🇨🇩DR Congo

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (5°20′N–13°27′S), Africa's second-largest country, straddles the equator and encompasses the vast central Congo Basin rainforest, the eastern Albertine Rift highlands rising above 5,100 m at the Rwenzori Mountains and Mount Stanley (5,109 m), active volcanoes including Nyiragongo (3,470 m), and the higher southern Katanga plateau. The country exhibits three main Köppen regimes: equatorial rainforest (Af) across the central basin, tropical savanna (Aw) on the northern and southern fringes (dry-winter Cwa on the high Katanga plateau), and cooler highland climates in the eastern volcanic highlands.

Kinshasa has highs of 28–33°C and nights of 20–23°C year-round with roughly 1,400–1,500 mm of rain and a marked June–August dry season. The central Congo Basin around Mbandaka experiences uniformly hot and humid conditions, with highs of 29–31°C and nights around 20–21°C, with about 1,550 mm annually and almost no dry season. Lubumbashi on the southern plateau is notably cooler, with highs of 25–32°C and nights of 8–17°C, with ~1,200 mm falling from November through March. Goma, at 1,500 m on Lake Kivu's shore, sees a pleasant daily mean of about 20°C.

The eastern volcanic highlands around Goma and Bukavu receive about 1,200–1,300 mm. Intertropical Convergence Zone migration gives the north and south opposite wet seasons, with two rainy seasons at many places near the equator. Major hazards include Nyiragongo eruptions (2002, 2021), Lake Kivu limnic risk, Congo River basin flooding, and deforestation.

Our archive covers 38 Congolese cities with daily ERA5 reanalysis data going back to 1940. The hottest July afternoons are in Tshikapa, with average highs around 33.2°C, while Butembo has the coldest January nights, with average lows near 12.9°C. Comparing the last decade against the 1940–1970 baseline, mean temperatures across these cities have risen by about 1.4°C.