Temperatures are moderated by altitude. Mean monthly temperatures range from 22 degrees C in October and 13 degrees C in July on the highveld to 30 degrees C and 20 degrees C in the low-lying Zambezi valley. Mean annual rainfall ranges from 1,400mm on the eastern highlands, to 800mm on the north-eastern highveld and to less than 400mm in the Limpopo valley. The development of water resources for economic uses is a continually pressing need which, to date, has been met by a major dam-building programme. Underground water resources are limited.
Soils vary considerably.
Kalahari sands are also extensive and provide poor soils. Soil-forming processes are limited in the lowveld and, except on basalt, soils there are generally immature. Rich red clays and loams occur on the limited outcrops of Basement Schists, which are also among the most highly mineralized areas of Zimbabwe. The only true forests, however, are the evergreen forests of the eastern border and the savanna woodland, which includes teak, northwest of Bulawayo. In the valleys of the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers, the mopane, which resembles the mohobohobo, is common, together with the stout-trunked baobab and the knobby thorn tree.