Climate and average weather in Chililabombwe

In Chililabombwe, the summers are hot, fairly dry, and mostly clear and the winters are warm and clear.

Best: late April to late August

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Chililabombwe typically varies from 12°C to 31°C, and is rarely below 10°C or above 34°C. October is the hottest month of the year, while July is the coldest.

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

Hottest
Oct
31°
Coldest
Jul
12°
Wettest
Jan
290 mm
Driest
Jul
0 mm
Rain / yr
1222 mm
138 wet days
Daylight
11.3–12.7 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
1,316 m
12.4°S
Clearest
Jul
21% cloud

Chililabombwe is city.

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

Chililabombwe 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 Chililabombwe, from 1991–2020 of climate data. The shaded bands show the range most days fall in — 10th to 90th percentile.

Temperatures in Chililabombwe 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 20°C; the coolest is July, with an average low of 12°C and high of 25°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
May2615
Jun2513
Jul2512
Aug2815
Sep3118
Oct3120
Nov2919
Dec2618

Average hourly temperature in Chililabombwe

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 July, near 12°C.

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

Chililabombwe 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°29028.812.63.6
Feb26° / 18°24124.912.43.8
Mar26° / 18°2002412.14.4
Apr26° / 17°427.711.76.9
May26° / 15°3111.48.4
Jun25° / 13°00.111.39.2
Jul25° / 12°0011.39.3
Aug28° / 15°0011.68.3
Sep31° / 18°20.511.96.2
Oct31° / 20°234.212.35.0
Nov29° / 19°1551912.64.3
Dec26° / 18°26628.212.73.7

Chance of rain

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

Chililabombwe gets about 1222 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 5.2 months, from around Nov 4 to Apr 9, peaking in January at about 94% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Jun 15.

January is the wettest month by volume, with 290 mm over about 29 wet days; July is the driest, with 0 mm.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwetterdrierwettermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetJan 14 · 94%Jun 15 · 0%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan9329
Feb8925
Mar7624
Apr288
May31
Jun00
Jul00
Aug00
Sep21
Oct154
Nov6119
Dec9028

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Chililabombwe collects about 1222 mm of rain across 138 wet days — roughly 102 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. January is the wettest month with 290 mm, while July is the driest at just 0 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 65% of the year’s total.

050100150200250300350JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec290241200423000223155266
Rainfall (mm)Rain days
Jan29029
Feb24125
Mar20024
Apr428
May31
Jun00
Jul00
Aug00
Sep21
Oct234
Nov15519
Dec26628

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Chililabombwe, 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 6.5 months, ending around October 31. The clearest month is July, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 89% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around November 1 and lasts for 5.5 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 19 · 91%Jan 18 · 5%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastcloudierclearercloudier
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan595
Feb1090
Mar2476
Apr5446
May7921
Jun8911
Jul8911
Aug8911
Sep8218
Oct6634
Nov3466
Dec1189

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 42 min of light; the shortest, around May 28, only 11 h 18 min — a swing of roughly 1 h 24 min.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan12.65:586:38
Feb12.46:116:36
Mar12.16:166:21
Apr11.76:176:01
May11.46:225:48
Jun11.36:315:47
Jul11.36:345:54
Aug11.66:256:00
Sep11.96:056:01
Oct12.35:456:02
Nov12.65:376:11
Dec12.75:436:27

Sunny days

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

Chililabombwe 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 23 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 5.9 months, from around Apr 23 to Oct 19. The sunniest month is July, with roughly 23 sunny days (brilliant).

The greyest month is January, down near 0 sunny days — about 98% fewer than the July peak.

051015202530JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgreyersunniergreyergloomymixedbrightbrilliantJul 1623 daysJan 270 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan0Gloomy
Feb1Gloomy
Mar2Gloomy
Apr8Mixed
May17Bright
Jun22Bright
Jul24Brilliant
Aug23Bright
Sep19Bright
Oct13Mixed
Nov5Gloomy
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 Chililabombwe, how humid it feels changes dramatically over the year.

The more humid part of the year lasts 5.3 months, from around November 7 to April 16. 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 17 to November 6, 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 14 · 100%Jan 15 · 0%muggydrycomfortablehumidhumidcomfortablehumid
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)Humid (%)Muggy (%)
Jan007129
Feb016831
Mar167123
Apr2034415
May791830
Jun99100
Jul100000
Aug100000
Sep97300
Oct7415110
Nov1719558
Dec137324

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 Chililabombwe is typically calm, near 9 km/h, and varies moderately with the seasons.

The windier part of the year lasts 6.8 months, from around Apr 8 to Oct 31. The windiest month is September, averaging about 12 km/h (calm).

The calmer part of the year runs from around Nov 1 to Apr 7, with December the calmest month at about 6 km/h.

05101520JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDeccalmerwindiercalmercalmlight breezeSep 7 · 12 km/hDec 17 · 6 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan6calm
Feb6calm
Mar7calm
Apr10calm
May11calm
Jun11calm
Jul11calm
Aug12calm
Sep12calm
Oct11calm
Nov8calm
Dec6calm

Hazard calendar for Chililabombwe

In seasonPeak

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

Chililabombwe'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 Chililabombwe

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

Around early May, Chililabombwe 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 Chililabombwe 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 7 · 9.4

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
Jan3.6fair
Feb3.8fair
Mar4.5fair
Apr6.9good
May8.4ideal
Jun9.2ideal
Jul9.2ideal
Aug8.3ideal
Sep6.2good
Oct5.0fair
Nov4.3fair
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 Chililabombwe for hot-weather activities is from late April to late October, with a peak score in the last week of August.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationAug 28 · 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 Chililabombwe, 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.

For a warm-season trip around October (highs near 31°C), the essentials are light clothes and sun protection. In the cold season around July (highs near 25°C), pack light clothes and sun protection.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In October, Chililabombwe sees daytime highs around 31°C and nights near 20°C. Pack light clothes and sun protection. About 4 days see rain.

UV index (midday) in Chililabombwe 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 Chililabombwe peaks around January 20 at about 16 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near June 20 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 highExtremeJan 20UV 16Jun 20UV 9
UV index (midday)Level
Jan16Extreme
Feb15Extreme
Mar16Extreme
Apr13Extreme
May10Extreme
Jun9Very high
Jul10Very high
Aug11Extreme
Sep12Extreme
Oct12Extreme
Nov13Extreme
Dec13Extreme

Average hourly UV index in Chililabombwe

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 January the burn window is concentrated in the middle of the day: about 9 hours a day reach index 3 (protection recommended), and 7 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)
Jan97
Feb8.57
Mar8.56.5
Apr86
May75
Jun74.5
Jul75
Aug7.55.5
Sep7.55.5
Oct86
Nov8.56.5
Dec8.56.5

Air quality in Chililabombwe 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 Chililabombwe is worst in August — around 74 µg/m³ PM2.5 (unhealthy), about 5.5× the cleanest month (April, 14 µg/m³).

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

020406080JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecModeratePoorUnhealthyPoorModerateAug 1772 µg/m³Apr 1914 µg/m³
PM2.5 (µg/m³)Level
Jan15Moderate
Feb18Moderate
Mar16Moderate
Apr14Moderate
May15Moderate
Jun32Moderate
Jul55Unhealthy
Aug74Unhealthy
Sep57Unhealthy
Oct37Poor
Nov20Moderate
Dec15Moderate
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free dayFrost-free year round

Chililabombwe 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. Chililabombwe banks about 4,309 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)
Jan366
Feb334
Mar368
Apr342
May329
Jun267
Jul267
Aug347
Sep424
Oct479
Nov413
Dec373

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.

Chililabombwe receives about 5.7 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — bright — with a clear seasonal swing between 5.0 and 7.0 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 4.0 months, from around Jul 31 to Nov 28. The brightest month is September, averaging about 6.9 kWh/m² (intense).

The dimmest month is January, down near 5.0 kWh/m² — roughly 27% less than the September peak.

012345678JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmerbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightintenseSep 297.0 kWhJan 175.0 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan5.0Bright
Feb5.2Bright
Mar5.3Bright
Apr5.4Bright
May5.5Bright
Jun5.4Bright
Jul5.5Bright
Aug6.2Intense
Sep6.9Intense
Oct6.9Intense
Nov6.1Intense
Dec5.2Bright

Where is Chililabombwe?

Chililabombwe sits at 12.4°S, 27.8°E, 1,316 m above sea level, in Zambia. The nearest listed city is Chingola, 19 km away.

LubumbashiKipushi

Topography around Chililabombwe

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Chililabombwe has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 140 m around an average of 1,311 m above sea level; within 16 km, significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 278 m; within 80 km, significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 465 m.

The land around Chililabombwe is covered by cropland (33%) and artificial surfaces (22%) within 3 km, trees (37%) and grassland (28%) within 16 km, and trees (63%) and grassland (23%) within 80 km.

3 km
140 m
16 km
278 m
80 km
465 m
treesshrubsgrasslandcroplandartificial surfacesbare terrainwaterwetland
Nearby: Chingola 19 km · Chambishi 39 km · Mufulira 50 km · Mokambo 57 km · Kalulushi 61 km · Kitwe 65 km · Lubumbashi 87 km · Kipushi 91 km

Zambia travel facts

Travel advisory
Level 1
Exercise Normal Precautions
Power plugs
Type C / D / G
230 V · 50 Hz
Prices
≈ 30% of US
price level, 2025
GDP per capita
$1,318
2025
Happiness
4.1 / 10
World Happiness, 2025
Homicide rate
5.2
per 100k, 2015
Road deaths
20.5
per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group
Lower middle
World Bank
English
High
EF EPI 573
Religion
Protestant 75%Roman Catholic 20%other 3%none 2%

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 Chililabombwe (-12.3648°, 27.8229°, elevation 1,316 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).