How many of you know about the coldest countries in Africa? Oftentimes, people ask if it gets cold at all in Africa because the general, or rather popular, belief is that Africa is particularly hot. The answer to the question is that it depends on what the person asking the question interprets as “cold,” but yes, it’s true that there are places in Africa where it gets really cold on a daily scale.
An example of such a place in Africa is Lesotho, which is mostly mountainous and gets really cold and heavy snowfall during winter. At least by the area’s local standards, it is quite cold in the city of Centurion, between Pretoria and Johannesburg in South Africa.
There is quite a rare chance of snow there, but that is due to the winters being very dry and without much water in the atmosphere, there is not much precipitation. As soon as the sun rises, the temperature rises to a mild and favourable range. The frost from the nite before does not last till 9 a.m. the next day.
RELATED: TOP 10 HOTTEST COUNTRIES IN AFRICA
In general, the climate of Africa is hot because it is in the intertropical region between the cancerous tropics and the Capricorn regions. Although the country itself might not be cold, there are specific places in some countries where only an area or mountain is cold and sometimes even snows.
The 7 Coldest Countries In Africa
7. SIEMENS MOUNTAINS (ETHIOPIA)
The temperature range of the Siemen mountain in Ethiopia is 10 to 20 degrees Celsius its landmass is between 22 kilometer square (85 square meters). The highest point of this mountain in Ethiopia is four thousand five hundred and thirty-three (4533 meters) while the lowest point is four thousand four hundred and twenty meters (4,420 meters).
Snow can be found on the mountain and the mountain cools down from October to December, the temperature at that time is between -2 degrees Celsius to 10 degrees Celsius at night but daylight saving comes with temperatures of 11 degrees Celsius to 18 degrees Celsius.
The weather gets slightly warmer around November to march and it also rains from November to march.
6. RWENZORI MOUNTAINS (UGANDA)
The temperature of this mountain in Tanzania is between five Celsius to twenty Celsius, the landmass is nine hundred and ninety-eight kilometer square, the highest point of the mountain is five thousand one hundred and nine meters (5,109 meters), while the lowest point is three thousand four hundred meters (3,400 meters) approximately eleven thousand one hundred and fifty-five feet.
This mountain is located on the borders of Uganda and the Central African Republic. The temperature of the mountain reaches 20 Celsius and is as low as about -5 Celsius or even less. The mountain is made up of glaciers due to its low temperature. It also has an alpine climate, which causes continuous rainfall there. In addition to that, this mountain in Uganda experiences glaciers, snow, and ice.
5. MOUNT KENYA-KIRINYAGA (KENYA)
The temperature of this mountain in Kenya is 10 degrees Celsius to 20 degrees Celsius, the landmass is seven hundred and fifteen kilometer square to two hundred and seventy-six square meters. The highest point of the mountain is five thousand one hundred and ninety-nine meters – seventeen thousand and fifty-seven feet (5,199 M-17,057ft).
The lowest point is four thousand eight hundred and fifty meters (4,850m) to fifteen thousand two hundred and sixty feet (15,250ft). Another place that it snows in Africa is Mount Kenya and this is due to the height of the mountain. This does not make people stop visiting this place as it is open to everyone. Snow and rain are seen around march to December but there is no wind.
4. MOUNT KILIMANJARO (TANZANIA)
The temperature of this mountain is 29 degrees Celsius to 27 degrees Celsius (84.2 degrees Fahrenheit to 80.6 degrees Fahrenheit), the landmass is 388500 ha, the highest point of the mountain is five thousand eight hundred and ninety-nine meters (5,899 m), while the lowest point is four thousand and five meters (4,005 m).
Due to this fact, there is the effect of equatorial trade winds as well as high altitude trade which makes Mount Kilimanjaro colder than most parts of Africa. The weather on the mountain can drop to -15 to -29 degrees Celsius (5 to -17 degrees Fahrenheit). It can also reach up to 21 degrees Celsius and up to 27 degrees Celsius, and in this part of the world, it can snow at any time.
However, more snow comes around in the first week of December and it also falls more in June, July, August and September. January and February are warmer than the rest of the year, meanwhile, September is the warmest. The mountain experiences different seasons, and various sides of the mountain experience the same weather in diverse ways.
3. SOUTH AFRICA
The temperature of South Africa is 16 – 40 degrees Celsius. The landmass is 1,221,037 kilometer square (471,445 square meters). The highest point is three thousand four hundred and fifty meters (4,450m), while the lowest point is 0 meters above sea level. Some parts of South Africa are humid, in some parts it’s cold, and in others, it’s snowing.
The country is usually cold in the winter season and the weather can drop to 16 degrees Celsius. The climate of the country is determined by the country’s state between 22 degrees south and 35 degrees south of the equatorial plane in the southern hemisphere.
In the town of Sutherland, the winter temperature that lasts from June to august gets up to 16 degrees Celsius, other towns where it snows are Cedarberg and the Islands of Prince Edward.
Johannesburg is also a cold city where the weather can reach 2 degrees Celsius in June and July, while it reaches 27 degrees Celsius. Although it does not snow here, the city has experienced snow several times in 1956, 1962, 1964, 1981, 2007, and 2021 in different months of the year.
2. MOROCCO
The temperature of morocco is 8 degrees Celsius to 40 degrees Celsius with a landmass of seven hundred and ten thousand eight hundred and fifty kilometer square (710,850kmsq). The highest point is four thousand one hundred and sixty-five meters (4,165m) and the lowest point is fifty-five meters.
Morocco is the closest country to Europe. The country has different climatic zones like the alpine, semi-arid, Mediterranean, sub-Mediterranean, and continental. These different climates are in different parts of Morocco, and they vary in temperature.
The kind of temperature in Morocco depends largely on the season at a particular time. When it’s summertime, it is the hottest. When winter arrives, the temperature varies in different areas and can drop to -5 degrees Celsius, or sometimes it gets to -8 degrees Celsius.
This occurs between December and February and at this point, it snows in the mountainous areas of the north and the central area.
1. LESOTHO
The temperature range for Lesotho is 18 degrees Celsius to 28 degrees Celsius. The landmass is thirty thousand three hundred and fifty-five square meters (30,355sqm), the highest point is three thousand four hundred and eighty-two meters (3,482m), the lowest point is one thousand and four hundred meters (1,400m).
Lesotho is a small country close to South Africa. It is a nation of thirty thousand three hundred and fifty-five square kilometers (30,355sqkm) with an estimated population of around 2.1 million.
Lesotho is the southernmost country in Africa and prides itself in being located above a thousand meters, the lowest point of Lesotho is 1,400 meters compared to other countries of the world central to the country’s cold weather.
CONCLUSION
In general, snow is not so pronounced in Africa when compared to other continents of the world. However, it cannot be out of place that some places in Africa experience cold weather and even snow.