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Kitwe weather by month — averages, rainfall & climate trends

Average temperatures and rainfall by month, a climate graph, today's conditions versus the long-term average, and how the climate has shifted since 1940 — all on one page for Kitwe, Zambia.

Right now

What it's doing today vs the historical average for this date.
Clear

Right now

18.4°

16°feels like
33%humidity
dew point
3 km/hfrom S
sunrise06:29sunset17:57day length11h 28m
TodayClear27°
TueClear28°
WedClear29°11°
ThuMostly clear28°12°
FriPartly cloudy27°13°
SatMostly clear26°13°
SunMostly clear26°12°

On this date — July 20

Today (forecast)
27° /
Average for July 20
25° / 11°

About average

  • Record high: 28.7° · 2002
  • Record low: 6.3° · 2012
  • One year ago: 22.2°

Every July 20 in history — coldest to hottest

Daily highsDaily lows

Dots show daily highs (top) and lows (bottom) for each July 20 on record (n = 87). Outlined dots are today's forecast.

Area we sample

Each city's history comes from one ERA5 grid cell — about 28 km across, shown by the dashed box. Near mountains or coasts, conditions can vary across the cell.

Location & data

Historical weather for Kitwe is sampled from the ECMWF ERA5 reanalysis at 12.80°S, 28.21°E, with daily records since 1940.

Coordinates
12.80°S, 28.21°E
Time zone
Africa/Lusaka
Period
1940–2026
Data source
ERA5 (ECMWF)

Last 30 days

13 of the last 31 days were warmer than the historical average for that date. Average difference: 0.1°C.

Each bar is one day, from morning low to afternoon high. Warm-colored bars are days whose mean ran above average; cool bars ran below. The dot inside the bar is the daily mean. The shaded band is the typical 10–90% range expected for that date. Average = the day's mean temperature averaged across every year of record (1940–2026) for that calendar date.

This date over the years

One dot per year — the mean temperature on this calendar date. Dots are warmer or cooler than the long-term average (dashed line); the shaded band is the typical 10–90% range, and the highlighted dot is today's forecast. Based on ERA5 reanalysis — modelled estimates, not station readings.

Weather by month

Average temperatures and rainfall for each month — what a typical year looks like, from the full record.

Climate overview

Temperatures in Kitwe stay within a narrow band all year — the monthly means sit just 7.5°C apart. October brings the year's peak warmth: daily means of 25.3°C, with afternoons typically reaching 31.8°C. In a typical recent year, around 80 days reach 30°C or more. At the other extreme, July averages 17.7°C, with typical overnight lows of 11.4°C. Frost is essentially unknown.

Rainfall is strongly seasonal: the bulk of the year's rain falls between November and March. Kitwe picks up roughly 1232 mm a year, peaking at 299 mm in January; August is essentially rainless.

Over the full record (since 1940), the annual mean temperature in Kitwe has risen by 0.5°C between its first decade and its last. You can follow the shift year by year in the charts above.

Climate graph (climograph)

October is the warmest month, July the coolest — a yearly swing of 8°C. Wettest month: January (~299 mm). Whole year averages ~1232 mm of rain.

Bars = average monthly rainfall (right axis). Lines = average daily high and low (left axis). Average = each month's value averaged across every year of record (1940–2026).

Monthly wind

Average daily peak wind at 10 m, by month.

Monthly solar energy

Average daily incoming solar energy in megajoules per square metre — a measured proxy for how sunny the month is.

Kitwe month by month — what to expect

Typical conditions for each month, averaged across the full record (since 1940). Daylight is the time from sunrise to sunset. Record high/low are the most extreme values in the ERA5 dataset (modelled since 1940), so they can differ from official weather-station readings.

MonthAvg highAvg lowRainDaylightRecord highRecord low
January25.8°17.7°299 mm12.7 h31.1° (2016)13.3° (1960)
February26.1°17.7°249 mm12.4 h31.8° (2005)12.6° (1945)
March26.3°17.3°185 mm12.1 h32.1° (1954)12.4° (1959)
April26.5°16.1°47 mm11.7 h32.3° (1954)10.7° (1985)
May26.4°14.0°5 mm11.4 h31.5° (1998)7.8° (1982)
June24.9°11.7°0 mm11.3 h30.3° (2024)5.7° (2024)
July24.9°11.4°0 mm11.3 h30.0° (1994)5.7° (1991)
August27.5°13.6°0 mm11.6 h33.1° (1981)7.1° (1993)
September30.6°16.9°2 mm11.9 h35.8° (1944)9.1° (1990)
October31.8°19.2°24 mm12.3 h37.2° (2017)11.5° (2024)
November28.9°18.5°149 mm12.6 h35.9° (2018)13.9° (1964)
December26.4°17.9°271 mm12.7 h35.4° (2021)13.6° (2006)

How it has changed

Year-by-year signals from 1940 to today.

Climate stripes

Annual mean shifted from 1940–1949 to 2016–2025 by +0.5°C.

Each vertical stripe is one year. Color encodes how much that year's annual mean differed from the long-term average. Average = each year's annual mean compared to the average of all years (1940–2026). cooler ← → warmer

Annual mean temperature

Long-term trend: +0.09°C per decade.

One point per year — the temperature averaged across the whole year. The dashed line is the least-squares long-term trend. Based on ERA5 reanalysis — modelled estimates, not station readings.

Seasonal warming

Dec–Feb is warming fastest: +0.18°C per decade.

Each faint line is one three-month period's average per year; the bold dashed line is its long-term trend. Different parts of the year often warm at different rates. Based on ERA5 reanalysis — modelled estimates, not station readings.

Hot days vs frost days

Days ≥ 30°C per year: 67.4 early in the record → 77.6 recently. Frost days: 0 → 0.

Thin lines are raw yearly counts; thick lines are the smoothed trend that removes year-to-year noise. The hot-day threshold is auto-picked per city so the line actually moves. Average = a centered 5-year rolling average to smooth weather noise.

Yearly hot & cold extremes

All-time high in 2017, all-time low in 2024: 37.2°C / 5.7°C.

One point per year — the single hottest and coldest day recorded that year.

Annual rainfall

~1232 mm/year on average. Last decade ran −5% vs that average. Long-term trend: 20 mm per decade.

One bar per year of total rainfall. Dashed line is the long-term average. Average = the average annual rainfall across every year of record (1940–2026).

Day-by-day grid

Each tiny square is one calendar day across the full record — ~30,000 days per city. Use the mode switch above the chart: Anomaly colors each day by how far it ran from the historical average for that date (red = warmer, blue = cooler), Daily mean temp shows the absolute mean temperature for the day (useful to see seasons and heatwaves), and Precipitation shows daily rainfall (useful to spot wet/dry seasons and droughts). Average = the long-term average for that calendar date (1940–2026).

Kitwe — Frequently asked questions

Which is the warmest month in Kitwe?
On long-term average, the warmest month in Kitwe is October (mean about 25.3°C) and the coolest is July (about 17.7°C).
How does today's temperature in Kitwe compare to the historical average?
On 2026-07-20, Kitwe is forecast to reach a high of 27.0°C and a low of 7.0°C. The long-term average for this date (the full record since 1940) is a high of 25.1°C and a low of 11.3°C — today's high is 1.9°C warmer than that average.
How much has Kitwe warmed since 1940?
Comparing the first decade of the record (1940–1949) with the most recent (2016–2025), the annual mean temperature in Kitwe is about 0.5°C warmer.
How much does it rain in Kitwe?
Kitwe receives about 1232 mm of precipitation per year on long-term average, with January typically the wettest month.
What is the average temperature in Kitwe?
Over the full record (since 1940), the annual mean temperature in Kitwe is about 21.1°C. The warmest month is October and the coolest is July.
What are the average temperatures in Kitwe by month?
Average daily highs and lows for each month in Kitwe (°C, full record since 1940): January 26°/18°, February 26°/18°, March 26°/17°, April 27°/16°, May 26°/14°, June 25°/12°, July 25°/11°, August 27°/14°, September 31°/17°, October 32°/19°, November 29°/18°, December 26°/18°.
How many days a year does it rain in Kitwe?
On long-term average, Kitwe has about 138 days a year with measurable rain, totalling roughly 1232 mm.

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