Zimbabwe Climate

Zimbabwe climate is infuenced by the fact that the country is landlocked. It is in the southern tip of the continent of Africa.

Zimbabwe experiences long summers and very short winters. November to March is the rainy season and coincides with the subsistance farming season for the majority of  Zimbabwe people who live in rural areas. Zimbabwe agriculture is both small scale subsistance farming and large scale commercial farming.

Zimbabwe experiences long summer seasons and short winters of about two months from end May to early July. Zimbabwe has also in a way began feeling the effects of global warming. Over the last two decades there have been growing changes in the climate of Zimbabwe. Winters have tended to arrive late being VERY cold for a sharp and short period of time. During summer which is also the rainy season, flooding due to climate change related to global warming has been experienced mostly in the lower laying areas of the country such as Manicaland province where you find Mutare City.

Mid July to end August are very windy days in Zimbabwe. Often strong winds rise with a lot of dirt/dust in unpaved areas.Zimbabwe has also often been affected by different types of tropical cyclones such Eli Nino and Japhet coming from the Mozambican coast.

Due to ongoing world wide climatic changes the changing Zimbabwe climate has also caused severe droughts especially in rural areas killing crops and live stock and causing great damage to Zimbabwe people's livelihood. Droughts have often been due to too much rain, sporadic rains, and very short heavy rains leaving before the crop effectively matures.

For visitors to the country summer days (August to next May) are long with the sun setting at about 6pm as compaired to winter days ( end May to mid July) when the sun sets about 5pm. Days are hot in summer making light clothing such as a T-shirt and some shorts or skirt sufficient. Shades and a hat/cap would also greatly help. Nights a clear often presenting a clear view of the moon and the stars.

Mist may occur in the early morning hours especially in areas such as Nyanga in the eastern highlands of Zimbabwe.

The air in Zimbabwe is generally clean ( save for burst sewer pipes is some parts of the cities). This is because there is not much industrial activity going on which has been in decline in the Zimbabwe economy since 2000. However from 2009 going forward industry in Zimbabwe is again gaining capacity and might eventually lead to increased air pollution especially in urban areas and Harare in particular the capital of Zimbabwe.

Read more about Zimbabwe water.


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