Climate averages 1991–2020
Bulawayo weather
in December.
A warm, wet month: the 4th warmest and the wettest of the year.
Long-term climate patterns, not a forecast for a particular trip.
December is a warm month in Bulawayo: daytime highs average 26.9°C and nights cool to about 17.0°C. By daytime temperature it is the 4th warmest of the 12 months.
Expect about 148 mm of rain on roughly 17 days, which makes December a wet month (the wettest month of the year). Daylight, from sunrise to sunset, lasts about 13 h 19 min on an average December day.
The nearest other city in this atlas is Gweru (151 km away). In December its highs average 25.9°C, 1.1°C cooler than Bulawayo, with 184 mm of rain.
Among the 11 cities listed in Zimbabwe, Bulawayo ranks 5th of 11 for the warmest December highs and 2nd of 11 for the driest December (rainfall, lowest first). The mean December high of those 11 cities is 26.4°C; Bulawayo is 0.6°C warmer than that mean.
From December to January, average highs fall by 0.4°C to 26.6°C, and monthly rainfall falls from 148 mm to 134 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
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, selected | 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
December in nearby cities
- Gweru in DecemberZimbabwe · 151 kmHigh 25.9°C · Low 16.4°C · 184 mm rain
- Francistown in DecemberBotswana · 159 kmHigh 29.8°C · Low 19.4°C · 96 mm rain
- Kwekwe in DecemberZimbabwe · 187 kmHigh 28.0°C · Low 18.0°C · 163 mm rain
- Masvingo in DecemberZimbabwe · 235 kmHigh 27.3°C · Low 17.8°C · 145 mm rain
- Kadoma in DecemberZimbabwe · 246 kmHigh 27.8°C · Low 18.8°C · 184 mm rain
- Norton in DecemberZimbabwe · 336 kmHigh 25.9°C · Low 17.4°C · 171 mm rain
- Louis Trichardt in DecemberSouth Africa · 350 kmHigh 28.2°C · Low 18.4°C · 103 mm rain
- Chinhoyi in DecemberZimbabwe · 353 kmHigh 27.5°C · Low 18.8°C · 174 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 Bulawayo) is explained once on the Bulawayo year overview and on the Sources, method and limits page.