Tanzanian Weather

Just a short post for today to answer a question I’ve gotten a lot lately, which is about the weather in Tanzania. I can’t completely answer that question because, like the U.S., Tanzania is a geographically diverse country with many different climates, albeit on a much smaller scale. For instance, the south as a whole tends to be cooler since it’s further from the equator, while the coastal line tends to be much more hot and humid. The northern part of the country also tends to be warmer, except for the northwestern highlands, which are cooler due to their elevation.

So while I can’t answer this question in detail for the whole of Tanzania, I can answer it for Arusha specifically. Here’s the gist: From a temperature perspective it’s hot, although not overly-so, since it borders on the northwestern highlands. Being in the southern hemisphere, the seasons are reversed here, although the northern part of Tanzania is so close to the equator that it doesn’t matter all that much. December, January, and February are the summer months here, with the latter two being the hottest of the year. During the day right now it’s not uncommon for the temperature to reach 90-95 degrees Fahrenheit, and at night it cools down to 70-75 degrees; a tad different than the weather back home right now, from what I’m told (which is the primary reason I chose to come to Tanzania from November – April). During the winter months, however, I’m told that it doesn’t get too much cooler. Typical highs during the daytime are around 70-75 degrees, while in the nighttime it gets down into the 50s.

One aspect in which Tanzania is distinctly different than anywhere in the U.S. is that it is subject to dry and rainy seasons. During the dry season, it’s not uncommon to go weeks – even months – without rain, while in the wet season it may rain everyday, sometimes at torrential levels. Tanzania has two rainy seasons each year: the mvuli (the short rainy season) and the masika (long rainy season). As you might expect, the only difference is that the long rainy season lasts longer and brings with it more rain. The small rainy season takes place for about a month from early November to mid-December, while the main rainy season takes place throughout the whole of March and April and into May.

Of course, all of this is assuming the weather behaves normally. However, much like back in the States, the weather has been far from normal lately. The temperature has acted as expected but it doesn’t vary all that much to begin with, so that’s not saying much. The rainy seasons, however, have been a little screwy. Most of November was actually dry, and the rains didn’t actually arrive until almost early December. However, they made up for their tardiness by sticking around until halfway through January. Additionally, the main rainy season seems to have arrived early, as we have had rain most days over the past week.

Despite the abundance of rain lately though, I can’t really complain. The weather is still warm, and even on the days that it does rain, the sun still manages to make it out for a fair portion of the day - much like Florida weather, actually. I’m only hoping that it doesn’t ruin my time on the beaches of Zanzibar or make the roads down to southern Tanzania more difficult than they already are.