Angola Climate – July 2026 Update
Top 5 Cities: Luanda, Huambo, Lobito, Benguela, and Kuito
Summary
While global land temperatures reached near-record heat, Angola experienced a relatively restrained month of climate anomalies during its midwinter dry season. However, active satellite monitoring recorded a sharp flare-up in fire activity across the countryside. All of Angola's 20 wildfires this year happened in the past month. Despite moderate localised temperatures, dry surface conditions have heightened seasonal burning risks, with elevated fire activity expected to persist over the coming weeks.
This month in numbers
Angola recorded an average temperature of 19.86°C in July 2026, sitting 0.6°C above the 1961–1990 climate baseline. This placed the month as the 32nd warmest July in a historical dataset spanning 87 years back to 1940. In contrast to Angola's subdued local anomaly, planet-wide figures soared, as global land temperature reached 15.8°C, an anomaly of 1.6°C above average that ranked as the 3rd warmest July on record globally.
What changed
Over the three-month period from May to July 2026, Angola averaged 20.8°C, which is 0.8°C above normal and ranks as the 23rd warmest such period on record. Meanwhile, global land temperatures over May to July averaged 14.34°C, registering 1.5°C above baseline as the 2nd warmest May to July on record worldwide. Long-term trends show Angola has warmed by 1.23°C compared to its mid-twentieth century baseline, with recent full-year data placing 2025 as the country's 15th warmest year on record at an average of 22.35°C.
What’s driving change?
During the austral winter dry season, plays a key role across southern Africa, where depleted soil moisture prevents evaporative cooling and allows solar energy to directly heat the ground. This process is further intensified by the global pattern where waters. These dry conditions create prime fuel for vegetation fires across Angola's savanna and woodland biomes. All of Angola's 20 wildfires this year happened in the past month. These active blazes across the country are tracked on our live map at Extreme Weather tracker.
Looking ahead
Seasonal forecasts indicate that dry and warm conditions will likely persist across the region over the coming months, maintaining heightened wildfire risk until the onset of seasonal spring rains.
Sources:
Generated by Gemini from climate data and web sources
At a Glance
Temperature – Average
Climate Map – Global
Source: NOAA Climate at a Glance (countries & continents) · Met Office (UK) · US states & climate regions. Anomalies are vs the 1961–1990 baseline. See methodology.
Typical Climate – Angola
Köppen Aw · TropicalAngola has a tropical climate (Köppen Aw: Tropical savanna (dry winter)), with only modest temperature variation through the year, but a pronounced wet and dry season. October is typically the warmest month, averaging 24.7°C, while July is the coldest at 20.2°C. Annual precipitation averages around 840mm, concentrated mostly in the wet season.
Monthly climate normals (2016–2025) - bar colour and height show average temperature, the shaded area shows average monthly precipitation.
Data: Our World in Data / NOAA (precipitation: GPCC (DWD); frost: World Bank CCKP).
Long-Term Trends
Combined Timeline – Angola
Precipitation, Sunshine, Frost and Snow are converted to standard deviations from their own average so they can share an axis with Temperature.
Data: Our World in Data / NOAA (precipitation: GPCC (DWD); frost: World Bank CCKP).
Heatwave Days – Angola
Warm Spell Duration Index (WSDI) - days in a 6+ day run above the local 90th-percentile temperature for that time of year.
Data: World Bank Climate Change Knowledge Portal (ERA5-derived). Refreshed roughly 1-2x/year, ~7-8 months behind present.
Year-on-Year Trends
The 4byo Climate Helix – Angola
Data: Our World in Data / NOAA (precipitation: GPCC (DWD); frost: World Bank CCKP).
Monthly Temperature – Angola
Latest month is provisional and may be revised by the data provider in the next update cycle.
Background lines show the last 40 years (plus the record year and its opposite, wherever they fall).
Data: Our World in Data / NOAA (precipitation: GPCC (DWD); frost: World Bank CCKP).
Records – Angola
Our World in Data / NOAA (precipitation: GPCC (DWD); frost: World Bank CCKP) - Anomalies vs 1901-2000 mean
Shifting Seasons
Wet / dry seasonsKöppen Aw · TropicalAngola doesn't have a warm/cold cycle - its monthly temperature range is only 3.7°C across the year - but it does have a strong wet/dry cycle (the wettest month gets 179× as much rain as the driest). So we track how the wet season has shifted instead.
Monthly precipitation climatology. A “wet month” exceeds the baseline monthly mean (dashed gold line). Biggest month-to-month shift: Jan (-56 mm, -31%).
Data: Our World in Data / NOAA (precipitation: GPCC (DWD); frost: World Bank CCKP).
Emissions & Energy
Explore
Explore Climate Data
Data Sources
Data Sources for Angola
Every figure on this page is sourced from official, openly published climate datasets. Anomalies are calculated against the 1961–1990 baseline (temperature) and 1991–2020 (rainfall, sunshine, frost) - see the Methodology & Sources page for the complete dataset list and update calendar.
Country-level temperature anomaly, sourced from Copernicus ERA5 and Hadley HadCRUT5.
Annual country and global CO₂ emissions, from the Global Carbon Project.
Monthly rainfall - Global Precipitation Climatology Centre (DWD) preferred, World Bank CCKP/CRU TS fallback where GPCC lacks direct coverage.
Frost Days and Heatwave Days (Warm Spell Duration Index), ERA5-derived. World Bank Climate Change Knowledge Portal.
Monthly snow water-equivalent, Global Precipitation Climatology Centre (DWD).
FAQs
FAQs
How is the climate in Angola changing?
Angola is warming in line with the rest of the world. The page above shows the latest monthly temperature anomaly versus the 1961-1990 baseline, the long-term annual trend, and the region's rank in the historical record. The headline panel also shows the long-term trend rate per decade and the warmest and coolest years on file.
What is the climate like in Angola?
Angola has a tropical climate (Köppen Aw: Tropical savanna (dry winter)), with only modest temperature variation through the year, but a pronounced wet and dry season. October is typically the warmest month, averaging 24.7°C, while July is the coldest at 20.2°C. Annual precipitation averages around 840mm, concentrated mostly in the wet season.
Where does the climate data for Angola come from?
Climate data for Angola comes from Our World in Data, sourcing Copernicus ERA5 and HadCRUT5 (national temperature anomaly) and the Global Carbon Project via Our World in Data (CO₂ emissions), refreshed every month, when the upstream temperature and rainfall data are refreshed.
What is the climate baseline used on this page?
Anomalies on this page are calculated against the 1961-1990 climatological baseline, which is the standard reference period used by the Met Office, NOAA, IPCC and most national climate services. Some panels also show the source-native 1901-2000 (NOAA) or 1991-2020 (WMO) baselines for verification. See Methodology & Sources for the full reference.
Which areas does the Angola climate data cover?
The Angola climate profile covers Luanda, Huambo, Lobito, Benguela and surrounding areas. Temperature, rainfall and emissions data for Angola
How often is the Angola climate update refreshed?
The Angola climate update is refreshed monthly, typically a few days after the previous month closes and the upstream provider (Met Office HadUK-Grid, NOAA Climate at a Glance, Copernicus ERA5 or the Global Carbon Project) publishes its update. See the Climate Rankings for cross-region comparisons.
What counts as a Heatwave Day on the Angola climate page?
Heatwave Days use the Warm Spell Duration Index (WSDI) - the WMO/ETCCDI-standard heatwave measure: days that are part of a run of 6 or more consecutive days above the local 90th-percentile temperature for that calendar day. The 90th-percentile threshold varies by time of year (a hot day in January is judged differently to one in July) but is fixed to the 1961-1990 baseline for every year shown - it does not shift as the climate warms, which is why Heatwave Days trend upward over time.
Does the Angola climate page include frost and snow data?
Yes. Frost Days (days with a minimum temperature below 0°C, World Bank CCKP) and snow water-equivalent (GPCC) are shown alongside temperature and precipitation, each measured against the 1961-1990 baseline where a like-for-like historical comparison is available.