Climate and average weather in Lusambo

In Lusambo, the weather is hot, wet, and mostly clear and remarkably steady, with daytime highs holding near hot levels all year. The wettest stretch peaks around November.

Best: mid May to late August

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Lusambo typically varies from 21°C to 31°C, and is rarely below 19°C or above 33°C. July is the hottest month of the year, while November is the coldest.

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

Hottest
Jul
31°
Coldest
Nov
21°
Wettest
Nov
171 mm
Driest
Jul
9 mm
Rain / yr
1329 mm
205 wet days
Daylight
11.7–12.3 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
432 m
5.0°S
Clearest
Jul
47% cloud

Lusambo is place in Sankuru, Democratic Republic of the Congo.

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

Lusambo 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 late August.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

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

Temperatures in Lusambo stay fairly even through the year, without a distinct hot or cool season. The warmest month is July, with an average high of 31°C and low of 21°C; the coolest is November, with an average low of 21°C and high of 29°C.

Days typically run about 8°C warmer than nights, with the widest day–night swing (around 10°C) in July.

15°20°25°30°35°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan2922
Feb3022
Mar2922
Apr2922
May3022
Jun3121
Jul3121
Aug3022
Sep3022
Oct2921
Nov2921
Dec2921

How hot and cold Lusambo 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, Lusambo feels like about 33°C (around May 18). About 236 days a year carry some heat stress, peaking in May.

20°25°30°35°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Feels-like high (°C)Air high (°C)Feels-like low (°C)Air low (°C)
Jan32292222
Feb33302222
Mar33292222
Apr33292222
May33302222
Jun32312121
Jul31312121
Aug32302222
Sep33302222
Oct32292121
Nov32292121
Dec32292121

Average hourly temperature in Lusambo

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 July afternoons, near 31°C, and coldest before dawn in November, near 21°C.

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

Lusambo 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
Jan29° / 22°12820.712.33.9
Feb30° / 22°11818.212.23.8
Mar29° / 22°15821.4123.7
Apr29° / 22°1572211.93.7
May30° / 22°7012.811.84.7
Jun31° / 21°14311.75.5
Jul31° / 21°92.311.75.3
Aug30° / 22°551111.84.7
Sep30° / 22°12620.3123.9
Oct29° / 21°16724.912.13.5
Nov29° / 21°17124.512.23.6
Dec29° / 21°15823.412.33.8

Chance of rain

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

Lusambo gets about 1329 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 8.0 months, from around Sep 3 to May 4, peaking in November at about 84% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Jul 7.

November is the wettest month by volume, with 171 mm over about 25 wet days; July is the driest, with 9 mm.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwetterdrierwettermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetNov 4 · 84%Jul 7 · 4%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan6721
Feb6518
Mar7021
Apr7222
May4113
Jun113
Jul92
Aug3611
Sep6720
Oct8025
Nov8125
Dec7523

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Lusambo collects about 1329 mm of rain across 205 wet days — roughly 111 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. November is the wettest month with 171 mm, while July is the driest at just 9 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 37% of the year’s total.

0255075100125150175200JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec1281181581577014955126167171158
Rainfall (mm)Rain days
Jan12821
Feb11818
Mar15821
Apr15722
May7013
Jun143
Jul92
Aug5511
Sep12620
Oct16725
Nov17125
Dec15823

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Lusambo, 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 May 3 and lasts for 4.6 months, ending around September 18. The clearest month is July, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 63% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around September 19 and lasts for 7.4 months, ending around May 2. The cloudiest month is February, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 89% 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%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecJul 10 · 68%Feb 19 · 11%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastcloudierclearercloudier
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan1288
Feb1189
Mar1486
Apr2179
May4258
Jun5842
Jul6337
Aug4852
Sep3169
Oct1684
Nov1486
Dec1387

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, Lusambo barely changes through the year: days stay near 12 h 18 min of light in every season.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan12.36:286:43
Feb12.26:366:46
Mar12.06:356:37
Apr11.96:306:23
May11.86:296:16
Jun11.76:356:18
Jul11.76:406:24
Aug11.86:356:25
Sep12.06:216:20
Oct12.16:086:15
Nov12.26:056:18
Dec12.36:146:31

Sunny days

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

Lusambo averages about 4 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 0 and 15 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 4.2 months, from around May 3 to Sep 7. The sunniest month is July, with roughly 13 sunny days (mixed).

The greyest month is December, down near 1 sunny days — about 96% fewer than the July peak.

05101520JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgreyersunniergreyergloomymixedbrightJul 915 daysDec 140 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan1Gloomy
Feb1Gloomy
Mar1Gloomy
Apr2Gloomy
May8Gloomy
Jun12Mixed
Jul13Mixed
Aug8Gloomy
Sep3Gloomy
Oct1Gloomy
Nov1Gloomy
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 Lusambo, how humid it feels changes dramatically over the year.

The more humid part of the year lasts 9.6 months, from around August 13 to June 1. 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 June 2 to August 12, and July is the most comfortable month — the air is dry or comfortable 26% of the time.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecJul 12 · 32%Jan 1 · 0%oppressivemuggyhumidcomfortabledryhumidcomfortablehumid
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)Humid (%)Muggy (%)Oppressive (%)Miserable (%)
Jan0007930
Feb0003961
Mar0001972
Apr0003961
May00216810
Jun2102036310
Jul1016274250
Aug13957300
Sep00019810
Oct0006940
Nov0004960
Dec0006940

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

0510JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDeccalmJul 15 · 6 km/hDec 11 · 4 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan4calm
Feb4calm
Mar4calm
Apr4calm
May4calm
Jun5calm
Jul6calm
Aug6calm
Sep5calm
Oct5calm
Nov4calm
Dec4calm

Best time to visit Lusambo

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

Around mid August, Lusambo is still near the tail of its best-weather window — great conditions with the peak-season crowds already thinning.

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 Lusambo for general outdoor tourist activities is from mid May to late August, with a peak score in the third week of June.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationJun 17 · 5.6

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
Jan3.9fair
Feb3.8fair
Mar3.7fair
Apr3.7fair
May4.7fair
Jun5.5good
Jul5.3fair
Aug4.6fair
Sep3.9fair
Oct3.5fair
Nov3.6fair
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 Lusambo for hot-weather activities is from mid May to mid August, with a peak score in the first week of July.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationJul 6 · 8.1

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 Lusambo, 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.

Lusambo 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 July, Lusambo sees daytime highs around 31°C and nights near 21°C. Pack light clothes. Worth having: sun protection.

UV index (midday) in Lusambo 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 Lusambo peaks around March 18 at about 15 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near August 11 at about 6 (high).

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

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecExtremeVery highHighExtremeMar 18UV 15Aug 11UV 6
UV index (midday)Level
Jan12Extreme
Feb13Extreme
Mar15Extreme
Apr14Extreme
May10Extreme
Jun8Very high
Jul7High
Aug6High
Sep11Extreme
Oct13Extreme
Nov11Extreme
Dec10Very high

Average hourly UV index in Lusambo

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 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)
Jan86
Feb86.5
Mar86.5
Apr86.5
May75
Jun6.54
Jul62.5
Aug61.5
Sep7.55.5
Oct86
Nov85.5
Dec7.55

Air quality in Lusambo 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 Lusambo is worst in July — around 87 µg/m³ PM2.5 (unhealthy), about 5.9× the cleanest month (November, 15 µg/m³).

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

0306090JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecModeratePoorUnhealthyModerateJul 2487 µg/m³Nov 1815 µg/m³
PM2.5 (µg/m³)Level
Jan20Moderate
Feb24Moderate
Mar19Moderate
Apr18Moderate
May31Moderate
Jun52Poor
Jul87Unhealthy
Aug87Unhealthy
Sep32Moderate
Oct18Moderate
Nov15Moderate
Dec17Moderate
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free dayFrost-free year round

Lusambo 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. Lusambo banks about 5,668 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around August.

02,0004,0006,000JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°C·days)
Jan474
Feb440
Mar487
Apr467
May492
Jun470
Jul493
Aug494
Sep465
Oct472
Nov449
Dec464

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.

Lusambo receives about 5.2 kWh/m² a day of solar energy — bright — and it stays remarkably steady, holding between 5.0 and 5.5 kWh/m² all year. For solar panels, output here is a flat line, not a seasonal wave.

01234567JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmoderatebrightintenseFeb 175.5 kWhDec 55.0 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan5.2Bright
Feb5.5Bright
Mar5.4Bright
Apr5.1Bright
May5.1Bright
Jun5.2Bright
Jul5.3Bright
Aug5.1Bright
Sep5.2Bright
Oct5.3Bright
Nov5.1Bright
Dec5.0Bright

Where is Lusambo?

Lusambo sits at 5.0°S, 23.4°E, 432 m above sea level, in Democratic Republic of the Congo. The nearest listed city is Kabeya-Kamwanga, 116 km away.

Mbuji-MayiLukulaMiabiDembaKanangaLodjaKabinda

Topography around Lusambo

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Lusambo has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 141 m around an average of 459 m above sea level; within 16 km, only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 242 m; within 80 km, significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 385 m.

The land around Lusambo is covered by trees (35%) and shrubs (32%) within 3 km, trees (78%) within 16 km, and trees (88%) within 80 km.

3 km
141 m
16 km
242 m
80 km
385 m
treesshrubsgrasslandartificial surfaceswater
Nearby: Kabeya-Kamwanga 116 km · Mbuji-Mayi 130 km · Lukula 132 km · Miabi 139 km · Demba 142 km · Kananga 153 km · Lodja 163 km · Kabinda 173 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 Lusambo (-4.975°, 23.4439°, elevation 432 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).