Lusaka weather by month
The best time to visit Lusaka is May to July — 95/100 in June, 24°C and 0 rainy days. The best season is winter, June to August (93/100 on average).
The worst month is January at 60/100 — hot, soaked, clean air. See January →
Updated September 2026 · climate normals from ERA5 reanalysis
Planning the wider trip? Best time to visit Zambia →
Best season: June to August (93/100 on average) · worst January (60/100)
- Days
- 24°C
- Nights
- 10°C
- Wet days
- 0
- Sun
- 10 h
- Humidity
- 57%
- Daylight
- 11 h

Lusaka, month by month
Comfort score out of 100 for the kind of trip Lusaka is best for, the average high, rainy days and hours of sun a day from the climate normals, and how busy it tends to be.
What's on in Lusaka through the year
Festivals, natural spectacles, holidays and the seasons to watch out for — curated and sourced. The month pages carry the detail.
- March
- Easter weekend20 Mar – 26 Apr (usually)Holiday
- April
- Lower Zambezi camp season1 Apr – 15 Nov (usually)Opening
- May
- Africa Freedom Day25 MayHoliday
- July
- Agricultural Show29 Jul – 3 AugFestival
- Heroes and Unity Days6–7 JulHoliday
- September
- Jacaranda season10 Sep – 31 Oct (usually)Nature
- October
- Independence Day21–27 Oct (usually)Holiday
- December
- Rainy-season flooding1 Dec – 31 Mar (usually)Hazard
Crowds in Lusaka in June
How busy the place itself is — school and mass holidays, the months an editor tagged, and how sought-after the weather makes them. Never part of the comfort score.
Busyschool holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it, one of its best months for weather(estimated)
Peak crowdsBusyShoulder seasonQuiet
Traveller notes on Lusaka
What people who have been say about the place — the year-round notes first, then month by month.
Forum posters describe May as the point where Zambia's rains, which can linger into early May in some years, finally taper off into the country's long, dry cool season. Posters preparing for a May safari trip elsewhere in Zambia are commonly advised to layer up, with June specifically flagged by posters as the heart of the region's cold season and daytime temperatures in parts of the country dropping as low as 13C even at midday - a useful marker for how quickly May's mild warmth gives way to genuinely cool conditions just afterward. Posters generally recommend a fleece or warm layer for early mornings even in May, alongside lighter clothing for the still-warm midday sun around Lusaka itself.
Forum posters describe November as the point when Zambia's rains typically begin, arriving as shorter afternoon storms rather than the days-on-end deluges of an Amazon-style wet season, though the exact pattern varies year to year. Posters discussing safari-focused parts of the country note that heavy November storms can make black-cotton-soil roads impassable, with some remote camps beginning to close for the season by mid-month - a consideration more relevant to safari areas like South Luangwa and Lower Zambezi than to Lusaka itself. Posters describe Lusaka's own city attractions - the national museum, Kabwata cultural village, Munda Wanga gardens, a weekend curio market and the Arcades shopping mall - as workable regardless of the rains starting. Posters generally rate November as warm with rains just getting underway for Lusaka, more of a logistical factor for remote safari camps than for the city itself.
Add your own note from Lusaka's card on the map.