Climate and average weather in Isoka

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

Best: late April to late August

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Isoka typically varies from 12°C to 33°C, and is rarely below 10°C or above 35°C. October is the hottest month of the year, while June is the coldest.

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

Hottest
Oct
33°
Coldest
Jun
13°
Wettest
Jan
266 mm
Driest
Jul
0 mm
Rain / yr
1057 mm
132 wet days
Daylight
11.4–12.6 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
1,321 m
10.2°S
Clearest
Aug
29% cloud

Isoka is human settlement.

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

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

The hot season lasts 2.4 months, from September 17 to November 27, with daily high temperatures above 31°C. The hottest month of the year in Isoka is October, with an average high of 33°C and low of 18°C.

The cool season lasts 4.1 months, from March 30 to July 31, with daily high temperatures below 26°C. The coldest month of the year in Isoka is June, with an average low of 13°C and high of 25°C.

Days typically run about 11°C warmer than nights, with the widest day–night swing (around 15°C) in September.

10°15°20°25°30°35°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan2719
Feb2719
Mar2718
Apr2617
May2615
Jun2513
Jul2512
Aug2813
Sep3116
Oct3318
Nov3220
Dec2919

How hot and cold Isoka 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, Isoka feels like about 33°C (around October 22). About 45 days a year carry some heat stress, peaking in October.

10°15°20°25°30°35°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Feels-like high (°C)Air high (°C)Feels-like low (°C)Air low (°C)
Jan28271919
Feb28271919
Mar27271818
Apr26261717
May26261515
Jun25251313
Jul25251212
Aug28281313
Sep31311616
Oct32331818
Nov32321920
Dec29291919

Average hourly temperature in Isoka

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 33°C, and coldest before dawn in June, near 13°C.

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

Isoka 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
Jan27° / 19°26627.412.53.7
Feb27° / 19°22624.112.33.8
Mar27° / 18°19626.212.14.0
Apr26° / 17°9416.711.85.6
May26° / 15°102.611.58.1
Jun25° / 13°00.111.48.9
Jul25° / 12°0011.58.9
Aug28° / 13°00.111.78.1
Sep31° / 16°10.411.96.1
Oct33° / 18°92.212.24.6
Nov32° / 20°581012.54.0
Dec29° / 19°19622.312.63.9

Chance of rain

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

Isoka gets about 1057 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 19 to Apr 24, peaking in January at about 90% 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 266 mm over about 27 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 28 · 90%Jun 15 · 0%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan8827
Feb8724
Mar8426
Apr5517
May93
Jun00
Jul00
Aug00
Sep10
Oct82
Nov3310
Dec7122

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Isoka collects about 1057 mm of rain across 132 wet days — roughly 88 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. January is the wettest month with 266 mm, while July is the driest at just 0 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 65% of the year’s total.

050100150200250300JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec26622619694100001958196
Rainfall (mm)Rain days
Jan26627
Feb22624
Mar19626
Apr9417
May103
Jun00
Jul00
Aug00
Sep10
Oct92
Nov5810
Dec19622

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Isoka, 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 20 and lasts for 7.0 months, ending around November 18. The clearest month is September, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 86% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around November 19 and lasts for 5.0 months, ending around April 19. The cloudiest month is January, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 93% 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%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecAug 29 · 87%Jan 24 · 6%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastcloudierclearercloudier
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan793
Feb991
Mar1684
Apr4555
May7228
Jun8020
Jul8020
Aug8515
Sep8614
Oct7822
Nov5545
Dec2377

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 June 2, 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)
Jan12.55:436:15
Feb12.35:546:14
Mar12.15:576:01
Apr11.85:565:43
May11.56:005:32
Jun11.46:075:32
Jul11.56:115:39
Aug11.76:045:43
Sep11.95:455:42
Oct12.25:285:41
Nov12.55:215:49
Dec12.65:286:03

Sunny days

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

Isoka 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 22 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 6.3 months, from around May 5 to Nov 13. The sunniest month is August, with roughly 21 sunny days (bright).

The greyest month is January, down near 1 sunny days — about 97% fewer than the August peak.

0510152025JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgreyersunniergreyergloomymixedbrightbrilliantAug 2222 daysJan 150 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan1Gloomy
Feb1Gloomy
Mar2Gloomy
Apr6Gloomy
May14Mixed
Jun19Bright
Jul19Bright
Aug21Bright
Sep20Bright
Oct17Bright
Nov10Mixed
Dec3Gloomy

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 Isoka, how humid it feels changes dramatically over the year.

The more humid part of the year lasts 5.5 months, from around November 22 to May 7. The muggiest month is January, when the air feels humid, muggy or worse about 99% of the time.

The most comfortable stretch runs from around May 8 to November 21, and June is the most comfortable month — the air is dry or comfortable 99% of the time.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecJun 29 · 100%Jan 17 · 0%comfortablemuggydryhumidhumidcomfortablehumid
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)Humid (%)Muggy (%)
Jan011683
Feb001288
Mar001486
Apr1104940
May2645272
Jun861310
Jul99100
Aug98200
Sep96410
Oct752140
Nov35292610
Dec5103154

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 Isoka is typically calm, near 6 km/h, and varies little with the seasons.

The windier part of the year lasts 7.4 months, from around Apr 16 to Nov 26. The windiest month is October, averaging about 8 km/h (calm).

The calmer part of the year runs from around Nov 27 to Apr 15, with January the calmest month at about 4 km/h.

051015JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDeccalmerwindiercalmercalmlight breezeOct 18 · 8 km/hJan 20 · 4 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan4calm
Feb4calm
Mar5calm
Apr6calm
May6calm
Jun7calm
Jul7calm
Aug7calm
Sep7calm
Oct8calm
Nov7calm
Dec5calm

Hazard calendar for Isoka

In seasonPeak

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

Isoka's monsoon runs December–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 Isoka

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

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

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationJul 4 · 9.0

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
Feb3.8fair
Mar4.0fair
Apr5.6good
May8.1ideal
Jun8.9ideal
Jul8.9ideal
Aug8.1ideal
Sep6.1good
Oct4.6fair
Nov4.0fair
Dec3.9fair

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 Isoka for hot-weather activities is from early May to late October, with a peak score in the last week of August.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationAug 27 · 9.1

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 Isoka, 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 33°C), the essentials are light clothes and sun protection. In the cold season around June (highs near 25°C), pack light clothes and sun protection.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In October, Isoka sees daytime highs around 33°C and nights near 18°C. Pack light clothes and sun protection.

UV index (midday) in Isoka 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 Isoka peaks around February 16 at about 16 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near June 13 at about 10 (very high).

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

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecExtremeVery highExtremeFeb 16UV 16Jun 13UV 10
UV index (midday)Level
Jan16Extreme
Feb17Extreme
Mar16Extreme
Apr14Extreme
May10Very high
Jun10Very high
Jul10Extreme
Aug11Extreme
Sep12Extreme
Oct13Extreme
Nov13Extreme
Dec13Extreme

Average hourly UV index in Isoka

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 February the burn window is concentrated in the middle of the day: about 8.5 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
Mar8.57
Apr86
May7.55
Jun75
Jul75
Aug7.55.5
Sep86
Oct86
Nov86
Dec8.56.5

Air quality in Isoka 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 Isoka is worst in August — around 52 µg/m³ PM2.5 (poor), about 7.0× the cleanest month (December, 7 µg/m³).

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

0204060JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecGoodModeratePoorModerateGoodAug 2251 µg/m³Dec 208 µg/m³
PM2.5 (µg/m³)Level
Jan10Good
Feb11Good
Mar9Good
Apr9Good
May8Good
Jun15Moderate
Jul32Moderate
Aug52Poor
Sep49Poor
Oct46Poor
Nov15Moderate
Dec7Good
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free dayFrost-free year round

Isoka 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. Isoka banks about 4,450 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around November.

01,0002,0003,0004,000JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°C·days)
Jan399
Feb359
Mar386
Apr344
May325
Jun272
Jul266
Aug327
Sep396
Oct477
Nov470
Dec430

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.

Isoka receives about 5.6 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — bright — with a clear seasonal swing between 4.9 and 6.9 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 4.2 months, from around Aug 5 to Dec 9. The brightest month is October, averaging about 6.9 kWh/m² (intense).

The dimmest month is April, down near 5.1 kWh/m² — roughly 26% less than the October peak.

012345678JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmerbrighterdimmoderatebrightintenseOct 126.9 kWhApr 54.9 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan5.1Bright
Feb5.2Bright
Mar5.1Bright
Apr5.0Bright
May5.2Bright
Jun5.2Bright
Jul5.2Bright
Aug6.0Bright
Sep6.7Intense
Oct6.9Intense
Nov6.4Intense
Dec5.5Bright

Where is Isoka?

Isoka sits at 10.2°S, 32.6°E, 1,321 m above sea level, in Zambia. The nearest listed city is Chinsali, 74 km away.

ChinsaliChitipaNakondeTundumaVwawaMlowoKarongaKyela

Topography around Isoka

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Isoka has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 248 m around an average of 1,376 m above sea level; within 16 km, large variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 675 m; within 80 km, very significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 1,624 m.

The land around Isoka is covered by cropland (32%), trees (29%) and shrubs (22%) within 3 km, trees (47%) and shrubs (26%) within 16 km, and trees (42%), shrubs (27%) and grassland (26%) within 80 km.

3 km
248 m
16 km
675 m
80 km
1,624 m
treesshrubsgrasslandcroplandartificial surfaceswetland
Nearby: Chinsali 74 km · Chitipa 86 km · Nakonde 92 km · Tunduma 97 km · Vwawa 122 km · Mlowo 135 km · Karonga 145 km · Kyela 148 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 Isoka (-10.1606°, 32.6335°, elevation 1,321 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).