Climate and average weather in Solwezi

In Solwezi, the summers are hot, fairly dry, and partly cloudy and the winters are warm and clear.

Best: late April to late August

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Solwezi typically varies from 11°C to 31°C, and is rarely below 9°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 Solwezi for warm-weather activities is from late April to late August.

Hottest
Oct
31°
Coldest
Jul
11°
Wettest
Jan
279 mm
Driest
Jul
0 mm
Rain / yr
1247 mm
141 wet days
Daylight
11.3–12.7 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
1,381 m
12.2°S
Clearest
Jul
19% cloud

Solwezi is city.

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

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

Temperatures in Solwezi 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 18°C; the coolest is July, with an average low of 11°C and high of 25°C.

Days typically run about 12°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)
Jan2617
Feb2617
Mar2617
Apr2616
May2714
Jun2512
Jul2511
Aug2814
Sep3117
Oct3118
Nov2818
Dec2617

Average hourly temperature in Solwezi

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 11°C.

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

Solwezi 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° / 17°2792812.63.7
Feb26° / 17°23324.612.43.9
Mar26° / 17°20924.312.14.4
Apr26° / 16°48811.76.8
May27° / 14°30.811.48.4
Jun25° / 12°00.111.39.1
Jul25° / 11°0011.49.2
Aug28° / 14°0011.68.1
Sep31° / 17°30.811.95.9
Oct31° / 18°315.812.34.8
Nov28° / 18°16220.712.64.3
Dec26° / 17°27828.312.73.7

Chance of rain

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

Solwezi gets about 1247 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 5.3 months, from around Nov 1 to Apr 9, peaking in December at about 93% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Jun 19.

January is the wettest month by volume, with 279 mm over about 28 wet days; July is the driest, with 0 mm.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwetterdrierwettermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetDec 17 · 93%Jun 19 · 0%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan9128
Feb8725
Mar7724
Apr298
May31
Jun00
Jul00
Aug00
Sep31
Oct206
Nov6721
Dec9128

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Solwezi collects about 1247 mm of rain across 141 wet days — roughly 104 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. January is the wettest month with 279 mm, while July is the driest at just 0 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 63% of the year’s total.

050100150200250300JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec27923320948300331162278
Rainfall (mm)Rain days
Jan27928
Feb23325
Mar20924
Apr488
May31
Jun00
Jul00
Aug00
Sep31
Oct316
Nov16221
Dec27828

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Solwezi, 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 15 and lasts for 6.3 months, ending around October 23. The clearest month is July, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 90% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around October 24 and lasts for 5.7 months, ending around April 14. 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%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecJun 14 · 91%Jan 27 · 6%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastcloudierclearercloudier
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan793
Feb1189
Mar2476
Apr5446
May7921
Jun9010
Jul9010
Aug8812
Sep7921
Oct5743
Nov2773
Dec1090

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 30, 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)
Jan12.66:046:43
Feb12.46:176:41
Mar12.16:226:27
Apr11.76:236:07
May11.46:275:54
Jun11.36:365:53
Jul11.46:406:01
Aug11.66:316:06
Sep11.96:116:07
Oct12.35:516:08
Nov12.65:436:17
Dec12.75:496:32

Sunny days

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

Solwezi 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 24 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 5.7 months, from around Apr 22 to Oct 13. The sunniest month is July, with roughly 24 sunny days (brilliant).

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

051015202530JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgreyersunniergreyergloomymixedbrightbrilliantJul 1924 daysJan 250 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan0Gloomy
Feb1Gloomy
Mar2Gloomy
Apr8Mixed
May17Bright
Jun22Bright
Jul24Brilliant
Aug23Bright
Sep18Bright
Oct11Mixed
Nov4Gloomy
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 Solwezi, how humid it feels changes dramatically over the year.

The more humid part of the year lasts 5.4 months, from around November 4 to April 16. 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 17 to November 3, 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 10 · 100%Jan 21 · 1%muggydryhumidcomfortablehumidcomfortablehumid
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)Humid (%)Muggy (%)
Jan018019
Feb017425
Mar167518
Apr2133424
May811540
Jun99100
Jul100000
Aug100000
Sep95410
Oct6718150
Nov1117648
Dec028116

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 Solwezi is typically calm, near 8 km/h, and varies little with the seasons.

The windier part of the year lasts 6.7 months, from around Apr 9 to Oct 28. The windiest month is September, averaging about 11 km/h (calm).

The calmer part of the year runs from around Oct 29 to Apr 8, with December the calmest month at about 6 km/h.

051015JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDeccalmerwindiercalmercalmlight breezeSep 2 · 11 km/hDec 9 · 6 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan6calm
Feb6calm
Mar7calm
Apr9calm
May10calm
Jun10calm
Jul10calm
Aug10calm
Sep11calm
Oct9calm
Nov7calm
Dec6calm

Hazard calendar for Solwezi

In seasonPeak

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

Solwezi'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 Solwezi

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

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

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationJun 23 · 9.3

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
Feb3.9fair
Mar4.5fair
Apr6.8good
May8.4ideal
Jun9.2ideal
Jul9.2ideal
Aug8.0ideal
Sep5.9good
Oct4.8fair
Nov4.3fair
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 Solwezi for hot-weather activities is from late April to mid October, with a peak score in the last week of August.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationAug 25 · 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 Solwezi, 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, Solwezi sees daytime highs around 31°C and nights near 18°C. Pack light clothes and sun protection. About 6 days see rain.

UV index (midday) in Solwezi 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 Solwezi peaks around January 19 at about 16 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near June 19 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 19UV 9
UV index (midday)Level
Jan16Extreme
Feb15Extreme
Mar15Extreme
Apr13Extreme
May10Extreme
Jun9Very high
Jul10Very high
Aug10Extreme
Sep12Extreme
Oct13Extreme
Nov13Extreme
Dec13Extreme

Average hourly UV index in Solwezi

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 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)
Jan8.57
Feb8.57
Mar8.56.5
Apr86
May75
Jun74.5
Jul74.5
Aug7.55
Sep7.56
Oct8.56.5
Nov8.56.5
Dec8.56.5

Air quality in Solwezi 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 Solwezi is worst in August — around 87 µg/m³ PM2.5 (unhealthy), about 9.6× the cleanest month (April, 9 µg/m³).

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

0306090JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecGoodModerateUnhealthyPoorModerateGoodAug 1584 µg/m³Apr 129 µg/m³
PM2.5 (µg/m³)Level
Jan11Good
Feb11Good
Mar10Good
Apr9Good
May11Good
Jun29Moderate
Jul67Unhealthy
Aug87Unhealthy
Sep53Poor
Oct32Moderate
Nov13Moderate
Dec9Good
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free dayFrost-free year round

Solwezi 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. Solwezi banks about 4,135 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)
Jan354
Feb322
Mar355
Apr331
May319
Jun254
Jul256
Aug336
Sep411
Oct458
Nov386
Dec355

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.

Solwezi receives about 5.6 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — bright — with a clear seasonal swing between 5.0 and 6.8 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 4.0 months, from around Jul 25 to Nov 22. The brightest month is September, averaging about 6.7 kWh/m² (intense).

The dimmest month is January, down near 5.0 kWh/m² — roughly 26% less than the September peak.

012345678JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmerbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightintenseSep 276.8 kWhJan 85.0 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan5.0Bright
Feb5.1Bright
Mar5.2Bright
Apr5.4Bright
May5.5Bright
Jun5.4Bright
Jul5.5Bright
Aug6.1Intense
Sep6.8Intense
Oct6.7Intense
Nov5.9Bright
Dec5.1Bright

Where is Solwezi?

Solwezi sits at 12.2°S, 26.4°E, 1,381 m above sea level, in Zambia. The nearest listed city is Kansanshi, 9.0 km away.

ChisasaKipushiLubumbashiLikasiKamboveKasempa

Topography around Solwezi

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Solwezi has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 83 m around an average of 1,357 m above sea level; within 16 km, only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 235 m; within 80 km, significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 501 m.

The land around Solwezi is covered by artificial surfaces (48%) within 3 km, grassland (38%) and trees (28%) within 16 km, and trees (79%) within 80 km.

3 km
83 m
16 km
235 m
80 km
501 m
treesshrubsgrasslandcroplandartificial surfacesbare terrainwater
Nearby: Kansanshi 9.0 km · Manyama 61 km · Chisasa 97 km · Kipushi 104 km · Lubumbashi 131 km · Likasi 137 km · Kambove 146 km · Kasempa 156 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 Solwezi (-12.1688°, 26.3894°, elevation 1,381 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).