# Fires that started in strong wind in Namibia

Gusts of 50 km/h or more on the start day (a gale, Beaufort force 7).

**From 2016 to 2025, 6.8 % of the fires in Namibia started with gusts of 50 km/h or more and burned 5.3 % of the area.** The median fire burned about as much as the rest: 2,986 ha against 3,194 ha.

Based on all 953 fires in Namibia with a page between 2016 and 2025.

## Fires and area by maximum gust on the start day

| Gust | Fires | % | hectares | % |
|---|---:|---:|---:|---:|
| < 20 | 5 | < 1 % | 14,067 | < 1 % |
| 20–35 | 377 | 40 % | 1,954,784 | 39 % |
| 35–50 | 506 | 53 % | 2,807,041 | 56 % |
| 50–65 ✱ | 64 | 6.7 % | 265,115 | 5.3 % |
| 65–80 ✱ | 1 | < 1 % | 4,173 | < 1 % |
| ≥ 80 ✱ | 0 | 0.0 % | 0 | 0.0 % |

## Burned area by year

| Year | Fires | With data | In the condition | hectares | % of the area |
|---|---:|---:|---:|---:|---:|
| 2026 (provisional) (not comparable) | 160 | 160 | 7 | 1,311,434 | 2.2 % |
| 2025 (not comparable) | 87 | 87 | 3 | 690,121 | 1.3 % |
| 2024 | 43 | 43 | 1 | 241,085 | 1.2 % |
| 2023 | 111 | 111 | 6 | 687,939 | 3.3 % |
| 2022 | 119 | 119 | 6 | 682,678 | 3.7 % |
| 2021 | 175 | 175 | 25 | 943,328 | 9.8 % |
| 2020 | 146 | 146 | 9 | 747,501 | 3.6 % |
| 2019 | 45 | 45 | 2 | 290,053 | 12 % |
| 2018 | 83 | 83 | 3 | 400,546 | 2.3 % |
| 2017 | 123 | 123 | 4 | 546,729 | 5.5 % |
| 2016 | 108 | 108 | 9 | 505,321 | 5.2 % |

Series not comparable from August 2025 onwards: GWIS changed its near-real-time perimeters.

## The 20 largest that started this way

| # | Fire | hectares | FWI | Gust | Min RH | No rain |
|---|---|---:|---:|---:|---:|---:|
| 1 | [Kapako fire, September 2019](https://worldfires.org/en/fire/kapako-2019-09) | 31,877 | — | 53 km/h | 20 % | 60 days |
| 2 | [Rundu Rural West fire, 28 August 2017](https://worldfires.org/en/fire/rundu-rural-west-2017-08-7) | 21,488 | — | 50 km/h | 13 % | 60 days |
| 3 | [Omatako fire, 27 November 2021](https://worldfires.org/en/fire/omatako-2021-11-2) | 11,412 | — | 53 km/h | 9 % | 29 days |
| 4 | [Rundu Rural West fire, August 2022](https://worldfires.org/en/fire/rundu-rural-west-2022-08) | 8,428 | — | 50 km/h | 14 % | 60 days |
| 5 | [Otjombinde fire, 19 September 2023](https://worldfires.org/en/fire/karas-2023-09-2) | 7,634 | — | 51 km/h | 15 % | 60 days |
| 6 | [Kamanjab fire, 17 September 2021](https://worldfires.org/en/fire/kamanjab-2021-09-3) | 6,369 | — | 50 km/h | 8 % | 60 days |
| 7 | [Kamanjab fire, May 2021](https://worldfires.org/en/fire/kamanjab-2021-05) | 6,085 | — | 50 km/h | 21 % | 44 days |
| 8 | [Okahao fire, 20 November 2021](https://worldfires.org/en/fire/okahao-2021-11-3) | 5,032 | — | 53 km/h | 8 % | 2 days |
| 9 | [Mpungu fire, 8 October 2018](https://worldfires.org/en/fire/mpungu-2018-10-2) | 4,611 | — | 52 km/h | 10 % | 11 days |
| 10 | [Omuthiyagwiipundi fire, 15 October 2020](https://worldfires.org/en/fire/omuthiyagwiipundi-2020-10-10) | 4,546 | — | 53 km/h | 9 % | 60 days |
| 11 | [Tsumkwe fire, 8 October 2022](https://worldfires.org/en/fire/tsumkwe-2022-10) | 4,442 | — | 51 km/h | 9 % | 60 days |
| 12 | [Kahenge fire, 8 September 2020](https://worldfires.org/en/fire/kahenge-2020-09-2) | 4,234 | — | 52 km/h | 11 % | 60 days |
| 13 | [Kamanjab fire, 30 July 2021](https://worldfires.org/en/fire/kamanjab-2021-07-3) | 4,234 | — | 62 km/h | 14 % | 60 days |
| 14 | [Windhoek Rural fire, 27 November 2021](https://worldfires.org/en/fire/windhoek-rural-2021-11-3) | 4,223 | — | 53 km/h | 9 % | 29 days |
| 15 | [Kamanjab fire, 30 July 2021](https://worldfires.org/en/fire/kamanjab-2021-07-2) | 4,173 | — | 67 km/h | 16 % | 60 days |
| 16 | [Mariental Rural fire, 1 September 2021](https://worldfires.org/en/fire/mariental-rural-2021-09-2) | 4,141 | — | 51 km/h | 4 % | 60 days |
| 17 | [Mukwe fire, 28 August 2021](https://worldfires.org/en/fire/mukwe-2021-08-5) | 3,910 | — | 56 km/h | 21 % | 60 days |
| 18 | [Mpungu fire, 11 September 2016](https://worldfires.org/en/fire/mpungu-2016-09-6) | 3,812 | — | 50 km/h | 8 % | 60 days |
| 19 | [Kamanjab fire, June 2022](https://worldfires.org/en/fire/kamanjab-2022-06) | 3,637 | — | 65 km/h | 8 % | 48 days |
| 20 | [Rundu Rural West fire, October 2016](https://worldfires.org/en/fire/rundu-rural-west-2016-10) | 3,599 | — | 55 km/h | 7 % | 60 days |

> This is not an official warning. Check the warnings of your local civil protection or forestry authority. 

## How it is calculated

Every fire with a page and a published area since 2016 is classified by the weather on its start day at its central point, from the Copernicus ERA5 reanalysis on our own Open-Meteo server.

The same fires count as in the country totals: no agricultural or reed-bed burns, provisional pages or erroneous data. The quotable figures are for complete years; the current year is shown separately.

The gust is the daily maximum at 10 m from the ERA5 reanalysis, a grid of about 30 km that smooths out gusts in valleys and on ridges. It is the weather at one point, not on every hectare, and no single condition explains a fire.

## Suggested citation

WorldFires, “Fires that started in strong wind in Namibia”, https://worldfires.org/en/country/namibia/fire-weather/strong-wind (accessed 7 November 2026). Sources: Copernicus Climate Change Service, ERA5 (Open-Meteo.com, CC BY 4.0), WorldFires (FWI, Van Wagner 1987), Copernicus GWIS, NASA FIRMS (VIIRS).

CC BY 4.0 licence: you may reproduce these figures crediting “WorldFires (worldfires.org)” and the sources.

Sources: Open-Meteo.com (CC BY 4.0) · Copernicus Climate Change Service, ERA5 (Open-Meteo.com, CC BY 4.0) · WorldFires (FWI, Van Wagner 1987) · Copernicus GWIS · NASA FIRMS (VIIRS)

Full version with maps: https://worldfires.org/en/country/namibia/fire-weather/strong-wind