Zambia 
In numbers.
638m³/s
Average flow
estimate
Jan–Apr
Best months
1,036m
Elevation
The water at Chavuma Falls, month by month
It roars from January to March.
The fullest months: from January to March. The thinnest: from May to October.
- 1,311 m³/sJan
- 1,332 m³/sFeb
- 1,175 m³/sMar
- 775 m³/sApr
- 449 m³/sMay
- 209 m³/sJun
- 178 m³/sJul
- 178 m³/sAug
- 180 m³/sSep
- 210 m³/sOct
- 513 m³/sNov
- 986 m³/sDec
From about 178 m³/s in the lowest month to 1,332 m³/s in the highest. Best months to go, with plenty of water and pleasant days: from January to April.
Estimate: the timing comes from rain, snowmelt and evaporation (NASA POWER, 1991–2020); the amounts from the river model of HydroATLAS (WaterGAP, 1971–2000). Dams upstream can change the real flow.
Waterfall on the Zambezi in Zambia
Chavuma Falls is a waterfall on the Zambezi River, in Zambia.
Getting there.
- Chavumanearest town · 3.3 km in a straight line
- From January to Aprilbest months to go (estimate)
Plan your visit
Stay, explore and get there
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Seen from the sky.
8 × 8 km of cloud-free satellite image, with what OpenStreetMap knows around the falls.
N
2 km
Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 8 × 8 km, north up. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.
The line follows the river as mapped in OpenStreetMap; heights from the 30 m Copernicus model, which smooths narrow drops — the published height of the falls is the one above.
Around the falls the river drops 4 m in 3.6 km.
What is around.
- —viewpoints
- —waymarked walking routes
- —car parks
- —swimming spots
- —picnic sites
- —toilets
- —information boards and visitor centres
- —bus stops within 1 km
- —other named waterfalls within 4 km
- —caves
- —campsites
- —hotels, B&Bs and huts within 6 km
- 2restaurants and cafés within 3 km
Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit, up to 2 km around the falls (unless noted). A low number may just mean nobody has mapped it yet. © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).
Towns nearby
- Chavuma3.3 km in a straight line
Weather
The weather, month by month.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afternoon °C | 28 | 28 | 28 | 29 | 29 | 28 | 28 | 32 | 35 | 35 | 31 | 28 |
| Night °C | 19 | 19 | 19 | 17 | 14 | 12 | 11 | 14 | 18 | 21 | 20 | 20 |
| Rain & snow (mm) | 195 | 164 | 151 | 41 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 38 | 146 | 211 |
| Wet days | 28 | 25 | 24 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 23 | 28 |
| Sun h/day | 5.6 | 5.9 | 6.6 | 8.6 | 10.2 | 10.3 | 10.1 | 9.4 | 8.7 | 7.8 | 6.4 | 5.6 |
Long-term averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, with temperatures carried to the height of the falls (1,036 m) at −6.5 °C per 1,000 m. Not a forecast.
Recent years
Wet years and dry years
Rain of each month as a share of the 1991–2020 average. A wet season above 100 % usually means a fuller waterfall.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 72% | 172% | 309% | 99% | — | — | — | — | 10% | 29% | 125% | 117% |
| 2021 | 131% | 116% | 103% | 104% | — | — | — | — | 13% | 385% | 68% | 59% |
| 2022 | 134% | 112% | 104% | 188% | — | — | — | — | 387% | 31% | 122% | 68% |
| 2023 | 175% | 80% | 117% | 177% | — | — | — | — | 147% | 83% | 33% | 54% |
| 2024 | 73% | 60% | 64% | 162% | — | — | — | — | 53% | 48% | 41% | 51% |
| 2025 | 76% | 112% | 79% | 324% | — | — | — | — | 0% | 41% | 54% | 50% |
130% wetter than usual 70% drier than usual
About these numbers
| Names, height, width, river | Wikidata (Q519328) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| River flow and catchment | HydroATLAS / RiverATLAS v1.0 (Linke et al. 2019) · CC BY 4.0 |
| Climate | NASA POWER, 1991–2020 |
| Relief, river profile, 3D model | Copernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA |
| Paths, viewpoints, parking | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Images | EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons |
Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.
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