Climate and Average Weather Year Round at Bulawayo Airport ZimbabweAt Bulawayo Airport, the wet season is partly cloudy, the dry season is windy and clear, and it is warm year round. Over the course of the year, the temperature typically varies from 48°F to 86°F and is rarely below 43°F or above 93°F. Based on the beach/pool score, the best time of year to visit Bulawayo Airport for hot-weather activities is from early September to early November. Average Temperature at Bulawayo AirportThe hot season lasts for 2.6 months, from September 10 to November 29, with an average daily high temperature above 82°F. The hottest month of the year at Bulawayo Airport is November, with an average high of 84°F and low of 64°F. The cool season lasts for 2.0 months, from May 30 to July 31, with an average daily high temperature below 73°F. The coldest month of the year at Bulawayo Airport is July, with an average low of 48°F and high of 71°F.
The figure below shows you a compact characterization of the entire year of hourly average temperatures. The horizontal axis is the day of the year, the vertical axis is the hour of the day, and the color is the average temperature for that hour and day. Calnali, Mexico (9,044 miles away) and São Carlos, Brazil (4,886 miles) are the far-away foreign places with temperatures most similar to Bulawayo Airport (view comparison). CloudsAt Bulawayo Airport, the average percentage of the sky covered by clouds experiences extreme seasonal variation over the course of the year. The clearer part of the year at Bulawayo Airport begins around March 24 and lasts for 7.2 months, ending around October 31. The clearest month of the year at Bulawayo Airport is August, during which on average the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 94% of the time. The cloudier part of the year begins around October 31 and lasts for 4.8 months, ending around March 24. The cloudiest month of the year at Bulawayo Airport is January, during which on average the sky is overcast or mostly cloudy 64% of the time.
PrecipitationA wet day is one with at least 0.04 inches of liquid or liquid-equivalent precipitation. The chance of wet days at Bulawayo Airport varies significantly throughout the year. The wetter season lasts 4.6 months, from October 28 to March 16, with a greater than 23% chance of a given day being a wet day. The month with the most wet days at Bulawayo Airport is December, with an average of 13.9 days with at least 0.04 inches of precipitation. The drier season lasts 7.4 months, from March 16 to October 28. The month with the fewest wet days at Bulawayo Airport is July, with an average of 0.2 days with at least 0.04 inches of precipitation. Among wet days, we distinguish between those that experience rain alone, snow alone, or a mixture of the two. The month with the most days of rain alone at Bulawayo Airport is December, with an average of 13.9 days. Based on this categorization, the most common form of precipitation throughout the year is rain alone, with a peak probability of 47% on December 3.
RainfallTo show variation within the months and not just the monthly totals, we show the rainfall accumulated over a sliding 31-day period centered around each day of the year. Bulawayo Airport experiences extreme seasonal variation in monthly rainfall. The rainy period of the year lasts for 6.8 months, from October 4 to April 28, with a sliding 31-day rainfall of at least 0.5 inches. The month with the most rain at Bulawayo Airport is January, with an average rainfall of 4.3 inches. The rainless period of the year lasts for 5.3 months, from April 28 to October 4. The month with the least rain at Bulawayo Airport is August, with an average rainfall of 0.0 inches.
SunThe length of the day at Bulawayo Airport varies over the course of the year. In 2024, the shortest day is June 20, with 10 hours, 55 minutes of daylight; the longest day is December 21, with 13 hours, 21 minutes of daylight.
The earliest sunrise is at 5:16 AM on November 26, and the latest sunrise is 1 hour, 25 minutes later at 6:41 AM on July 6. The earliest sunset is at 5:33 PM on June 5, and the latest sunset is 1 hour, 18 minutes later at 6:51 PM on January 17. Daylight saving time (DST) is not observed at Bulawayo Airport during 2024. The figure below presents a compact representation of the sun's elevation (the angle of the sun above the horizon) and azimuth (its compass bearing) for every hour of every day in the reporting period. The horizontal axis is the day of the year and the vertical axis is the hour of the day. For a given day and hour of that day, the background color indicates the azimuth of the sun at that moment. The black isolines are contours of constant solar elevation. MoonThe figure below presents a compact representation of key lunar data for 2024. The horizontal axis is the day, the vertical axis is the hour of the day, and the colored areas indicate when the moon is above the horizon. The vertical gray bars (new Moons) and blue bars (full Moons) indicate key Moon phases. HumidityWe base the humidity comfort level on the dew point, as it determines whether perspiration will evaporate from the skin, thereby cooling the body. Lower dew points feel drier and higher dew points feel more humid. Unlike temperature, which typically varies significantly between night and day, dew point tends to change more slowly, so while the temperature may drop at night, a muggy day is typically followed by a muggy night. Bulawayo Airport experiences some seasonal variation in the perceived humidity. The muggier period of the year lasts for 4.0 months, from November 29 to March 28, during which time the comfort level is muggy, oppressive, or miserable at least 3% of the time. The month with the most muggy days at Bulawayo Airport is January, with 3.9 days that are muggy or worse. The month with the fewest muggy days at Bulawayo Airport is June, with 0.0 days that are muggy or worse.
WindThis section discusses the wide-area hourly average wind vector (speed and direction) at 10 meters above the ground. The wind experienced at any given location is highly dependent on local topography and other factors, and instantaneous wind speed and direction vary more widely than hourly averages. The average hourly wind speed at Bulawayo Airport experiences significant seasonal variation over the course of the year. The windier part of the year lasts for 2.8 months, from August 17 to November 12, with average wind speeds of more than 10.5 miles per hour. The windiest month of the year at Bulawayo Airport is October, with an average hourly wind speed of 12.0 miles per hour. The calmer time of year lasts for 9.2 months, from November 12 to August 17. The calmest month of the year at Bulawayo Airport is May, with an average hourly wind speed of 8.9 miles per hour.
The predominant average hourly wind direction at Bulawayo Airport is from the east throughout the year. Best Time of Year to VisitTo characterize how pleasant the weather is at Bulawayo Airport throughout the year, we compute two travel scores. The tourism score favors clear, rainless days with perceived temperatures between 65°F and 80°F. Based on this score, the best times of year to visit Bulawayo Airport for general outdoor tourist activities are from early April to mid June and from late July to early October, with a peak score in the last week of August. Tourism Score at Bulawayo AirportThe beach/pool score favors clear, rainless days with perceived temperatures between 75°F and 90°F. Based on this score, the best time of year to visit Bulawayo Airport for hot-weather activities is from early September to early November, with a peak score in the last week of September. Beach/Pool Score at Bulawayo AirportMethodologyFor each hour between 8:00 AM and 9:00 PM of each day in the analysis period (1980 to 2016), independent scores are computed for perceived temperature, cloud cover, and total precipitation. Those scores are combined into a single hourly composite score, which is then aggregated into days, averaged over all the years in the analysis period, and smoothed. Our cloud cover score is 10 for fully clear skies, falling linearly to 9 for mostly clear skies, and to 1 for fully overcast skies. Our precipitation score, which is based on the three-hour precipitation centered on the hour in question, is 10 for no precipitation, falling linearly to 9 for trace precipitation, and to 0 for 0.04 inches of precipitation or more. Our tourism temperature score is 0 for perceived temperatures below 50°F, rising linearly to 9 for 65°F, to 10 for 75°F, falling linearly to 9 for 80°F, and to 1 for 90°F or hotter. Our beach/pool temperature score is 0 for perceived temperatures below 65°F, rising linearly to 9 for 75°F, to 10 for 82°F, falling linearly to 9 for 90°F, and to 1 for 100°F or hotter. Growing SeasonDefinitions of the growing season vary throughout the world, but for the purposes of this report, we define it as the longest continuous period of non-freezing temperatures (≥ 32°F) in the year (the calendar year in the Northern Hemisphere, or from July 1 until June 30 in the Southern Hemisphere). Temperatures at Bulawayo Airport are sufficiently warm year round that it is not entirely meaningful to discuss the growing season in these terms. We nevertheless include the chart below as an illustration of the distribution of temperatures experienced throughout the year. Growing degree days are a measure of yearly heat accumulation used to predict plant and animal development, and defined as the integral of warmth above a base temperature, discarding any excess above a maximum temperature. In this report, we use a base of 50°F and a cap of 86°F. Solar EnergyThis section discusses the total daily incident shortwave solar energy reaching the surface of the ground over a wide area, taking full account of seasonal variations in the length of the day, the elevation of the Sun above the horizon, and absorption by clouds and other atmospheric constituents. Shortwave radiation includes visible light and ultraviolet radiation. The average daily incident shortwave solar energy experiences some seasonal variation over the course of the year. The brighter period of the year lasts for 5.9 months, from September 15 to March 12, with an average daily incident shortwave energy per square meter above 6.9 kWh. The brightest month of the year at Bulawayo Airport is October, with an average of 7.4 kWh. The darker period of the year lasts for 2.3 months, from May 16 to July 25, with an average daily incident shortwave energy per square meter below 5.5 kWh. The darkest month of the year at Bulawayo Airport is June, with an average of 5.1 kWh.
Data SourcesThis report illustrates the typical weather at Bulawayo Airport, based on a statistical analysis of historical hourly weather reports and model reconstructions from January 1, 1980 to December 31, 2016. Temperature and Dew PointBulawayo Airport has a weather station that reported reliably enough during the analysis period that we have included it in our network. When available, historical temperature and dew point measurements are taken directly from this weather station. These records are obtained from NOAA's Integrated Surface Hourly data set, falling back on ICAO METAR records as required. In the case of missing or erroneous measurements from this station, we fall back on records from nearby stations, adjusted according to typical seasonal and diurnal intra-station differences. For a given day of the year and hour of the day, the fallback station is selected to minimize the prediction error over the years for which there are measurements for both stations. In this case, the only station close and reliable enough to use as a fallback is Francistown Airport. Other DataAll data relating to the Sun's position (e.g., sunrise and sunset) are computed using astronomical formulas from the book, Astronomical Algorithms 2nd Edition , by Jean Meeus. All other weather data, including cloud cover, precipitation, wind speed and direction, and solar flux, come from NASA's MERRA-2 Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis . This reanalysis combines a variety of wide-area measurements in a state-of-the-art global meteorological model to reconstruct the hourly history of weather throughout the world on a 50-kilometer grid. Land Use data comes from the Global Land Cover SHARE database , published by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Elevation data comes from the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) , published by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Names, locations, and time zones of places and some airports come from the GeoNames Geographical Database . Time zones for airports and weather stations are provided by AskGeo.com . Maps are © OpenStreetMap contributors. DisclaimerThe information on this site is provided as is, without any assurances as to its accuracy or suitability for any purpose. Weather data is prone to errors, outages, and other defects. We assume no responsibility for any decisions made on the basis of the content presented on this site. We draw particular cautious attention to our reliance on the MERRA-2 model-based reconstructions for a number of important data series. While having the tremendous advantages of temporal and spatial completeness, these reconstructions: (1) are based on computer models that may have model-based errors, (2) are coarsely sampled on a 50 km grid and are therefore unable to reconstruct the local variations of many microclimates, and (3) have particular difficulty with the weather in some coastal areas, especially small islands. We further caution that our travel scores are only as good as the data that underpin them, that weather conditions at any given location and time are unpredictable and variable, and that the definition of the scores reflects a particular set of preferences that may not agree with those of any particular reader. Please review our full terms contained on our Terms of Service page. |