The Climate of
Eswatini
The George Hotel, Manzini
Climate Map
Climate map of Eswatini
What is the climate of Eswatini like?
Eswatini (Swaziland) is located in southern Africa, between Mozambique and South Africa. It is slightly smaller than Wales or the state of New Jersey.
The western part includes high veld like that of the Gauteng region of South Africa. The winters are dry and mild but with frequent cold nights. Summers are warm with more frequent rain, but temperatures are rarely excessively high. The low humidity and large number of sunshine hours make for a pleasant climate for most of the year. Mbabane illustrates conditions throughout the year in the higher, western, parts of the country.
The country slopes eastwards until, along the Mozambique border, it is low-lying and almost tropical in climate. The summers are warm and humid, with conditions similar to those found in southern Mozambique and KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. Big Bend illustrates the conditions in the lowlands.
Temperatures vary from as low as -3°C (27°F) in the highlands during winter to 42°C (108°F) in the low veld during summer. Temperatures rise and the climate warms as the altitude drops. In Mbabane the average temperature ranges from 5 to 19°C (41 to 67°F) in June to 15 to 25°C (59 to 77°F) in January.
The high veld region has a humid temperate climate and receives 1,400 millimeters (55 inches) of rain annually. The Lebombo plain and middle veld are warmer and drier and receive only about 850 millimeters (33 inches) of rain per year. The nearly tropical low veld receives an average of 600 millimeters (24 inches) of rain annually. The wettest period of the year is from October to March when violent rainstorms may occur.
| Climate data for Mbabane | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Average high °C (°F) | 24.9 (76.8) | 24.5 (76.1) | 24.1 (75.4) | 22.6 (72.7) | 21.4 (70.5) | 19.3 (66.7) | 19.8 (67.6) | 21.3 (70.3) | 23.2 (73.8) | 22.8 (73.0) | 22.5 (72.5) | 23.7 (74.7) | 22.5 (72.5) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 19.9 (67.8) | 19.5 (67.1) | 18.8 (65.8) | 16.8 (62.2) | 14.7 (58.5) | 12.0 (53.6) | 12.2 (54.0) | 14.0 (57.2) | 16.4 (61.5) | 17.1 (62.8) | 17.7 (63.9) | 19.0 (66.2) | 16.5 (61.7) |
| Average low °C (°F) | 14.9 (58.8) | 14.5 (58.1) | 13.4 (56.1) | 11.0 (51.8) | 7.9 (46.2) | 4.7 (40.5) | 4.6 (40.3) | 6.6 (43.9) | 9.5 (49.1) | 11.3 (52.3) | 12.9 (55.2) | 14.2 (57.6) | 10.5 (50.9) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 253.2 (9.97) | 224.6 (8.84) | 151.6 (5.97) | 87.9 (3.46) | 33.8 (1.33) | 19.4 (0.76) | 20.1 (0.79) | 35.1 (1.38) | 69.4 (2.73) | 141.9 (5.59) | 197.8 (7.79) | 206.9 (8.15) | 1,441.7 (56.76) |
| Source: World Meteorological Organization | |||||||||||||
| Climate data for Big Bend | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Average high °C (°F) | 32.2 (90.0) | 31.7 (89.1) | 30.6 (87.1) | 29.1 (84.4) | 27.0 (80.6) | 25.2 (77.4) | 25.2 (77.4) | 26.5 (79.7) | 28.4 (83.1) | 29.8 (85.6) | 30.2 (86.4) | 31.6 (88.9) | 29.0 (84.1) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 26.2 (79.2) | 26.0 (78.8) | 25.0 (77.0) | 22.8 (73.0) | 19.9 (67.8) | 17.3 (63.1) | 17.1 (62.8) | 19.0 (66.2) | 21.4 (70.5) | 23.4 (74.1) | 24.3 (75.7) | 25.6 (78.1) | 22.3 (72.2) |
| Average low °C (°F) | 20.3 (68.5) | 20.4 (68.7) | 19.5 (67.1) | 16.6 (61.9) | 12.8 (55.0) | 9.4 (48.9) | 9.1 (48.4) | 11.5 (52.7) | 14.5 (58.1) | 17.1 (62.8) | 18.5 (65.3) | 19.6 (67.3) | 15.8 (60.4) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 98 (3.9) | 75 (3.0) | 63 (2.5) | 32 (1.3) | 20 (0.8) | 9 (0.4) | 9 (0.4) | 12 (0.5) | 31 (1.2) | 51 (2.0) | 79 (3.1) | 82 (3.2) | 561 (22.3) |
| Source: Climate-Data.org | |||||||||||||
References
- E. A. Pearce, Charles Gordon Smith, (1990) The Hutchinson World Weather Guide, John Murray Press. ISBN 1859863426
- Timothy L. Gall, (ed.), (2003), Worldmark Encyclopedia of the Nations, Eleventh Edition, Thomson Gale
- Hugh Chisholm, (ed.), (1911), Encyclopædia Britannica, Eleventh edition, Cambridge University Press
The Climate of
Eswatini
In summary:
The high veld has a humid near-temperate climate with about 1400 mm (55 in) of mean annual rainfall. The middle veld is subtropical and somewhat drier, with about 850 mm (33 in) of annual rainfall; the low veld, almost tropical, is subhumid, receiving about 600 mm (24 in) of rain in an average year. Rainfall tends to be concentrated in rainstorms in the summer (October–March).