🇧🇼Botswana

Botswana spans 17°47′S to 26°54′S in landlocked southern Africa, occupying an overwhelmingly flat plateau between 800 and 1,200 m elevation. The Kalahari Desert sands dominate the south and west, while the Okavango Delta — the world's largest inland delta — spreads across the northwest. Semi-arid hot steppe (Köppen BSh) and hot desert (BWh) climates predominate, with a slightly wetter subtropical fringe (Cwa) in the northeast around Francistown and the Tuli Block.

Gaborone averages 13°C in July and 26°C in January, with roughly 530 mm of annual rainfall concentrated between November and March; frosts occur on cold winter nights. The Kalahari interior is considerably drier, receiving 200–400 mm annually, and experiences daily summer maxima above 40°C.

The Okavango Delta receives flood-pulse waters from the Angolan highlands months after local rains, producing globally unique seasonal flooding that peaks mid-year. ENSO exerts a very strong drought signal — El Niño years deliver severe regional drought, as in 1991–92, 2015–16, and 2018–20. Intensifying summer heat and reduced reliable rainfall threaten the cattle-based rural economy and the Okavango's fragile ecology.

Our archive covers 2 Botswanan cities with daily ERA5 reanalysis data going back to 1940. The warmest July averages occur in Francistown, around 22.9°C, while Francistown records the coldest January nights near 19.8°C. Comparing the last decade against the 1940–1970 baseline, mean temperatures across these cities have risen by about 0.8°C.