Climate and average weather in Mwinilunga

In Mwinilunga, 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 December.

Best: late April to mid August

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Mwinilunga typically varies from 12°C to 31°C, and is rarely below 10°C or above 33°C. September is the hottest month of the year, while January is the coldest.

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

Hottest
Sep
31°
Coldest
Jan
17°
Wettest
Dec
254 mm
Driest
Jul
0 mm
Rain / yr
1249 mm
159 wet days
Daylight
11.3–12.7 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
1,364 m
11.7°S
Clearest
Jul
17% cloud

Mwinilunga is human settlement in Zambia.

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

Mwinilunga 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 mid August.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

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

Temperatures in Mwinilunga stay fairly even through the year, without a distinct hot or cool season. The warmest month is September, with an average high of 31°C and low of 17°C; the coolest is January, with an average low of 17°C and high of 25°C.

Days typically run about 11°C warmer than nights, with the widest day–night swing (around 14°C) in August.

10°15°20°25°30°35°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan2517
Feb2617
Mar2617
Apr2616
May2715
Jun2612
Jul2612
Aug2915
Sep3117
Oct3018
Nov2717
Dec2517

Average hourly temperature in Mwinilunga

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 September afternoons, near 31°C, and coldest before dawn in January, near 17°C.

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

Mwinilunga 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
Jan25° / 17°23928.712.63.7
Feb26° / 17°21124.912.43.8
Mar26° / 17°21826.212.14.1
Apr26° / 16°6510.611.76.4
May27° / 15°30.811.58.4
Jun26° / 12°00.111.39.1
Jul26° / 12°0011.49.1
Aug29° / 15°0011.67.6
Sep31° / 17°81.911.95.7
Oct30° / 18°6011.712.34.7
Nov27° / 17°19025.412.54.0
Dec25° / 17°25428.912.73.7

Chance of rain

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

Mwinilunga gets about 1249 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 5.7 months, from around Oct 21 to Apr 12, peaking in December at about 94% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Jun 19.

December is the wettest month by volume, with 254 mm over about 29 wet days; July is the driest, with 0 mm.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%110%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwetterdrierwettermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetDec 13 · 94%Jun 19 · 0%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan9329
Feb8925
Mar8326
Apr3711
May31
Jun00
Jul00
Aug00
Sep72
Oct3912
Nov8325
Dec9329

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Mwinilunga collects about 1249 mm of rain across 159 wet days — roughly 104 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. December is the wettest month with 254 mm, while July is the driest at just 0 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 57% of the year’s total.

050100150200250300JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec23921121865300860190254
Rainfall (mm)Rain days
Jan23929
Feb21125
Mar21826
Apr6511
May31
Jun00
Jul00
Aug00
Sep82
Oct6012
Nov19025
Dec25429

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Mwinilunga, 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 13 and lasts for 6.0 months, ending around October 12. 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 13 and lasts for 6.0 months, ending around April 12. The cloudiest month is January, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 96% 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 14 · 93%Jan 27 · 3%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastcloudierclearercloudier
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan496
Feb595
Mar1684
Apr5149
May8119
Jun9010
Jul928
Aug8416
Sep7129
Oct4357
Nov1486
Dec595

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 June 4, 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)
Jan12.66:136:50
Feb12.46:256:48
Mar12.16:306:34
Apr11.76:306:15
May11.56:356:02
Jun11.36:436:02
Jul11.46:476:09
Aug11.66:386:15
Sep11.96:196:15
Oct12.35:596:15
Nov12.55:516:24
Dec12.75:586:39

Sunny days

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

Mwinilunga averages about 10 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 5.6 months, from around Apr 20 to Oct 5. The sunniest month is July, with roughly 24 sunny days (brilliant).

The greyest month is January, down near 0 sunny days — about 100% fewer than the July peak.

051015202530JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgreyersunniergreyergloomymixedbrightbrilliantJul 1425 daysJan 110 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan0Gloomy
Feb0Gloomy
Mar1Gloomy
Apr8Mixed
May18Bright
Jun23Brilliant
Jul25Brilliant
Aug21Bright
Sep15Bright
Oct7Gloomy
Nov1Gloomy
Dec0Gloomy

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

The more humid part of the year lasts 5.8 months, from around October 24 to April 18. 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 April 19 to October 23, and May is the most comfortable month — the air is dry or comfortable 96% of the time.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecMay 26 · 100%Jan 8 · 1%muggycomfortabledryhumidhumidcomfortablehumid
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)Humid (%)Muggy (%)
Jan01908
Feb028711
Mar058411
Apr1829493
May801630
Jun99100
Jul100000
Aug100000
Sep87940
Oct3826360
Nov28873
Dec01954

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 Mwinilunga is typically calm, near 8 km/h, and varies moderately with the seasons.

The windier part of the year lasts 5.7 months, from around Apr 13 to Oct 4. The windiest month is July, averaging about 11 km/h (calm).

The calmer part of the year runs from around Oct 5 to Apr 12, with November the calmest month at about 6 km/h.

051015JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDeccalmerwindiercalmercalmlight breezeJul 10 · 11 km/hNov 27 · 6 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan7calm
Feb6calm
Mar6calm
Apr8calm
May10calm
Jun10calm
Jul11calm
Aug11calm
Sep10calm
Oct8calm
Nov6calm
Dec6calm

Hazard calendar for Mwinilunga

In seasonPeak

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

Mwinilunga'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 Mwinilunga

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

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

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationJun 21 · 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
Feb3.8fair
Mar4.2fair
Apr6.4good
May8.4ideal
Jun9.1ideal
Jul9.1ideal
Aug7.6ideal
Sep5.7good
Oct4.7fair
Nov4.0fair
Dec3.7fair

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 Mwinilunga for hot-weather activities is from late April to early October, with a peak score in the third week of August.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationAug 18 · 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 Mwinilunga, 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.

Mwinilunga 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 September, Mwinilunga sees daytime highs around 31°C and nights near 17°C. Pack light clothes and sun protection.

UV index (midday) in Mwinilunga 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 Mwinilunga peaks around January 19 at about 16 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near June 22 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 19UV 16Jun 22UV 9
UV index (midday)Level
Jan17Extreme
Feb15Extreme
Mar15Extreme
Apr13Extreme
May10Extreme
Jun9Very high
Jul10Very high
Aug11Extreme
Sep12Extreme
Oct12Extreme
Nov13Extreme
Dec13Extreme

Average hourly UV index in Mwinilunga

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
Feb8.56.5
Mar8.56.5
Apr86
May75
Jun74.5
Jul75
Aug7.55.5
Sep86
Oct86
Nov86
Dec8.56.5

Air quality in Mwinilunga 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 Mwinilunga is worst in August — around 70 µg/m³ PM2.5 (unhealthy), about 10.4× the cleanest month (April, 7 µg/m³).

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

020406080JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecGoodModeratePoorUnhealthyPoorModerateGoodAug 1667 µg/m³Apr 157 µg/m³
PM2.5 (µg/m³)Level
Jan10Good
Feb10Good
Mar8Good
Apr7Good
May8Good
Jun25Moderate
Jul51Poor
Aug70Unhealthy
Sep51Poor
Oct25Moderate
Nov11Good
Dec8Good
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free dayFrost-free year round

Mwinilunga 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. Mwinilunga banks about 4,122 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around September.

01,0002,0003,0004,000JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°C·days)
Jan341
Feb314
Mar352
Apr336
May330
Jun271
Jul278
Aug359
Sep415
Oct425
Nov358
Dec343

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.

Mwinilunga receives about 5.5 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — bright — with a clear seasonal swing between 4.8 and 6.5 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 4.6 months, from around Jun 29 to Nov 15. The brightest month is September, averaging about 6.4 kWh/m² (intense).

The dimmest month is January, down near 4.8 kWh/m² — roughly 26% less than the September peak.

012345678JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmerbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightintenseSep 116.5 kWhJan 154.8 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan4.8Bright
Feb4.9Bright
Mar5.1Bright
Apr5.5Bright
May5.6Bright
Jun5.5Bright
Jul5.7Bright
Aug6.1Intense
Sep6.5Intense
Oct6.2Intense
Nov5.5Bright
Dec4.9Bright

Where is Mwinilunga?

Mwinilunga sits at 11.7°S, 24.4°E, 1,364 m above sea level, in Zambia. The nearest listed city is Chisasa, 123 km away.

ChisasaMalembaKolweziCazomboManyamaMufumbweManyingaTshilenge

Topography around Mwinilunga

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Mwinilunga has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 104 m around an average of 1,339 m above sea level; within 16 km, significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 258 m; within 80 km, significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 432 m.

The land around Mwinilunga is covered by grassland (41%) and trees (32%) within 3 km, trees (67%) and grassland (25%) within 16 km, and trees (84%) within 80 km.

3 km
104 m
16 km
258 m
80 km
432 m
treesshrubsgrasslandcroplandartificial surfaces
Nearby: Chisasa 123 km · Malemba 151 km · Kolwezi 160 km · Cazombo 167 km · Manyama 167 km · Mufumbwe 168 km · Manyinga 187 km · Tshilenge 187 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 Mwinilunga (-11.7358°, 24.4293°, elevation 1,364 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).