Climate and average weather in Harare Western Suburbs

In Harare Western Suburbs, the summers are hot, fairly dry, and mostly clear and the winters are mild and clear.

Best: mid April to late September

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Harare Western Suburbs typically varies from 8°C to 29°C, and is rarely below 6°C or above 32°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 Harare Western Suburbs for warm-weather activities is from mid April to late September.

Hottest
Oct
29°
Coldest
Jul
Wettest
Jan
218 mm
Driest
Aug
1 mm
Rain / yr
779 mm
94 wet days
Daylight
10.9–13.1 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
1,460 m
17.8°S
Clearest
Aug
20% cloud

Harare Western Suburbs 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 mid April to late September.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

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

The hot season lasts 2.6 months, from September 12 to November 28, with daily high temperatures above 27°C. The hottest month of the year in Harare Western Suburbs is October, with an average high of 29°C and low of 16°C.

The cool season lasts 1.9 months, from June 2 to July 30, with daily high temperatures below 22°C. The coldest month of the year in Harare Western Suburbs is July, with an average low of 8°C and high of 21°C.

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

10°15°20°25°30°35°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan2617
Feb2617
Mar2616
Apr2514
May2311
Jun219
Jul218
Aug2410
Sep2713
Oct2916
Nov2817
Dec2617

Average hourly temperature in Harare Western Suburbs

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 29°C, and coldest before dawn in July, near C.

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

Harare Western Suburbs 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°21820.512.95.0
Feb26° / 17°1441612.65.4
Mar26° / 16°9312.512.16.4
Apr25° / 14°284.911.67.9
May23° / 11°61.411.28.8
Jun21° / 20.4118.7
Jul21° / 10.2118.7
Aug24° / 10°10.211.49.3
Sep27° / 13°30.911.98.5
Oct29° / 16°224.112.46.8
Nov28° / 17°8212.512.85.7
Dec26° / 17°17920.1135.0

Chance of rain

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

Harare Western Suburbs gets about 779 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 4.9 months, from around Nov 4 to Mar 31, peaking in December at about 69% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Jul 23.

January is the wettest month by volume, with 218 mm over about 21 wet days; August is the driest, with 1 mm.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwetterdrierwettermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetDec 20 · 69%Jul 23 · 0%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan6621
Feb5816
Mar4013
Apr175
May51
Jun10
Jul10
Aug00
Sep31
Oct144
Nov4113
Dec6420

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Harare Western Suburbs collects about 779 mm of rain across 94 wet days — roughly 65 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. January is the wettest month with 218 mm, while August is the driest at just 1 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 69% of the year’s total.

050100150200250JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec2181449328621132282179
Rainfall (mm)Rain days
Jan21821
Feb14416
Mar9313
Apr285
May61
Jun20
Jul10
Aug10
Sep31
Oct224
Nov8213
Dec17920

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Harare Western Suburbs, 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 6.8 months, ending around November 4. The clearest month is August, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 91% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around November 5 and lasts for 5.2 months, ending around April 12. The cloudiest month is January, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 69% 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 2 · 93%Dec 21 · 28%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastcloudierclearercloudier
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan3169
Feb3961
Mar5248
Apr7030
May8416
Jun8515
Jul8317
Aug919
Sep9010
Oct8218
Nov5446
Dec3268

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 h 06 min of light; the shortest, around June 13, only 10 h 54 min — a swing of roughly 2 h 12 min.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan12.95:376:35
Feb12.65:536:29
Mar12.16:026:10
Apr11.66:095:45
May11.26:185:28
Jun11.06:295:25
Jul11.06:315:33
Aug11.46:195:42
Sep11.95:545:48
Oct12.45:295:54
Nov12.85:166:07
Dec13.05:216:25

Sunny days

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

Harare Western Suburbs averages about 14 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 3 and 25 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 6.5 months, from around Apr 20 to Nov 2. The sunniest month is September, with roughly 24 sunny days (brilliant).

The greyest month is January, down near 3 sunny days — about 85% fewer than the September peak.

051015202530JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgreyersunniergreyergloomymixedbrightbrilliantSep 125 daysJan 153 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan3Gloomy
Feb4Gloomy
Mar7Gloomy
Apr13Mixed
May19Bright
Jun20Bright
Jul21Bright
Aug24Brilliant
Sep23Brilliant
Oct19Bright
Nov10Mixed
Dec5Gloomy

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 Harare Western Suburbs, how humid it feels changes dramatically over the year.

The more humid part of the year lasts 4.6 months, from around November 17 to April 4. The muggiest month is January, when the air feels humid, muggy or worse about 72% of the time.

The most comfortable stretch runs from around April 5 to November 16, and May 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%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecMay 17 · 100%Jan 23 · 25%humidcomfortabledryhumidcomfortablehumid
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)Humid (%)Muggy (%)
Jan424666
Feb628615
Mar1240462
Apr5434130
May95400
Jun100000
Jul100000
Aug100000
Sep98200
Oct861400
Nov4633211
Dec1226603

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 Harare Western Suburbs is typically calm, near 10 km/h, and varies little with the seasons.

The windier part of the year lasts 4.9 months, from around Jul 7 to Dec 1. The windiest month is October, averaging about 12 km/h (light breeze).

The calmer part of the year runs from around Dec 2 to Jul 6, with May the calmest month at about 9 km/h.

05101520JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDeccalmerwindiercalmercalmlight breezeOct 2 · 13 km/hMay 21 · 9 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan9calm
Feb9calm
Mar9calm
Apr9calm
May9calm
Jun9calm
Jul10calm
Aug11calm
Sep12light breeze
Oct12light breeze
Nov11calm
Dec9calm

Hazard calendar for Harare Western Suburbs

In seasonPeak

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

Harare Western Suburbs'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 Harare Western Suburbs

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

Around mid April, Harare Western Suburbs 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 Harare Western Suburbs for general outdoor tourist activities is from early April to late September, with a peak score in the second week of August.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationAug 14 · 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
Jan5.0fair
Feb5.4fair
Mar6.4good
Apr7.9ideal
May8.8ideal
Jun8.7ideal
Jul8.7ideal
Aug9.3ideal
Sep8.5ideal
Oct6.8good
Nov5.7good
Dec5.1fair

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 Harare Western Suburbs for hot-weather activities run from mid April to mid May and again from early August to mid November, with a peak score in the third week of September.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationSep 19 · 8.8

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 Harare Western Suburbs, 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 29°C), the essentials are light clothes and sun protection. In the cold season around July (highs near 21°C), pack sun protection.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In October, Harare Western Suburbs sees daytime highs around 29°C and nights near 16°C. Pack light clothes and sun protection. About 4 days see rain.

UV index (midday) in Harare Western Suburbs 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 Harare Western Suburbs peaks around January 17 at about 16 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near June 21 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 17UV 16Jun 21UV 8
UV index (midday)Level
Jan16Extreme
Feb14Extreme
Mar14Extreme
Apr11Extreme
May9Very high
Jun8Very high
Jul8Very high
Aug9Very high
Sep10Extreme
Oct11Extreme
Nov14Extreme
Dec14Extreme

Average hourly UV index in Harare Western Suburbs

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
Jun63.5
Jul6.53.5
Aug74.5
Sep7.55
Oct86
Nov8.57
Dec8.57

Air quality in Harare Western Suburbs 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 Harare Western Suburbs is worst in August — around 53 µg/m³ PM2.5 (poor), about 4.7× the cleanest month (January, 11 µg/m³).

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

0204060JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecModeratePoorModerateAug 1452 µg/m³Jan 1111 µg/m³
PM2.5 (µg/m³)Level
Jan11Good
Feb15Moderate
Mar17Moderate
Apr23Moderate
May34Moderate
Jun39Poor
Jul48Poor
Aug53Poor
Sep43Poor
Oct29Moderate
Nov17Moderate
Dec12Good
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free dayFrost-free year round

Harare Western Suburbs 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. Harare Western Suburbs banks about 3,448 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around November.

01,0002,0003,000JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°C·days)
Jan355
Feb319
Mar336
Apr277
May221
Jun152
Jul148
Aug223
Sep307
Oct377
Nov373
Dec359

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.

Harare Western Suburbs receives about 5.8 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — bright — with a clear seasonal swing between 4.6 and 7.0 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 7.0 kWh/m² (intense).

The dimmest month is June, down near 4.7 kWh/m² — roughly 33% less than the October peak.

012345678JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmerbrighterdimmoderatebrightintenseOct 217.0 kWhJun 284.6 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan5.7Bright
Feb5.8Bright
Mar5.7Bright
Apr5.4Bright
May5.1Bright
Jun4.7Bright
Jul4.8Bright
Aug5.7Bright
Sep6.7Intense
Oct7.0Intense
Nov6.6Intense
Dec5.9Bright

Where is Harare Western Suburbs?

Harare Western Suburbs sits at 17.8°S, 30.9°E, 1,460 m above sea level, in Zimbabwe. The nearest listed city is Mount Hampden, 13 km away.

BinduraMarondera

Topography around Harare Western Suburbs

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Harare Western Suburbs has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 85 m around an average of 1,426 m above sea level; within 16 km, only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 199 m; within 80 km, large variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 759 m.

The land around Harare Western Suburbs is covered by cropland (47%), grassland (23%) and artificial surfaces (21%) within 3 km, grassland (33%) and cropland (31%) within 16 km, and grassland (42%) and cropland (23%) within 80 km.

3 km
85 m
16 km
199 m
80 km
759 m
treesshrubsgrasslandcroplandartificial surfaceswater
Nearby: Mount Hampden 13 km · Harare 19 km · Norton 19 km · Chitungwiza 28 km · Epworth 29 km · Ruwa 39 km · Bindura 77 km · Marondera 81 km

Zimbabwe travel facts

Travel advisory
Level 2
Exercise Increased Caution
Power plugs
Type D / G
220 V · 50 Hz
Prices
≈ 56% of US
price level, 2025
GDP per capita
$3,021
2025
Happiness
3.3 / 10
World Happiness, 2025
Safe drinking water
25%
of population, 2024
Homicide rate
6.8
per 100k, 2022
Road deaths
41.2
per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group
Lower middle
World Bank
English
Very high
EF EPI 602
Religion
Apostolic Sect 40%Pentecostal 17%Protestant 14%none 8%

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 Harare Western Suburbs (-17.8415°, 30.8767°, elevation 1,460 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).