The climate of Namibia: when to go to Namibia

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Namibia is an arid area of southern Africa, its climate is semi-desert, with cool nights and hot days, the hottest months are between December and March. There are two rainy seasons, one of the short rains between October and December and the other with relatively more intense rains between January and April.

The annual average of rainfall varies between different areas of the country. On the southern and western highlands it is about 250 mm. While in the area of the Caprivi Strip, in the extreme north-east, the rains reach 700 mm. The coast washed by the cold Benguela current, is dry and arid and receives only 50 mm of rain per year, fog is common along the coasts, from late afternoon to mid-morning.

The central highlands and the area of the Kalahari desert have an arid climate but with marked daily temperature ranges between day and night, which may even exceed 30°C difference in summer and 10°C in winter months.

The capital Windhoek, which is 1650 meters asl, has a semi-desertic climate with warm summers and mild winters. Average minimum and maximum temperatures in winter (June to August) vary between 7°C and 23°C, while in summer (December-March) vary between 16°C and 30°C. The rains fall between November and April, with an average annual rainfall of 360 mm.

The most arid area in Namibia is the Namib desert, which may present in the same day temperatures over 40°C during the day and temperatures below zero overnight.

WHEN TO GO TO NAMIBIA

The best season for a trip to Namibia is the cool and dry season between May and October. This season of the year has hot and sunny days and cold nights, with temperatures that go even below zero.

THE CLIMATE OF NAMIBIA: CLIMATE TABLES

WINDHOEK (1650 meters)
Month	Average low (°C)	Average high (°C)	Precip. (mm)	Precip. days
January	17,2	30,0	78,1	11,1
February	16,5	28,6	80,3	10,7
March	15,4	27,2	78,7	10,5
April	12,8	25,6	37,7	5,5
May	9,2	22,7	6,6	1,9
June	6,7	20,2	1,2	0,7
July	6,3	20,5	0,7	0,5
August	8,6	23,4	0,9	0,3
September	11,9	26,5	2,8	0,9
October	14,6	29,1	11,8	2,8
November	15,6	29,6	26,9	5,3
December	16,9	30,7	41,7	7,5
YEAR	12,6	26,2	367,4	57,7

LUDERITZ (10 meters)
Month	Average low (°C)	Average high (°C)	Precip. (mm)	Precip. days
January	14,0	21,4	0	1,0
February	14,3	21,3	1	1,0
March	13,8	21,1	2	1,0
April	12,6	19,9	2	0,9
May	11,7	19,2	3	1,4
June	11,2	19,0	3	1,4
July	10,4	17,9	1	1,0
August	10,2	17,2	2	0,7
September	10,5	17,3	1	0,5
October	11,4	18,0	0	0,5
November	12,3	19,2	0	0,5
December	13,5	20,5	0	0,7
YEAR	12,1	19,3	17	10,6

GROOTFONTEIN (1460 meters)
Month	Average low (°C)	Average high (°C)	Precip. (mm)	Precip. days
January	18,5	30,9	141,7
February	18,0	29,8	127,0
March	17,1	29,4	99,6
April	14,4	28,5	30,1
May	10,4	26,5	4,3
June	7,1	24,0	0,4
July	6,8	23,8	0,0
August	9,6	26,8	1,3
September	13,8	30,6	4,9
October	16,9	32,1	21,5
November	18,0	31,9	51,6
December	18,4	31,3	70,7
YEAR	14,1	28,8	553,1

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