Climate averages 1991–2020
Kinshasa weather
in December.
A hot, wet month: the coolest and the 11th driest of the year.
Long-term climate patterns, not a forecast for a particular trip.
December is a hot month in Kinshasa: daytime highs average 28.9°C and nights cool to about 22.4°C. By daytime temperature it is the coolest month of the year.
Expect about 156 mm of rain on roughly 25 days, which makes December a wet month (the 11th driest of the 12 months). Daylight, from sunrise to sunset, lasts about 12 h 22 min on an average December day.
The nearest other city in this atlas is Brazzaville (8 km away). In December its highs average 28.9°C, about as warm as Kinshasa, with 156 mm of rain.
Among the 60 cities listed in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kinshasa ranks joint 22nd of 60 for the warmest December highs and joint 22nd of 60 for the driest December (rainfall, lowest first). The mean December high of those 60 cities is 28.1°C; Kinshasa is 0.8°C warmer than that mean.
From December to January, average highs rise by 0.5°C to 29.4°C, and monthly rainfall falls from 156 mm to 116 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
Kinshasa climate table
| Month | Average highHigh / low | Average low | Rainfall mm/month | Rain days ≥1 mm/day | Daylight hours/dayDaylight h/day |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 29.4°C22.5°C | 22.5°C | 116 | 20.9 | 12.312 h |
| February | 30.0°C22.8°C | 22.8°C | 103 | 15.8 | 12.212 h |
| March | 30.3°C23.0°C | 23.0°C | 109 | 17.9 | 12.112 h |
| April | 29.9°C23.0°C | 23.0°C | 140 | 21.2 | 12.012 h |
| May | 29.7°C22.6°C | 22.6°C | 73 | 14.5 | 11.912 h |
| June | 29.7°C20.7°C | 20.7°C | 4.0 | 1.2 | 11.912 h |
| July | 29.9°C19.8°C | 19.8°C | 0.6 | 0.2 | 11.912 h |
| August | 30.2°C20.4°C | 20.4°C | 4.7 | 1.0 | 12.012 h |
| September | 31.2°C21.7°C | 21.7°C | 16 | 5.0 | 12.112 h |
| October | 30.4°C22.5°C | 22.5°C | 112 | 18.7 | 12.212 h |
| November | 29.0°C22.3°C | 22.3°C | 183 | 25.0 | 12.312 h |
| December, selected | 28.9°C22.4°C | 22.4°C | 156 | 24.9 | 12.412 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
- Brazzaville in DecemberRepublic of the Congo · 8 kmHigh 28.9°C · Low 22.3°C · 156 mm rain
- Masina in DecemberDemocratic Republic of the Congo · 11 kmHigh 29.0°C · Low 22.4°C · 160 mm rain
- Inkisi in DecemberDemocratic Republic of the Congo · 94 kmHigh 28.5°C · Low 21.1°C · 179 mm rain
- Mbanza-Ngungu in DecemberDemocratic Republic of the Congo · 115 kmHigh 26.9°C · Low 19.7°C · 205 mm rain
- Kimpese in DecemberDemocratic Republic of the Congo · 168 kmHigh 29.4°C · Low 21.9°C · 180 mm rain
- Nkayi in DecemberRepublic of the Congo · 225 kmHigh 29.8°C · Low 22.5°C · 175 mm rain
- Mbanza Kongo in DecemberAngola · 246 kmHigh 28.0°C · Low 20.6°C · 201 mm rain
- Bandundu Province in DecemberDemocratic Republic of the Congo · 255 kmHigh 29.4°C · Low 22.7°C · 176 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 Kinshasa) is explained once on the Kinshasa year overview and on the Sources, method and limits page.
Brazzaville lies in the same rainfall cell, so its rainfall figures are identical to these; temperatures come from the same 0.1° cell and differ only by the elevation adjustment.