Climate averages 1991–2020
Lusaka weather
in December.
A warm, very wet month: the 4th warmest and the 11th driest of the year.
Long-term climate patterns, not a forecast for a particular trip.
December is a warm month in Lusaka: daytime highs average 25.9°C and nights cool to about 18.2°C. By daytime temperature it is the 4th warmest of the 12 months.
Expect about 228 mm of rain on roughly 25 days, which makes December a very wet month (the 11th driest of the 12 months). Daylight, from sunrise to sunset, lasts about 13 h 01 min on an average December day.
The nearest other city in this atlas is Chunga (10 km away). In December its highs average 26.5°C, 0.5°C warmer than Lusaka, with 192 mm of rain.
Among the 24 cities listed in Zambia, Lusaka ranks joint 13th of 24 for the warmest December highs and joint 8th of 24 for the driest December (rainfall, lowest first). The mean December high of those 24 cities is 26.2°C; Lusaka is 0.3°C cooler than that mean.
From December to January, average highs fall by 0.8°C to 25.1°C, and monthly rainfall rises from 228 mm to 240 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
Lusaka climate table
| Month | Average highHigh / low | Average low | Rainfall mm/month | Rain days ≥1 mm/day | Daylight hours/dayDaylight h/day |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 25.1°C17.9°C | 17.9°C | 240 | 25.5 | 12.913 h |
| February | 25.0°C17.8°C | 17.8°C | 188 | 22.0 | 12.613 h |
| March | 25.0°C17.5°C | 17.5°C | 129 | 18.9 | 12.212 h |
| April | 24.6°C15.8°C | 15.8°C | 27 | 5.4 | 11.812 h |
| May | 23.9°C13.7°C | 13.7°C | 3.1 | 0.9 | 11.411 h |
| June | 22.0°C11.6°C | 11.6°C | 0.9 | 0.1 | 11.211 h |
| July | 21.7°C11.0°C | 11.0°C | 0.7 | 0.1 | 11.311 h |
| August | 25.0°C13.3°C | 13.3°C | 0.4 | 0.1 | 11.612 h |
| September | 28.7°C16.8°C | 16.8°C | 2.1 | 0.4 | 12.012 h |
| October | 30.5°C19.2°C | 19.2°C | 15 | 3.3 | 12.412 h |
| November | 28.9°C19.4°C | 19.4°C | 98 | 14.3 | 12.813 h |
| December, selected | 25.9°C18.2°C | 18.2°C | 228 | 24.5 | 13.013 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
- Chunga in DecemberZambia · 10 kmHigh 26.5°C · Low 18.5°C · 192 mm rain
- Namalombwe in DecemberZambia · 11 kmHigh 26.2°C · Low 18.4°C · 228 mm rain
- Madido in DecemberZambia · 11 kmHigh 26.1°C · Low 18.5°C · 192 mm rain
- Kafue in DecemberZambia · 42 kmHigh 27.4°C · Low 19.5°C · 232 mm rain
- Mazabuka in DecemberZambia · 76 kmHigh 27.6°C · Low 19.4°C · 169 mm rain
- Kabwe in DecemberZambia · 108 kmHigh 26.4°C · Low 18.4°C · 211 mm rain
- Kapiri Mposhi in DecemberZambia · 165 kmHigh 26.0°C · Low 18.0°C · 226 mm rain
- Choma in DecemberZambia · 209 kmHigh 25.4°C · Low 17.7°C · 199 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 Lusaka) is explained once on the Lusaka year overview and on the Sources, method and limits page.
Namalombwe lies in the same rainfall cell, so its rainfall figures are identical to these; temperatures differ because they come from smaller 0.1° cells.