Namibian Weather Report

We hear the word "desert," and we think HOT HOT HOT. But we haven't really delved into just how hot exactly we should expect our days in Namibia to be. So welcome to light overview of the meteorology of Namibia.

To start, let's examine a graph of the average high/low temperatures of Windhoek, the Namibian capital:

30C is approximately 86F, and 5C is about 41F.


Some parts of the country can get up to 24 inches of rain in a year -- according to one online travel website, Pelican Point, Namibia, can be considered the 9th driest place on the planet, receiving only about 0.32 inches of rain annually.


Namibia boasts of an average 300 days of sunshine each year, making it one of the sunniest countries in the world.

In the month of August, when we expect to be traveling the country, we can expect Windhoek temperatures to range from 50F-77F on some of the sunniest, driest days of the year.

But what about the rest of the country?

We're in luck! According to the official Etosha National Park website, the best time to visit Etosha is during its winter, or dry season, from May - October. During this period, animals are most active at water holes and the landscape is driest, making for optimal desert scenery.

During the summer months, temperatures can surpass 104 degrees F, and the landscape suddenly becomes a "green paradise overflowing with lush vegetation." In case you are finding that hard to picture, here's an image:



The country's climate can be divided up and characterized by region:
- Caprivi Strip: highest rainfall, highest humidity, greenest part of the country
- Windhoek Central Highlands: higher altitude, moderate temperatures and rainfall, known to frost over in the winter
- Namib and Kalahari Desert: weather highly fluctuates, dropping below freezing during winter nights and rising up to 104C in the summer
- Atlantic Coast: hardly any rainfall, climate differentiates less drastically, windy, not typical beach holiday weather


References:
http://www.info-namibia.com/info/namibia-weather
http://www.etoshanationalpark.org/seasons
https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/summer-in-december/index.html
https://ourplnt.com/top-ten-driest-places-earth/pelican-point-namibia/

-Michelle Howard, 2/8