Climate and average weather in Maamba

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

Best: late April to early September

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Maamba typically varies from 11°C to 32°C, and is rarely below 8°C or above 36°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 Maamba for warm-weather activities is from late April to early September.

Hottest
Oct
32°
Coldest
Jul
11°
Wettest
Jan
309 mm
Driest
Aug
0 mm
Rain / yr
1110 mm
104 wet days
Daylight
11.0–13.0 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
754 m
17.4°S
Clearest
Aug
10% cloud

Maamba is city in Zambia.

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

Maamba 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 early September.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

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

The hot season lasts 2.3 months, from September 17 to November 24, with daily high temperatures above 30°C. The hottest month of the year in Maamba is October, with an average high of 32°C and low of 20°C.

The cool season lasts 2.2 months, from May 30 to August 3, with daily high temperatures below 25°C. The coldest month of the year in Maamba is July, with an average low of 11°C and high of 23°C.

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

10°20°30°40°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan2820
Feb2820
Mar2819
Apr2717
May2613
Jun2411
Jul2311
Aug2613
Sep3017
Oct3220
Nov3121
Dec2920

How hot and cold Maamba 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, Maamba feels like about 33°C (around October 23). About 29 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)
Jan30282020
Feb30282020
Mar29281919
Apr28271617
May26261313
Jun24241111
Jul23231111
Aug26261313
Sep30301717
Oct32322020
Nov31312121
Dec30292020

Average hourly temperature in Maamba

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 32°C, and coldest before dawn in July, near 11°C.

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

Maamba 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
Jan28° / 20°30922.912.94.0
Feb28° / 20°22719.212.64.3
Mar28° / 19°13917.512.15.2
Apr27° / 17°437.311.67.4
May26° / 13°61.311.28.9
Jun24° / 11°20.5119.4
Jul23° / 11°10.411.19.4
Aug26° / 13°00.211.49.2
Sep30° / 17°10.311.96.9
Oct32° / 20°11212.45.1
Nov31° / 21°10511.112.84.3
Dec29° / 20°26621.8134.0

Chance of rain

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

Maamba gets about 1110 mm of precipitation a year. On a typical day the chance of rain is some rain, but that rises and falls sharply with the seasons.

The wetter season lasts 5.0 months, from around Nov 11 to Apr 11, peaking in January at about 76% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Aug 12.

January is the wettest month by volume, with 309 mm over about 23 wet days; August is the driest, with 0 mm.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwetterdrierwettermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetJan 20 · 76%Aug 12 · 0%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan7423
Feb6919
Mar5618
Apr247
May51
Jun21
Jul10
Aug00
Sep10
Oct72
Nov3611
Dec6922

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Maamba collects about 1110 mm of rain across 104 wet days — roughly 92 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. January is the wettest month with 309 mm, while August is the driest at just 0 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 72% of the year’s total.

050100150200250300350JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec309227139436210111105266
Rainfall (mm)Rain days
Jan30923
Feb22719
Mar13918
Apr437
May61
Jun21
Jul10
Aug00
Sep10
Oct112
Nov10511
Dec26622

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Maamba, 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 2 and lasts for 7.1 months, ending around November 3. The clearest month is August, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 97% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around November 4 and lasts for 4.9 months, ending around April 1. The cloudiest month is December, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 70% 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 2 · 97%Dec 20 · 27%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastcloudierclearercloudier
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan3070
Feb3862
Mar5743
Apr8416
May964
Jun964
Jul955
Aug973
Sep937
Oct8416
Nov5545
Dec3070

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 13 hours of light; the shortest, around May 31, only 11 hours — a swing of roughly 2 hours.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan12.95:536:49
Feb12.66:096:43
Mar12.16:176:25
Apr11.66:236:00
May11.26:325:43
Jun11.06:435:41
Jul11.16:455:49
Aug11.46:335:58
Sep11.96:096:03
Oct12.45:446:08
Nov12.85:326:22
Dec13.05:376:39

Sunny days

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

Maamba averages about 19 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 5 and 28 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 6.8 months, from around Apr 8 to Oct 30. The sunniest month is August, with roughly 28 sunny days (brilliant).

The greyest month is December, down near 6 sunny days — about 80% fewer than the August peak.

05101520253035JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgreyersunniergreyergloomymixedbrightbrilliantAug 1328 daysDec 195 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan6Gloomy
Feb7Gloomy
Mar13Mixed
Apr21Bright
May27Brilliant
Jun26Brilliant
Jul27Brilliant
Aug29Brilliant
Sep26Brilliant
Oct23Bright
Nov12Mixed
Dec6Gloomy

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

The more humid part of the year lasts 5.6 months, from around November 8 to April 25. 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 26 to November 7, 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 28 · 100%Jan 20 · 0%oppressivecomfortablemuggyhumiddryhumidcomfortablehumid
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)Humid (%)Muggy (%)Oppressive (%)
Jan0066924
Feb0087023
Mar0318699
Apr102639251
May5634910
Jun909000
Jul991000
Aug982000
Sep8810200
Oct59251420
Nov182029321
Dec13136913

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 Maamba is typically calm, near 7 km/h, and varies little with the seasons.

The windier part of the year lasts 4.2 months, from around Jul 26 to Nov 29. The windiest month is October, averaging about 10 km/h (calm).

The calmer part of the year runs from around Nov 30 to Jul 25, with February the calmest month at about 6 km/h.

051015JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDeccalmerwindiercalmercalmlight breezeOct 8 · 10 km/hFeb 18 · 6 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan6calm
Feb6calm
Mar7calm
Apr7calm
May7calm
Jun7calm
Jul7calm
Aug8calm
Sep10calm
Oct10calm
Nov8calm
Dec7calm

Hazard calendar for Maamba

In seasonPeak

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

Maamba'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 Maamba

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

Around late April, Maamba 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 Maamba for general outdoor tourist activities is from late April to early September, with a peak score in the last week of July.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationJul 27 · 9.5

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
Jan4.0fair
Feb4.3fair
Mar5.2fair
Apr7.4good
May8.9ideal
Jun9.4ideal
Jul9.4ideal
Aug9.1ideal
Sep7.0good
Oct5.1fair
Nov4.3fair
Dec4.0fair

The beach/pool score favors clear, rainless days with daytime highs between 24°C and 34°C. Based on this score, the best times of year to visit Maamba for hot-weather activities run from mid April to late June and again from late July to late October, with a peak score in the first week of September.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationSep 7 · 9.4

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 Maamba, 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 32°C), the essentials are light clothes and sun protection. In the cold season around July (highs near 23°C), pack light clothes and sun protection.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In October, Maamba sees daytime highs around 32°C and nights near 20°C. Pack light clothes and sun protection.

UV index (midday) in Maamba 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 Maamba peaks around January 18 at about 16 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near June 22 at about 8 (very high).

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

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecExtremeVery highExtremeJan 18UV 16Jun 22UV 8
UV index (midday)Level
Jan17Extreme
Feb14Extreme
Mar14Extreme
Apr11Extreme
May9Very high
Jun8Very high
Jul8Very high
Aug9Very high
Sep10Extreme
Oct11Extreme
Nov14Extreme
Dec13Extreme

Average hourly UV index in Maamba

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
Mar86.5
Apr7.55.5
May6.54.5
Jun6.53.5
Jul6.54
Aug74.5
Sep7.55
Oct85.5
Nov8.56.5
Dec8.56.5

Air quality in Maamba 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 Maamba is worst in September — around 24 µg/m³ PM2.5 (moderate), about 4.2× the cleanest month (April, 6 µg/m³).

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

0102030JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecGoodModerateGoodSep 1824 µg/m³Apr 216 µg/m³
PM2.5 (µg/m³)Level
Jan7Good
Feb7Good
Mar7Good
Apr6Good
May6Good
Jun7Good
Jul9Good
Aug16Moderate
Sep24Moderate
Oct20Moderate
Nov9Good
Dec6Good
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free dayFrost-free year round

Maamba 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. Maamba banks about 4,482 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)
Jan442
Feb394
Mar421
Apr353
May295
Jun223
Jul218
Aug301
Sep403
Oct502
Nov482
Dec450

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.

Maamba receives about 5.8 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — bright — with a clear seasonal swing between 4.6 and 7.3 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 4.8 months, from around Aug 17 to Jan 8. The brightest month is October, averaging about 7.2 kWh/m² (intense).

The dimmest month is June, down near 4.7 kWh/m² — roughly 36% less than the October peak.

012345678JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmerbrighterdimmoderatebrightintenseOct 207.3 kWhJun 284.6 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan5.7Bright
Feb5.8Bright
Mar5.7Bright
Apr5.5Bright
May5.1Bright
Jun4.7Bright
Jul4.8Bright
Aug5.8Bright
Sep6.8Intense
Oct7.3Intense
Nov6.7Intense
Dec5.9Bright

Where is Maamba?

Maamba sits at 17.4°S, 27.1°E, 754 m above sea level, in Zambia. The nearest listed city is Sinazongwe, 35 km away.

KalomoMonzeHwangeLivingstoneVictoria FallsMazabuka

Topography around Maamba

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Maamba has large variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 677 m around an average of 860 m above sea level; within 16 km, large variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 864 m; within 80 km, large variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 906 m.

The land around Maamba is covered by trees (68%) and shrubs (21%) within 3 km, trees (65%) and shrubs (23%) within 16 km, and shrubs (34%) and trees (29%) within 80 km.

3 km
677 m
16 km
864 m
80 km
906 m
treesshrubsgrasslandcroplandbare terrainwater
Nearby: Sinazongwe 35 km · Choma 64 km · Kalomo 80 km · Monze 127 km · Hwange 131 km · Livingstone 147 km · Victoria Falls 153 km · Mazabuka 180 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 Maamba (-17.3667°, 27.15°, elevation 754 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).