Climate and average weather in Namwala

In Namwala, the summers are sweltering, 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 Namwala typically varies from 10°C to 34°C, and is rarely below 8°C or above 37°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 Namwala for warm-weather activities is from late April to late August.

Hottest
Oct
34°
Coldest
Jul
10°
Wettest
Jan
231 mm
Driest
Aug
0 mm
Rain / yr
819 mm
97 wet days
Daylight
11.1–12.9 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
999 m
15.8°S
Clearest
Aug
14% cloud

Namwala is human settlement.

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

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

The hot season lasts 2.2 months, from September 13 to November 18, with daily high temperatures above 31°C. The hottest month of the year in Namwala is October, with an average high of 34°C and low of 20°C.

The cool season lasts 2.1 months, from May 30 to July 31, with daily high temperatures below 26°C. The coldest month of the year in Namwala is July, with an average low of 10°C and high of 25°C.

Days typically run about 12°C warmer than nights, with the widest day–night swing (around 15°C) in August.

10°20°30°40°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan2820
Feb2819
Mar2819
Apr2816
May2713
Jun2511
Jul2510
Aug2813
Sep3217
Oct3420
Nov3221
Dec2920

How hot and cold Namwala 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, Namwala feels like about 34°C (around October 18). About 58 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)
Jan29281920
Feb29281919
Mar29281919
Apr28281616
May27271313
Jun25251111
Jul25251010
Aug28281313
Sep32321717
Oct34342020
Nov32322021
Dec30292020

Average hourly temperature in Namwala

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 34°C, and coldest before dawn in July, near 10°C.

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

Namwala 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°23122.812.84.2
Feb28° / 19°1711912.54.4
Mar28° / 19°9914.112.15.3
Apr28° / 16°213.711.77.1
May27° / 13°10.311.38.6
Jun25° / 11°0011.19.3
Jul25° / 10°00.111.29.3
Aug28° / 13°0011.58.2
Sep32° / 17°10.311.95.6
Oct34° / 20°112.212.44.0
Nov32° / 21°8912.712.73.8
Dec29° / 20°19422.112.93.9

Chance of rain

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

Namwala gets about 819 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 4.8 months, from around Nov 7 to Apr 1, peaking in December at about 76% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Jun 7.

January is the wettest month by volume, with 231 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 wetDec 21 · 76%Jun 7 · 0%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan7423
Feb6819
Mar4514
Apr134
May10
Jun00
Jul00
Aug00
Sep10
Oct82
Nov4113
Dec7122

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Namwala collects about 819 mm of rain across 97 wet days — roughly 68 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. January is the wettest month with 231 mm, while August is the driest at just 0 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 73% of the year’s total.

050100150200250JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec2311719921100011189194
Rainfall (mm)Rain days
Jan23123
Feb17119
Mar9914
Apr214
May10
Jun00
Jul00
Aug00
Sep10
Oct112
Nov8913
Dec19422

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Namwala, 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 4 and lasts for 7.0 months, ending around November 1. The clearest month is August, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 94% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around November 2 and lasts for 5.0 months, ending around April 3. The cloudiest month is January, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 79% 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%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecSep 1 · 95%Dec 24 · 19%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastcloudierclearercloudier
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan2179
Feb3268
Mar4852
Apr7525
May9010
Jun8911
Jul8911
Aug946
Sep937
Oct8119
Nov4753
Dec2278

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 54 min of light; the shortest, around May 30, only 11 h 06 min — a swing of roughly 1 h 48 min.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan12.85:586:49
Feb12.56:136:45
Mar12.16:216:27
Apr11.76:256:04
May11.36:325:49
Jun11.16:425:47
Jul11.26:455:54
Aug11.56:346:02
Sep11.96:116:06
Oct12.45:486:10
Nov12.75:376:22
Dec12.95:426:38

Sunny days

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

Namwala averages about 16 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 3 and 27 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 6.6 months, from around Apr 13 to Oct 31. The sunniest month is August, with roughly 26 sunny days (brilliant).

The greyest month is January, down near 3 sunny days — about 88% fewer than the August peak.

051015202530JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgreyersunniergreyergloomymixedbrightbrilliantAug 3127 daysJan 203 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan3Gloomy
Feb4Gloomy
Mar8Gloomy
Apr16Bright
May23Bright
Jun23Bright
Jul24Brilliant
Aug27Brilliant
Sep25Brilliant
Oct21Bright
Nov9Mixed
Dec4Gloomy

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

The more humid part of the year lasts 5.2 months, from around November 11 to April 17. 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 18 to November 10, and May is the most comfortable month — the air is dry or comfortable 97% of the time.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecMay 26 · 100%Jan 25 · 0%humidcomfortablemuggydryhumidcomfortablehumid
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)Humid (%)Muggy (%)Oppressive (%)
Jan0112870
Feb0215831
Mar1830600
Apr263030140
May8116300
Jun982000
Jul1000000
Aug1000000
Sep973000
Oct7913810
Nov281928250
Dec2517760

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 Namwala is typically calm, near 10 km/h, and varies moderately with the seasons.

The windier part of the year lasts 7.3 months, from around Apr 3 to Nov 10. The windiest month is October, averaging about 13 km/h (light breeze).

The calmer part of the year runs from around Nov 11 to Apr 2, with January the calmest month at about 7 km/h.

05101520JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDeccalmerwindiercalmercalmlight breezeOct 2 · 14 km/hJan 21 · 7 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan7calm
Feb8calm
Mar9calm
Apr11calm
May10calm
Jun11calm
Jul12calm
Aug12light breeze
Sep13light breeze
Oct13light breeze
Nov10calm
Dec8calm

Hazard calendar for Namwala

In seasonPeak

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

Namwala's monsoon runs December–February, 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 Namwala

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

Around early May, Namwala 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 Namwala 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 3 · 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
Jan4.1fair
Feb4.4fair
Mar5.3fair
Apr7.1good
May8.6ideal
Jun9.3ideal
Jul9.3ideal
Aug8.2ideal
Sep5.7good
Oct4.0fair
Nov3.8fair
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 Namwala for hot-weather activities is from early April to mid October, with a peak score in the last week of August.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationAug 25 · 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 Namwala, 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 34°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, Namwala sees daytime highs around 34°C and nights near 20°C. Pack light clothes and sun protection.

UV index (midday) in Namwala 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 Namwala peaks around January 21 at about 15 (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 21UV 15Jun 22UV 8
UV index (midday)Level
Jan16Extreme
Feb15Extreme
Mar14Extreme
Apr12Extreme
May10Very high
Jun8Very high
Jul9Very high
Aug9Very high
Sep11Extreme
Oct11Extreme
Nov14Extreme
Dec13Extreme

Average hourly UV index in Namwala

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
Apr7.56
May74.5
Jun6.54
Jul6.54
Aug74.5
Sep7.55.5
Oct86
Nov8.56.5
Dec8.56.5

Air quality in Namwala 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 Namwala is worst in September — around 32 µg/m³ PM2.5 (moderate), about 4.6× the cleanest month (December, 7 µg/m³).

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

010203040JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecGoodModerateGoodSep 1032 µg/m³Dec 217 µg/m³
PM2.5 (µg/m³)Level
Jan8Good
Feb9Good
Mar8Good
Apr7Good
May13Moderate
Jun24Moderate
Jul26Moderate
Aug31Moderate
Sep32Moderate
Oct21Moderate
Nov11Good
Dec7Good
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free dayFrost-free year round

Namwala 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. Namwala banks about 4,568 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)
Jan426
Feb382
Mar417
Apr364
May312
Jun235
Jul234
Aug323
Sep427
Oct523
Nov483
Dec441

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.

Namwala receives about 5.9 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — bright — with a clear seasonal swing between 4.8 and 7.3 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 4.0 months, from around Aug 13 to Dec 12. The brightest month is October, averaging about 7.2 kWh/m² (intense).

The dimmest month is June, down near 4.9 kWh/m² — roughly 32% less than the October peak.

012345678JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmerbrighterdimmoderatebrightintenseOct 157.3 kWhJun 284.8 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan5.6Bright
Feb5.7Bright
Mar5.6Bright
Apr5.6Bright
May5.3Bright
Jun4.9Bright
Jul5.0Bright
Aug6.0Bright
Sep6.9Intense
Oct7.3Intense
Nov6.6Intense
Dec5.8Bright

Where is Namwala?

Namwala sits at 15.8°S, 26.4°E, 999 m above sea level, in Zambia. The nearest listed city is Itezhi-Tezhi, 42 km away.

MumbwaMonzeChomaMazabukaKalomoNampundweLusaka West

Topography around Namwala

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Namwala has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 33 m around an average of 991 m above sea level; within 16 km, only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 87 m; within 80 km, significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 336 m.

The land around Namwala is covered by grassland (56%) and wetland (20%) within 3 km, grassland (34%), trees (25%) and wetland (21%) within 16 km, and grassland (37%) and trees (33%) within 80 km.

3 km
33 m
16 km
87 m
80 km
336 m
treesshrubsgrasslandcroplandartificial surfaceswaterwetland
Nearby: Itezhi-Tezhi 42 km · Mumbwa 108 km · Monze 125 km · Choma 131 km · Mazabuka 141 km · Kalomo 142 km · Nampundwe 161 km · Lusaka West 185 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 Namwala (-15.7504°, 26.4384°, elevation 999 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).