Climate averages 1991–2020
Francistown weather
in January.
A hot, wet month: the 5th warmest and the 11th driest of the year.
Long-term climate patterns, not a forecast for a particular trip.
January is a hot month in Francistown: daytime highs average 29.7°C and nights cool to about 19.6°C. By daytime temperature it is the 5th warmest of the 12 months.
Expect about 95 mm of rain on roughly 12 days, which makes January a wet month (the 11th driest of the 12 months). Daylight, from sunrise to sunset, lasts about 13 h 16 min on an average January day.
The nearest other city in this atlas is Bulawayo (159 km away). In January its highs average 26.6°C, 3.1°C cooler than Francistown, with 134 mm of rain.
Among the 5 cities listed in Botswana, Francistown ranks 5th of 5 for the warmest January highs and 4th of 5 for the driest January (rainfall, lowest first). The mean January high of those 5 cities is 30.4°C; Francistown is 0.7°C cooler than that mean.
From January to February, average highs fall by 0.3°C to 29.4°C, and monthly rainfall falls from 95 mm to 88 mm.
The annual picture
January 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, selected | 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 | 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
January in nearby cities
- Bulawayo in JanuaryZimbabwe · 159 kmHigh 26.6°C · Low 17.1°C · 134 mm rain
- Gweru in JanuaryZimbabwe · 307 kmHigh 25.3°C · Low 16.4°C · 161 mm rain
- Louis Trichardt in JanuarySouth Africa · 323 kmHigh 28.1°C · Low 18.8°C · 102 mm rain
- Kwekwe in JanuaryZimbabwe · 347 kmHigh 27.5°C · Low 18.0°C · 146 mm rain
- Polokwane in JanuarySouth Africa · 365 kmHigh 26.7°C · Low 16.6°C · 116 mm rain
- Thohoyandou in JanuarySouth Africa · 365 kmHigh 27.5°C · Low 18.9°C · 179 mm rain
- Masvingo in JanuaryZimbabwe · 367 kmHigh 26.7°C · Low 17.8°C · 127 mm rain
- Mokopane in JanuarySouth Africa · 370 kmHigh 28.7°C · Low 18.0°C · 112 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.