Climate averages 1991–2020
Bulawayo weather
by month.
See how the year changes. October has the highest average daily maximum; August has the lowest average monthly rainfall.
Pleasant-weather months by our simple rule: AprilMayJuneJulyAugustSeptember
Long-term climate patterns, not a forecast for a particular trip.
Across the year Bulawayo averages a daytime high of 25.4°C and a nighttime low of 13.6°C, with about 609 mm of rain on roughly 80 days. October is the warmest month (average high 29.6°C) and July the coolest (20.3°C). December is the wettest month with 148 mm; August is the driest with under 1 mm.
Months with pleasant weather by a simple rule (average high between 18°C and 29°C, average low of at least 5°C and at most 8 rain days): April, May, June, July, August and September. This looks at temperature and rain only, not humidity, wind, sea temperature or crowds.
The annual picture
A year in Bulawayo
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
Bulawayo climate table
| Month | Average highHigh / low | Average low | Rainfall mm/month | Rain days ≥1 mm/day | Daylight hours/dayDaylight h/day |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 26.6°C17.1°C | 17.1°C | 134 | 14.9 | 13.213 h |
| February | 26.3°C16.9°C | 16.9°C | 111 | 11.9 | 12.813 h |
| March | 25.9°C16.0°C | 16.0°C | 65 | 9.4 | 12.212 h |
| April | 24.6°C13.6°C | 13.6°C | 23 | 4.0 | 11.612 h |
| May | 23.1°C10.8°C | 10.8°C | 6.3 | 1.3 | 11.211 h |
| June | 20.8°C8.5°C | 8.5°C | 4.0 | 0.8 | 10.911 h |
| July | 20.3°C7.8°C | 7.8°C | 2.6 | 0.7 | 11.011 h |
| August | 24.2°C10.0°C | 10.0°C | 0.9 | 0.2 | 11.411 h |
| September | 28.1°C13.2°C | 13.2°C | 5.3 | 1.4 | 12.012 h |
| October | 29.6°C15.5°C | 15.5°C | 23 | 5.5 | 12.513 h |
| November | 28.6°C16.8°C | 16.8°C | 87 | 12.6 | 13.113 h |
| December | 26.9°C17.0°C | 17.0°C | 148 | 17.0 | 13.313 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
Nearby cities
- GweruZimbabwe · 151 kmHigh 24.4°C · Low 13.1°C · 717 mm rain a year
- FrancistownBotswana · 159 kmHigh 27.8°C · Low 15.5°C · 423 mm rain a year
- KwekweZimbabwe · 187 kmHigh 27.0°C · Low 14.8°C · 617 mm rain a year
- MasvingoZimbabwe · 235 kmHigh 25.3°C · Low 14.1°C · 632 mm rain a year
- KadomaZimbabwe · 246 kmHigh 27.1°C · Low 16.0°C · 722 mm rain a year
- NortonZimbabwe · 336 kmHigh 25.2°C · Low 14.5°C · 720 mm rain a year
- Louis TrichardtSouth Africa · 350 kmHigh 25.9°C · Low 14.9°C · 495 mm rain a year
- ChinhoyiZimbabwe · 353 kmHigh 26.7°C · Low 15.6°C · 759 mm rain a year
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 limitsWhat do the high and low temperatures mean?
We average the daily maximum and daily minimum for each calendar month over 1991–2020. They are not record extremes, a forecast range or temperatures at a fixed time of day.
How is a rain day counted?
A local calendar day (standard time, UTC+2, no daylight saving) with at least 1 mm of total precipitation counts as one rain day. We count these for each year and month, then average across 30 years. The average does not predict which days will be wet.
Where do the numbers come from?
ERA5-Land (temperature) and ERA5 (precipitation) reanalysis from the Copernicus Climate Change Service, read from the Open-Meteo open-data archive. Temperature comes from the 0.1° model cell at -20.20°, 28.60° (6 km from the city centre), adjusted up by 0.3°C for the difference between the city's elevation (1,348 m) and the cell's (1,401 m). Rain comes from the 0.25° cell at -20.25°, 28.50°. These are model estimates, not weather-station readings; coast, hills and city streets can differ.
Does this page show sunshine, humidity or sea temperature?
No. The data used here contain air temperature and precipitation only. Daylight hours are calculated from the city's latitude (sunrise to sunset), not measured sunshine.