Mbabane month by month — at a glance
Hover each month for the summary. Click to pin it.
01 An inverted calendar
Key moments at a glance
246 hours of sun, 22 mm of rain and the high back at 21.2 °C.
23.1 and 11.9 °C with 64 mm: the best compromise of warmth and water.
From 44 mm in September to 93 in October, and from 6 to 12 rain days.
205 mm spread over 16.3 rain days: the wettest month of the year.
The rainfall series leaves no doubt. January, 205 millimetres; February, 161; March, 118; April, 64; May, 21; June, 15; July, 16; August, 22; September, 44; October, 93; November, 139; December, 142. In all, 1,040 millimetres a year over about 115 rain days, more than half of them concentrated between November and March.
And the sunshine follows that curve in reverse. The wet months are the darkest: February stops at 162 hours and November at 161. The dry ones are the brightest: 233 hours in June, 239 in July and 246 in August. Across a year, 2,387 hours of sunshine, with almost a third falling in the winter quarter.
02 The dry winter
From May to September the country changes state. These are five months in which total rainfall adds up to 118 millimetres — less than March alone — and wet days drop to between two and six a month. The sky opens, the air dries and the horizon, which in summer lives under haze and storm, becomes clean far into the distance.
May, June, July, August and September add up to 118 millimetres between them. January alone brings 205.
That change is not only about comfort. In the dry half of the year the grass burns off, the trees lose their leaves and water withdraws to a few points, so wildlife concentrates and is far easier to see in the country's reserves. The earth tracks, which turn to mud in summer, become passable. It is the field season, straightforwardly.
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03 What the sun costs
The dry winter has a price, and it is in the column of minimum temperatures. At 1,243 metres, June and July record mean lows of 6.0 and 5.7 degrees, and highs stop at 19.3 in both months. That is: pleasant long-sleeve days and nights that genuinely need a coat, something almost nobody packs when travelling to southern Africa.
The difference with the rest of the country is enormous and is covered in an hour's drive. Mbabane is in the Highveld; the Middleveld sits around 700 metres and the Lowveld around 250. Dropping a thousand metres in the same morning means changing season: what up here is a cold night is, down there, a mild one.
04 Which month to pick
If you are coming to walk and to see open country, the good block runs from May to September and within it August is the best: 246 hours of sun, 22 millimetres of rain and the temperature already rising, with a high of 21.2 degrees. July follows closely, with even less water but the coldest nights of the year.
If you would rather avoid the night-time cold, April and September are the two best doors. April gives a high of 23.1 and a low of 11.9 with 64 millimetres; September, 23.1 and 10.5 with 44. Both combine mild day and night temperatures with little rain, and they are the most balanced months of the calendar.
November to February is worth thinking twice about. This is not a monsoon: the rain comes mainly as afternoon storms and mornings are often saved, so the trip is possible. But these are four months with between 14 and 16 rain days each, tracks turned to mud, vegetation closed in and sunshine at its annual low. Everything that makes this country interesting is seen worse.
