🇿🇲Zambia

Zambia (752,612 km²) lies at 8°–18°S, 22°–34°E across the south-central African plateau, predominantly between 1,000–1,300 m elevation, creating a tropical wet-dry savanna climate (Köppen Aw/Cwa) with subtropical characteristics moderated by altitude rather than coastal tropical heat.

The climate is dominated by a pronounced seasonal contrast: a distinct rainy season from November to April (corresponding to the austral summer) when the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) migrates southward bringing 700–1,200 mm annual rainfall concentrated in intense thunderstorms with frequent lightning, and a long dry season from May to October/November (austral winter) subdivided into the cool dry period (May–August) with daily maxima 21–26°C and minima 6–12°C, and the hot dry season (September–October) reaching 28–35°C maxima with 17–22°C minima.

Rainfall gradients are pronounced: the wettest northern and northwestern districts receive up to 1,400 mm annually, while the driest southwestern areas and the Luangwa and middle Zambezi river valleys approach semi-arid steppe conditions (BSk) with under 700 mm, though no part of the country qualifies as true desert.

Lower-elevation valleys experience higher temperatures, with the Luangwa and lower Zambezi valleys routinely exceeding 40°C in October before the rains arrive. The country's hydrological regime depends entirely on seasonal rainfall, with major rivers like the Zambezi and its tributaries fed by the summer rains, and perennial dambos (seasonally marshy grasslands) sustaining dry-season water supplies from springs and shallow groundwater.

Zambia faces severe climate variability driven by El Niño and La Niña cycles, with intensifying impacts on rainfed agriculture supporting 60% of the population. The 2023–24 El Niño drought—the worst in over 40 years—reduced December 2023–April 2024 rainfall by over 50% across key maize-producing provinces, collapsing the national harvest by more than half and triggering a national disaster declaration in February 2024, with 5.6 million people facing acute food insecurity.

The prolonged drought drove Kariba Dam to historic lows since its 1959 construction, forcing Zambia and Zimbabwe to impose rotating power cuts lasting 12–20 hours daily through much of 2024, affecting industry and water supply systems. The 2018–19 drought similarly reduced harvests and triggered emergency food aid.

Recurring cholera outbreaks in Lusaka and Copperbelt urban areas are increasingly linked to inadequate water and sanitation infrastructure stressed by erratic rainfall. Historical droughts in 1991–92, 1994–95, 2001–02, 2004–05, and 2015–16 recur with intensifying frequency, each collapsing harvests and forcing expensive grain imports. Flooding during heavy rainy seasons damages crops and infrastructure, particularly flash floods in areas unaccustomed to annual inundation.

Our archive covers 0 Zambian cities with daily ERA5 reanalysis data going back to 1940.