Namib Desert records about 18mm of rain across roughly 5 wet days a year, which is a 1% chance on an average day. February is the wettest month at 5mm (28% of the annual total) and May the driest at 0mm. Local rain type: brief showers. The Namib is one of the driest deserts on Earth — rain gear is completely unnecessary. The only moisture comes from Atlantic fog that rolls inland, feeding the desert's unique fog-dependent ecosystems.
Chance of rain on an average day: 1%
Rainfall climatology for Namib Desert. The live hour-by-hour answer for today loads at the top of this page from Open-Meteo and refreshes through the day — the figures below describe a typical year, not today.
Conditions on this page are recalculated from the latest forecast every time it is opened, for the current date in the location's own time zone. Showing .
| Annual rainfall | 18mm |
| Rain days per year | 5 |
| Odds on an average day | 1% |
| Wettest month | February — 5mm over 1 days |
| Driest month | May — 0mm over 0 days |
| Rain type | brief showers |
| Best dry window | Essentially always dry — May through November offers cooler temperatures for comfortable desert exploration. |
| Worst rain window | February occasionally sees brief showers that can make the clay pan at Deadvlei temporarily impassable. |
February delivers 500% more rain than May (5mm vs 0mm). That gap is the difference between planning around showers and ignoring them.
28% of the year's rain falls in February alone, so Namib Desert has a genuine wet season rather than evenly spread showers.
Namib Desert rain typically comes as discrete showers, so a compact umbrella and a flexible plan are usually enough.
Rain falls on about 1 days in February against 0 in May — the frequency swing matters more for planning than the millimetre totals.
Climate normals. Use them to judge whether today's live forecast at the top of the page is typical or unusual for the season.
| Month | Rainfall | Rain days | Chance on a given day | Highs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 4mm | 1 | 3% | 35°C |
| February | 5mm | 1 | 3% | 35°C |
| March | 3mm | 1 | 3% | 33°C |
| April | 1mm | 1 | 3% | 30°C |
| May | 0mm | 0 | 0% | 27°C |
| June | 0mm | 0 | 0% | 24°C |
| July | 0mm | 0 | 0% | 22°C |
| August | 0mm | 0 | 0% | 22°C |
| September | 0mm | 0 | 0% | 24°C |
| October | 0mm | 0 | 0% | 27°C |
| November | 2mm | 1 | 3% | 30°C |
| December | 3mm | 1 | 3% | 33°C |
Rain probability is the chance that at least 0.2mm falls at your location — not how long it rains. For Namib Desert we combine the hourly probability curve, expected volume in millimetres, and the city's own rainfall record into a single umbrella verdict.
| Factor | Weight | What it measures |
|---|---|---|
| Hourly probability | 40% | Peak and sustained chance of measurable rain across the next 24 hours. |
| Expected volume | 30% | Total millimetres, which separates a passing shower from a genuine soaking. |
| Timing & duration | 20% | When rain starts, when it eases, and the longest continuous dry window. |
| Local rain type | 10% | Drizzle, brief showers, thunderstorms or monsoon — each needs different gear. |
Live hourly values come from Open-Meteo and refresh through the day. Monthly rainfall figures are climate normals, so they describe a typical year rather than a forecast.
Namib Desert records rain on roughly 5 days a year — about a 1% chance on any given day — totalling around 18mm.
February, with about 5mm over 1 rain days. That is 28% of the entire year's rainfall in a single month.
May is the driest month at 0mm across roughly 0 days. Essentially always dry — May through November offers cooler temperatures for comfortable desert exploration.
The Namib is one of the driest deserts on Earth — rain gear is completely unnecessary. The only moisture comes from Atlantic fog that rolls inland, feeding the desert's unique fog-dependent ecosystems.
No. Probability is the chance that at least 0.2mm of rain falls at your location at some point in the period. Check the expected millimetres alongside it: 40% with 0.4mm is a passing shower, 40% with 12mm is a soaking.