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Lubumbashi, the second city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and capital of the mineral-rich Katanga region, sits on a high plateau in the far southeast of the country at around 1,200–1,300 metres above sea level, at approximately -11.66°S, 27.48°E. Its altitude and southern position give it a mild tropical savanna climate (Köppen Cwa) — warm days year-round but a long, pronounced dry season and cool nights in winter, unlike the humid equatorial Congo.
The wet season, from November to March — the austral summer — is warm and the rainy time, with highs around 28–30°C and warm nights, when abundant afternoon thunderstorms bring monthly totals often exceeding 200–250 mm and green the plateau. Humidity rises with the rains, but the altitude keeps the heat from becoming oppressive. Being south of the equator, its seasons are reversed relative to the Northern Hemisphere.
The dry season, from May to September — the austral winter — is warm and sunny by day but notably cool at night, with temperatures that can drop close to 0°C in June and July on the high plateau, occasionally bringing near-frost. Rain is essentially absent for months, skies are clear and sunny, and the second half of the dry season, from mid-August, sees the heat build again before the rains return.
Lubumbashi receives on the order of 1,200 mm of rain a year, concentrated in the wet season from November to March, when it is abundant, while it practically never rains from May to September — a long, pronounced dry season of more than six months. The dry season is notably sunny, with nine to ten hours of sunshine a day. Live rainfall, humidity, and pressure readings for the city are shown in the panels above.
Lubumbashi's high-plateau altitude sets it apart from the humid equatorial Congo, giving it a long, sunny, sharply defined dry season and surprisingly cool winter nights that can approach freezing — a climate closer to that of neighbouring Zambia than to Kinshasa. The clear division between a thundery summer wet season and a bright, dry, cool-nighted winter defines the plateau's year.
To follow any single measurement in Lubumbashi more closely, use our live instruments: the online barometer for atmospheric pressure, the thermometer for temperature, the hygrometer for humidity, the anemometer for wind speed, the wind vane for wind direction, and the rain gauge for rainfall.