Climate and average weather in Likasi

In Likasi, the weather is hot, wet, and partly cloudy and remarkably steady, with daytime highs holding near hot levels all year. The wettest stretch peaks around January.

Best: late April to late August

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Likasi typically varies from 13°C to 31°C, and is rarely below 11°C or above 34°C. October is the hottest month of the year, while January is the coldest.

Based on the travel score, the best time of year to visit Likasi for warm-weather activities is from late April to late August.

Hottest
Oct
31°
Coldest
Jan
18°
Wettest
Jan
269 mm
Driest
Jun
0 mm
Rain / yr
1167 mm
145 wet days
Daylight
11.4–12.6 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
1,288 m
11.0°S
Clearest
Jul
18% cloud

Likasi is town in the Haut-Katanga province in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Density
2,705/km²
people per km²

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

Likasi 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 late April to late August.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

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

Temperatures in Likasi stay fairly even through the year, without a distinct hot or cool season. The warmest month is October, with an average high of 31°C and low of 19°C; the coolest is January, with an average low of 18°C and high of 26°C.

Days typically run about 11°C warmer than nights, with the widest day–night swing (around 13°C) in August.

10°15°20°25°30°35°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan2618
Feb2618
Mar2618
Apr2617
May2715
Jun2613
Jul2613
Aug2815
Sep3118
Oct3119
Nov2818
Dec2617

Average hourly temperature in Likasi

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 October afternoons, near 31°C, and coldest before dawn in January, near 18°C.

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

Likasi 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
Jan26° / 18°26928.512.63.7
Feb26° / 18°22424.112.43.9
Mar26° / 18°20024.812.14.3
Apr26° / 17°519.711.86.6
May27° / 15°30.611.58.3
Jun26° / 13°0011.49.0
Jul26° / 13°0011.49.1
Aug28° / 15°0011.67.8
Sep31° / 18°4111.95.8
Oct31° / 19°37712.24.8
Nov28° / 18°14621.512.54.2
Dec26° / 17°23427.412.63.8

Chance of rain

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

Likasi gets about 1167 mm of precipitation a year. On a typical day the chance of rain is often wet, but that rises and falls sharply with the seasons.

The wetter season lasts 5.5 months, from around Oct 28 to Apr 12, peaking in January at about 92% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Jun 1.

January is the wettest month by volume, with 269 mm over about 29 wet days; June is the driest, with 0 mm.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwetterdrierwettermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetJan 14 · 92%Jun 1 · 0%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan9129
Feb8724
Mar7925
Apr3310
May21
Jun00
Jul00
Aug00
Sep41
Oct247
Nov7022
Dec8927

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Likasi collects about 1167 mm of rain across 145 wet days — roughly 97 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. January is the wettest month with 269 mm, while June is the driest at just 0 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 62% of the year’s total.

050100150200250300JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec269224200513437146234
Rainfall (mm)Rain days
Jan26929
Feb22424
Mar20025
Apr5110
May31
Jun00
Jul00
Aug00
Sep41
Oct377
Nov14622
Dec23427

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

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

The clearer part of the year begins around April 16 and lasts for 6.1 months, ending around October 18. The clearest month is July, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 92% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around October 19 and lasts for 5.9 months, ending around April 15. The cloudiest month is January, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 95% 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 30 · 92%Jan 31 · 4%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastcloudierclearercloudier
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan595
Feb892
Mar2080
Apr5149
May8119
Jun9010
Jul928
Aug8911
Sep7723
Oct5347
Nov2476
Dec991

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. The longest day, around January 1, brings about 12 h 36 min of light; the shortest, around May 24, only 11 h 24 min — a swing of roughly 1 h 12 min.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan12.66:056:40
Feb12.46:176:38
Mar12.16:206:25
Apr11.86:216:06
May11.56:245:54
Jun11.46:325:54
Jul11.46:366:01
Aug11.66:286:06
Sep11.96:096:06
Oct12.25:516:06
Nov12.55:436:14
Dec12.65:506:28

Sunny days

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

Likasi averages about 11 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 0 and 25 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 5.7 months, from around Apr 22 to Oct 11. The sunniest month is July, with roughly 24 sunny days (brilliant).

The greyest month is January, down near 0 sunny days — about 99% fewer than the July peak.

051015202530JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgreyersunniergreyergloomymixedbrightbrilliantJul 1125 daysJan 70 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan0Gloomy
Feb1Gloomy
Mar2Gloomy
Apr8Mixed
May18Bright
Jun23Brilliant
Jul25Brilliant
Aug23Bright
Sep18Bright
Oct10Mixed
Nov3Gloomy
Dec1Gloomy

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.

In Likasi, how humid it feels changes dramatically over the year.

The more humid part of the year lasts 5.7 months, from around October 29 to April 21. The muggiest month is January, when the air feels humid, muggy or worse about 100% of the time.

The most comfortable stretch runs from around April 22 to October 28, and June is the most comfortable month — the air is dry or comfortable 100% of the time.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecJun 1 · 100%Jan 6 · 0%muggydryhumidcomfortablehumidcomfortablehumid
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)Humid (%)Muggy (%)
Jan005446
Feb005050
Mar025246
Apr11274913
May742060
Jun99100
Jul100000
Aug100000
Sep91630
Oct5023261
Nov5116617
Dec015940

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.

Across the year, average wind speed in Likasi is typically calm, near 8 km/h, and varies little with the seasons.

The windier part of the year lasts 6.5 months, from around Apr 8 to Oct 22. The windiest month is July, averaging about 10 km/h (calm).

The calmer part of the year runs from around Oct 23 to Apr 7, with December the calmest month at about 5 km/h.

051015JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDeccalmerwindiercalmercalmlight breezeJul 9 · 10 km/hDec 11 · 5 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan5calm
Feb5calm
Mar6calm
Apr8calm
May9calm
Jun10calm
Jul10calm
Aug10calm
Sep10calm
Oct8calm
Nov6calm
Dec5calm

Hazard calendar for Likasi

In seasonPeak

When the seasonal hazards worth planning around — the rainy season, tropical-cyclone risk and dust haze — are active through the year.

Likasi's monsoon runs November–March, when most of the year's rain falls.

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

Best time to visit Likasi

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

Around early May, Likasi 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 time of year to visit Likasi for general outdoor tourist activities is from late April to late August, with a peak score in the first week of July.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationJul 4 · 9.2

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
Jan3.7fair
Feb3.9fair
Mar4.3fair
Apr6.6good
May8.3ideal
Jun9.0ideal
Jul9.1ideal
Aug7.8ideal
Sep5.8good
Oct4.8fair
Nov4.2fair
Dec3.8fair

The beach/pool score favors clear, rainless days with daytime highs between 24°C and 34°C. Based on this score, the best time of year to visit Likasi for hot-weather activities is from late April to mid October, with a peak score in the last week of August.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationAug 22 · 9.2

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 Likasi, 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.

Likasi packs about the same all year — highs hold near 31°C. Across the year the things worth having are light clothes, sun protection and rain gear.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In October, Likasi sees daytime highs around 31°C and nights near 19°C. Pack light clothes and sun protection. About 7 days see rain.

UV index (midday) in Likasi 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 Likasi peaks around March 12 at about 16 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near June 18 at about 9 (very high).

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

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecExtremeVery highExtremeMar 12UV 16Jun 18UV 9
UV index (midday)Level
Jan16Extreme
Feb15Extreme
Mar16Extreme
Apr14Extreme
May10Extreme
Jun9Very high
Jul10Very high
Aug10Very high
Sep12Extreme
Oct13Extreme
Nov13Extreme
Dec13Extreme

Average hourly UV index in Likasi

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 March the burn window is concentrated in the middle of the day: about 8.5 hours a day reach index 3 (protection recommended), and 6.5 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)
Jan8.57
Feb8.57
Mar8.56.5
Apr86.5
May75
Jun74.5
Jul75
Aug75
Sep7.55.5
Oct86.5
Nov8.56.5
Dec8.56.5

Air quality in Likasi 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 Likasi is worst in August — around 90 µg/m³ PM2.5 (unhealthy), about 7.5× the cleanest month (April, 12 µg/m³).

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

0306090JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecModerateUnhealthyPoorModerateAug 1487 µg/m³Apr 1112 µg/m³
PM2.5 (µg/m³)Level
Jan14Moderate
Feb15Moderate
Mar13Moderate
Apr12Good
May18Moderate
Jun46Poor
Jul72Unhealthy
Aug90Unhealthy
Sep57Unhealthy
Oct35Poor
Nov18Moderate
Dec13Moderate
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free dayFrost-free year round

Likasi 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. Likasi banks about 4,326 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around October.

01,0002,0003,0004,000JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°C·days)
Jan360
Feb329
Mar365
Apr345
May349
Jun287
Jul288
Aug361
Sep426
Oct461
Nov390
Dec364

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.

Likasi receives about 5.8 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — bright — with a clear seasonal swing between 5.1 and 6.9 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 4.1 months, from around Jul 23 to Nov 25. The brightest month is September, averaging about 6.8 kWh/m² (intense).

The dimmest month is January, down near 5.1 kWh/m² — roughly 25% less than the September peak.

012345678JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmerbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightintenseSep 256.9 kWhJan 145.1 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan5.1Bright
Feb5.3Bright
Mar5.4Bright
Apr5.5Bright
May5.7Bright
Jun5.6Bright
Jul5.7Bright
Aug6.3Intense
Sep6.9Intense
Oct6.8Intense
Nov6.1Intense
Dec5.4Bright

Where is Likasi?

Likasi sits at 11.0°S, 26.7°E, 1,288 m above sea level, in Democratic Republic of the Congo. The nearest listed city is Kambove, 20 km away.

KansanshiSolweziKolweziManyama

Topography around Likasi

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Likasi has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 232 m around an average of 1,277 m above sea level; within 16 km, significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 358 m; within 80 km, large variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 817 m.

The land around Likasi is covered by artificial surfaces (71%) within 3 km, grassland (40%) and cropland (22%) within 16 km, and trees (56%) and grassland (29%) within 80 km.

3 km
232 m
16 km
358 m
80 km
817 m
treesshrubsgrasslandcroplandartificial surfacesbare terrainwaterwetland
Nearby: Kambove 20 km · Fungurume 61 km · Kipushi 103 km · Lubumbashi 110 km · Kansanshi 128 km · Solwezi 137 km · Kolwezi 142 km · Manyama 177 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 Likasi (-10.983°, 26.7384°, elevation 1,288 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).