Climate and average weather in Ruwa

In Ruwa, the summers are warm, fairly dry, and mostly clear and the winters are mild and clear.

Best: early April to mid October

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Ruwa typically varies from 8°C to 28°C, and is rarely below 5°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 Ruwa for warm-weather activities is from early April to mid October.

Hottest
Oct
28°
Coldest
Jul
Wettest
Jan
206 mm
Driest
Aug
1 mm
Rain / yr
812 mm
93 wet days
Daylight
10.9–13.1 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
1,562 m
17.9°S
Clearest
Aug
20% cloud

Ruwa is town in Harare Province, Zimbabwe.

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

Ruwa 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 early April to mid October.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

Daily average highs and lows in Ruwa, 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 10 to November 28, with daily high temperatures above 26°C. The hottest month of the year in Ruwa is October, with an average high of 28°C and low of 15°C.

The cool season lasts 1.9 months, from June 3 to July 29, with daily high temperatures below 21°C. The coldest month of the year in Ruwa is July, with an average low of 8°C and high of 20°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)
Jan2517
Feb2516
Mar2515
Apr2413
May2310
Jun218
Jul208
Aug2310
Sep2713
Oct2815
Nov2716
Dec2516

Average hourly temperature in Ruwa

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 28°C, and coldest before dawn in July, near C.

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

Ruwa 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°20619.7135.2
Feb25° / 16°13814.312.65.8
Mar25° / 15°9311.612.16.6
Apr24° / 13°345.411.68.0
May23° / 10°81.611.28.6
Jun21° / 20.710.98.5
Jul20° / 10.2118.5
Aug23° / 10°10.311.49.2
Sep27° / 13°40.811.98.7
Oct28° / 15°315.512.47.5
Nov27° / 16°1001312.86.1
Dec25° / 16°19319.613.15.2

Chance of rain

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

Ruwa gets about 812 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 Oct 31 to Apr 1, peaking in December at about 66% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Jul 24.

January is the wettest month by volume, with 206 mm over about 20 wet days; August is the driest, with 1 mm.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwetterdrierwettermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetDec 19 · 66%Jul 24 · 0%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan6320
Feb5214
Mar3712
Apr185
May62
Jun21
Jul10
Aug10
Sep31
Oct176
Nov4313
Dec6320

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Ruwa collects about 812 mm of rain across 93 wet days — roughly 68 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. January is the wettest month with 206 mm, while August is the driest at just 1 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 66% of the year’s total.

050100150200250JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec20613893348211431100193
Rainfall (mm)Rain days
Jan20620
Feb13814
Mar9312
Apr345
May82
Jun21
Jul10
Aug10
Sep41
Oct316
Nov10013
Dec19320

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Ruwa, 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 9 and lasts for 6.9 months, ending around November 3. The clearest month is August, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 90% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around November 4 and lasts for 5.1 months, ending around April 8. The cloudiest month is December, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 68% 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 20 · 28%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastcloudierclearercloudier
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan3367
Feb4060
Mar5446
Apr7228
May8515
Jun8515
Jul8416
Aug9010
Sep9010
Oct7921
Nov5347
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 12, 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)
Jan13.05:356:33
Feb12.65:526:28
Mar12.16:016:08
Apr11.66:075:43
May11.26:165:26
Jun10.96:275:23
Jul11.06:305:31
Aug11.46:175:41
Sep11.95:525:46
Oct12.45:285:52
Nov12.85:156:06
Dec13.15:196:23

Sunny days

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

Ruwa 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 17 to Oct 30. The sunniest month is September, with roughly 23 sunny days (bright).

The greyest month is January, down near 4 sunny days — about 83% fewer than the September peak.

051015202530JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgreyersunniergreyergloomymixedbrightbrilliantSep 125 daysJan 193 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan4Gloomy
Feb5Gloomy
Mar8Gloomy
Apr14Mixed
May20Bright
Jun21Bright
Jul21Bright
Aug24Brilliant
Sep23Bright
Oct18Bright
Nov9Mixed
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 Ruwa, how humid it feels changes dramatically over the year.

The more humid part of the year lasts 4.5 months, from around November 16 to April 2. The muggiest month is January, when the air feels humid, muggy or worse about 65% of the time.

The most comfortable stretch runs from around April 3 to November 15, 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 13 · 100%Jan 21 · 34%humiddrycomfortablehumidcomfortablehumid
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)Humid (%)Muggy (%)
Jan629623
Feb933562
Mar1744391
Apr5832100
May96400
Jun100000
Jul100000
Aug100000
Sep98200
Oct861400
Nov4634200
Dec1330561

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 Ruwa 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 Jun 29 to Nov 24. The windiest month is October, averaging about 12 km/h (light breeze).

The calmer part of the year runs from around Nov 25 to Jun 28, with December the calmest month at about 9 km/h.

05101520JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDeccalmerwindiercalmercalmlight breezeOct 2 · 12 km/hDec 22 · 9 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan9calm
Feb10calm
Mar10calm
Apr10calm
May9calm
Jun10calm
Jul11calm
Aug11calm
Sep12light breeze
Oct12light breeze
Nov11calm
Dec9calm

Hazard calendar for Ruwa

In seasonPeak

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

Ruwa'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 Ruwa

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

Around mid April, Ruwa 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 Ruwa for general outdoor tourist activities is from early April to mid October, with a peak score in the third week of August.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationAug 20 · 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
Jan5.2fair
Feb5.8good
Mar6.6good
Apr8.0ideal
May8.6ideal
Jun8.5ideal
Jul8.5ideal
Aug9.2ideal
Sep8.7ideal
Oct7.5good
Nov6.1good
Dec5.2fair

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

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationSep 19 · 8.6

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 Ruwa, 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 28°C), the essentials are light clothes and sun protection. In the cold season around July (highs near 20°C), pack a warm layer and sun protection.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In October, Ruwa sees daytime highs around 28°C and nights near 15°C. Pack light clothes and sun protection. About 6 days see rain.

UV index (midday) in Ruwa 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 Ruwa peaks around January 16 at about 16 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near June 20 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 16UV 16Jun 20UV 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 Ruwa

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 7.5 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)
Jan97.5
Feb8.56.5
Mar86.5
Apr7.55.5
May6.54.5
Jun63.5
Jul6.54
Aug74.5
Sep7.55
Oct85.5
Nov8.56.5
Dec8.57

Air quality in Ruwa 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 Ruwa is worst in August — around 41 µg/m³ PM2.5 (poor), about 4.2× the cleanest month (January, 10 µg/m³).

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

0204060JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecGoodModeratePoorModerateGoodAug 1941 µg/m³Jan 110 µg/m³
PM2.5 (µg/m³)Level
Jan10Good
Feb13Moderate
Mar14Moderate
Apr19Moderate
May27Moderate
Jun30Moderate
Jul37Poor
Aug41Poor
Sep39Poor
Oct28Moderate
Nov14Moderate
Dec10Good
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free dayFrost-free year round

Ruwa 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. Ruwa banks about 3,178 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)
Jan336
Feb302
Mar317
Apr255
May197
Jun130
Jul124
Aug199
Sep284
Oct350
Nov346
Dec338

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.

Ruwa receives about 5.8 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — bright — with a clear seasonal swing between 4.5 and 7.0 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 6.3 months, from around Aug 18 to Feb 26. The brightest month is October, averaging about 7.0 kWh/m² (intense).

The dimmest month is June, down near 4.6 kWh/m² — roughly 34% less than the October peak.

012345678JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbrighterdimmerbrighterdimmoderatebrightintenseOct 227.0 kWhJun 294.5 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan5.8Bright
Feb5.9Bright
Mar5.7Bright
Apr5.4Bright
May5.1Bright
Jun4.6Bright
Jul4.8Bright
Aug5.7Bright
Sep6.7Intense
Oct7.0Intense
Nov6.6Intense
Dec6.0Intense

Where is Ruwa?

Ruwa sits at 17.9°S, 31.2°E, 1,562 m above sea level, in Zimbabwe. The nearest listed city is Epworth, 10 km away.

MaronderaNortonBindura

Topography around Ruwa

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Ruwa has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 77 m around an average of 1,545 m above sea level; within 16 km, significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 319 m; within 80 km, large variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 860 m.

The land around Ruwa is covered by artificial surfaces (30%), grassland (28%) and cropland (27%) within 3 km, grassland (32%) and cropland (25%) within 16 km, and grassland (41%) and cropland (23%) within 80 km.

3 km
77 m
16 km
319 m
80 km
860 m
treesshrubsgrasslandcroplandartificial surfacesbare terrainwater
Nearby: Epworth 10 km · Harare 21 km · Chitungwiza 23 km · Mount Hampden 36 km · Harare Western Suburbs 39 km · Marondera 46 km · Norton 58 km · Bindura 66 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 Ruwa (-17.8897°, 31.2447°, elevation 1,562 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).