Weather in Namibia

Welcome to Namibia.

Winter is at 6am, Spring starts at 10am, Summer is at 2pm, and Autumn is around 5:30.

• When packing for your holiday in Namibia, you need to prepare for all eventualities.
• While it can be very hot in the summer, often reaching 40 degrees in the desert, it can also cool down considerably when it rains.
• And although our winters are mild and sunny, we can experience both hot days and frost occasionally both within the same week!

Summer, Autumn, Winter and Spring
As we are in the South Hemisphere, December is in summer, and August is in the winter.
In Namibia, we don’t experience the typical three-month seasons.

• Summer is long, running from October, November, December, January, February, and March (6 months).
• This is followed by a short Autumn in April and May (2 months), although most leaves drop from deciduous trees only from late May.
• Winter is relatively short, beginning in June, July and usually ending in August (3 months).
• Then September constitutes a very brief Spring (1 month).

Inland versus Coast

• Temperatures also vary across the country.
• Inland areas and more northern parts of the country tend to be milder than the southern and western desert areas.

The Coast of Namibia has a climate of its own:

• Dependent on the cold Benguela current coming up from Antarctica, the Namibian coast is persistently cool, often misty, or cloudy.
• We generally get 4 seasons in one day. A typical day would be foggy in the morning, sunny at midday, windy in the afternoon and cold at night!
• The temperature can drop to 7-8C in the winter, and it is unusual if it reaches 30C in summer.
• On the coast, the best weather is generally between January and April.
• Surprisingly, in the middle of the winter, when we have East wind, which comes from the desert, the temperature can reach 25C-30C at times!!

Rainfall in Namibia

• Rainfall in Namibia is normally limited to the summer months of October to March, sometimes extending into April and early May.
• The heaviest rains normally fall from January to March.
• Rainfall also varies across the country from south-west (lowest rainfall) to north-east (highest rainfall).
• Most of the rain falls happens in the evening and at night.
• You may see fewer animals in the rainy season as they no longer need to go to the waterholes and tend to go further .

So, by now you are probably very confused about the climate in Namibia and wonder when the best time is to come on holiday.

Anytime of the year is good, and like anywhere else in the world, the weather is quite unpredictable from one year to the next and even from one day to the next.

I would say that if you can, avoid the month of August, as it generally gets very busy and if this is the only convenient time for you, try to book 8 months to a 1 year in advance to secure your first choice of care hire, lodges, and activities.