Weather locations in Democratic Republic of the Congo

The Democratic Republic of the Congo covers much of the centre of the African continent, and its shape is a huge basin: the Congo river and its tributaries drain a vast, plateau-ringed depression where rainforest grows to the equator. Around that basin the land rises to the highlands of the east, and the country extends from just south of the equator to about 14°N. The nearest ocean is more than a thousand kilometres away to the west, and Atlantic influence arrives only through a narrow gap in the western highlands.

Main climate types

The interior of the basin is true equatorial rainforest climate, with rain through the year and no winter. The margins of the basin and the plateaus to the south, along with the eastern slopes, shift to tropical savanna with a clear wet and dry rhythm. The eastern highlands around the Kivus and Lake Tanganyika are cooler and much more seasonal, and the rain shadow of those ranges makes parts of the central highland belt semi-arid.

Temperatures

Near the equator the annual range is tiny. Kinshasa averages about 25 °C in January and about 23 °C in July, and Kisangani, deeper in the forest, is almost the same at about 26 °C all year. Daytime highs in the basin usually reach the low to mid 30s °C. As altitude rises the temperature falls steadily: Goma, at about 1,500 metres, averages only about 19 °C or 20 °C. Snow survives on the highest Rwenzori summits, above 5,000 metres.

Rainfall

The wetness is remarkable. Kisangani and the forest belt north of the equator take around 1,800 mm to 2,000 mm a year, Kinshasa about 1,400 mm to 1,500 mm, and parts of the basin over 2,000 mm. The eastern slopes near Lake Tanganyika exceed 1,000 mm, the southern plateaus of Katanga and Shaba take 900 mm to 1,200 mm, and the highland basins stay under 1,000 mm.

When to go

For the basin and Kinshasa the driest months are December to February, the best time for roads and river travel. The eastern highlands and the Virunga volcanoes are clearest from December to February and again in June and July. Heavy rains fall from March to May and from September to November.