18	4	78	18
19	3	79	18
20	3	79	18
21	3	79	18
22	3	78	19
23	3	78	19
24	3	78	19
25	2	79	19
26	2	79	19
27	2	79	19
28	2	79	19
29	2	78	20
30	2	78	20
31	2	78	20

	Avg high (°C)	Avg low (°C)
1	23	15
2	23	15
3	23	15
4	23	15
5	23	15
6	23	15
7	23	15
8	23	15
9	23	15
10	23	15
11	23	15
12	23	15
13	23	15
14	23	14
15	23	14
16	23	14
17	23	14
18	23	14
19	23	14
20	23	14
21	23	14
22	23	14
23	23	14
24	23	14
25	23	14
26	23	14
27	23	14
28	23	14
29	23	14
30	23	14
31	23	14

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	4	96
2	4	96
3	5	95
4	5	95
5	5	95
6	6	94
7	6	94
8	6	94
9	6	94
10	6	94
11	6	94
12	6	94
13	6	94
14	6	94
15	7	93
16	7	93
17	7	93
18	7	93
19	7	93
20	7	93
21	7	93
22	8	92
23	8	92
24	8	92
25	8	92
26	8	92
27	8	92
28	8	92
29	8	92
30	8	92
31	8	92

	Rain chance (%)
1	82
2	82
3	82
4	81
5	81
6	81
7	80
8	80
9	80
10	79
11	79
12	79
13	79
14	80
15	80
16	80
17	80
18	80
19	81
20	81
21	81
22	82
23	82
24	82
25	83
26	83
27	83
28	83
29	83
30	83
31	84

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)	Humid (%)
1	5	80	15
2	5	80	15
3	5	79	16
4	5	79	16
5	5	79	16
6	5	79	16
7	5	79	16
8	5	79	16
9	5	79	16
10	5	78	17
11	5	78	17
12	5	78	17
13	5	78	17
14	4	78	18
15	4	78	18
16	4	78	18
17	4	78	18
18	4	78	18
19	3	79	18
20	3	79	18
21	3	79	18
22	3	78	19
23	3	78	19
24	3	78	19
25	2	79	19
26	2	79	19
27	2	79	19
28	2	79	19
29	2	78	20
30	2	78	20
31	2	78	20

	Avg high (°C)	Avg low (°C)
1	23	15
2	23	15
3	23	15
4	23	15
5	23	15
6	23	15
7	23	15
8	23	15
9	23	15
10	23	15
11	23	15
12	23	15
13	23	15
14	23	14
15	23	14
16	23	14
17	23	14
18	23	14
19	23	14
20	23	14
21	23	14
22	23	14
23	23	14
24	23	14
25	23	14
26	23	14
27	23	14
28	23	14
29	23	14
30	23	14
31	23	14

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	4	96
2	4	96
3	5	95
4	5	95
5	5	95
6	6	94
7	6	94
8	6	94
9	6	94
10	6	94
11	6	94
12	6	94
13	6	94
14	6	94
15	7	93
16	7	93
17	7	93
18	7	93
19	7	93
20	7	93
21	7	93
22	8	92
23	8	92
24	8	92
25	8	92
26	8	92
27	8	92
28	8	92
29	8	92
30	8	92
31	8	92

	Rain chance (%)
1	82
2	82
3	82
4	81
5	81
6	81
7	80
8	80
9	80
10	79
11	79
12	79
13	79
14	80
15	80
16	80
17	80
18	80
19	81
20	81
21	81
22	82
23	82
24	82
25	83
26	83
27	83
28	83
29	83
30	83
31	84

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)	Humid (%)
1	5	80	15
2	5	80	15
3	5	79	16
4	5	79	16
5	5	79	16
6	5	79	16
7	5	79	16
8	5	79	16
9	5	79	16
10	5	78	17
11	5	78	17
12	5	78	17
13	5	78	17
14	4	78	18
15	4	78	18
16	4	78	18
17	4	78	18
18	4	78	18
19	3	79	18
20	3	79	18
21	3	79	18
22	3	78	19
23	3	78	19
24	3	78	19
25	2	79	19
26	2	79	19
27	2	79	19
28	2	79	19
29	2	78	20
30	2	78	20
31	2	78	20