Climate averages 1991–2020
Francistown weather
in December.
A hot, wet month: the joint 3rd warmest and the wettest of the year.
Long-term climate patterns, not a forecast for a particular trip.
December is a hot month in Francistown: daytime highs average 29.8°C and nights cool to about 19.4°C. By daytime temperature it is the joint 3rd warmest of the 12 months.
Expect about 96 mm of rain on roughly 13 days, which makes December a wet month (the wettest month of the year). Daylight, from sunrise to sunset, lasts about 13 h 23 min on an average December day.
The nearest other city in this atlas is Bulawayo (159 km away). In December its highs average 26.9°C, 2.9°C cooler than Francistown, with 148 mm of rain.
Among the 5 cities listed in Botswana, Francistown ranks 5th of 5 for the warmest December highs and 4th of 5 for the driest December (rainfall, lowest first). The mean December high of those 5 cities is 30.8°C; Francistown is 1.0°C cooler than that mean.
From December to January, average highs fall by 0.1°C to 29.7°C, and monthly rainfall falls from 96 mm to 95 mm.
The annual picture
December in context
Monthly rainfall
Average total · mmAverages from hourly ERA5 reanalysis data. Actual weather varies from year to year. How these numbers are calculated
Every month, side by side
Francistown climate table
| Month | Average highHigh / low | Average low | Rainfall mm/month | Rain days ≥1 mm/day | Daylight hours/dayDaylight h/day |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 29.7°C19.6°C | 19.6°C | 95 | 11.7 | 13.313 h |
| February | 29.4°C19.3°C | 19.3°C | 88 | 9.6 | 12.813 h |
| March | 28.8°C18.3°C | 18.3°C | 45 | 6.8 | 12.212 h |
| April | 27.2°C15.8°C | 15.8°C | 11 | 2.5 | 11.612 h |
| May | 25.1°C12.2°C | 12.2°C | 4.2 | 0.9 | 11.111 h |
| June | 22.5°C9.5°C | 9.5°C | 3.5 | 0.5 | 10.911 h |
| July | 22.0°C8.8°C | 8.8°C | 3.5 | 0.4 | 11.011 h |
| August | 25.9°C11.4°C | 11.4°C | 0.6 | 0.1 | 11.411 h |
| September | 29.8°C15.0°C | 15.0°C | 5.5 | 1.1 | 12.012 h |
| October | 31.8°C17.7°C | 17.7°C | 15 | 3.4 | 12.613 h |
| November | 31.2°C19.1°C | 19.1°C | 55 | 9.2 | 13.113 h |
| December, selected | 29.8°C19.4°C | 19.4°C | 96 | 12.8 | 13.413 h |
Rainfall is the average of the 30 separate monthly totals. A rain day is a local calendar day with at least 1 mm of precipitation. Daylight is the calculated sunrise-to-sunset length, not measured sunshine.
Compare places
December in nearby cities
- Bulawayo in DecemberZimbabwe · 159 kmHigh 26.9°C · Low 17.0°C · 148 mm rain
- Gweru in DecemberZimbabwe · 307 kmHigh 25.9°C · Low 16.4°C · 184 mm rain
- Louis Trichardt in DecemberSouth Africa · 323 kmHigh 28.2°C · Low 18.4°C · 103 mm rain
- Kwekwe in DecemberZimbabwe · 347 kmHigh 28.0°C · Low 18.0°C · 163 mm rain
- Polokwane in DecemberSouth Africa · 365 kmHigh 26.4°C · Low 16.2°C · 131 mm rain
- Thohoyandou in DecemberSouth Africa · 365 kmHigh 27.7°C · Low 18.5°C · 161 mm rain
- Masvingo in DecemberZimbabwe · 367 kmHigh 27.3°C · Low 17.8°C · 145 mm rain
- Mokopane in DecemberSouth Africa · 370 kmHigh 28.7°C · Low 17.7°C · 99 mm rain
Read the numbers correctly
Climate, not a promise.
These patterns help compare months. They cannot tell you the weather on a specific day of your trip.
Sources, method and limitsHow these numbers are made (what the highs, lows and rain days mean, the sources and the model cell used for Francistown) is explained once on the Francistown year overview and on the Sources, method and limits page.