The original photo depicts a sunny day in Harare CBD.
This photo shared on Facebook supposedly depicting snow in Harare, Zimbabwe is ALTERED.
“First time seeing snow in Harare, Zimbabwe,” reads the post.
The image depicts a snow-covered city street with cars, pedestrians, and towering buildings beneath a clear blue sky. A pedestrian bridge crosses the road in the background.
The photo was circulating on social media in the days when Zimbabwe received lower temperatures. Historically, August is known as the beginning of summer and temperatures are expected to be high, and the weather warm. However, the weather was cold and windy.
Did it really snow in Harare Zimbabwe?
A Google image reverse search shows that it did not snow. The original picture is a clear-weather photograph that was captured by a local photographer lens from Zimbabwe in the beginning of August.
Lens from Zimbabwe confirmed to The Besana Mail through a phone call that they captured the photo and was the owner of the original unfiltered photo, taken in Harare.
“We took the picture in Harare CBD on a sunny afternoon on 4 August 2026. We were surprised when we saw it resurfacing online two weeks later used to spread misinformation about snow in Zimbabwe,” Pride Choga of lens from Zimbabwe said.
The area captured has a significant national statue of Mbuya Nehanda, Zimbabwe’s first liberation war heroine and spirit medium. The altered image misses on that.
The weather report of Harare on August 13, 2026 describes the day as cold, overcast, patchy, rainy and 0% possibility of snow. Harare is not in the southern region as alleged in the claim, and only experienced cold, cloudy, and partly sunny weather with afternoon temperatures around 19°C (45°F) and lows dropping to about 7°C.
In the same period the meteorological services department of Zimbabwe issued out the weather forecast of August 13, 2026.
“Cloudy, windy and cold conditions prevailed over much of the country in the morning and as the day progressed it became cool with brief sun breaks,” said MET in a social media post.
An analysis of the photo was done using AI detection tools, Sight Engine and Hive Moderation, found over 98 per cent likelihood that the photo was AI-generated.
Further, an analysis of the image on Fotoforensics showed signs of alteration around the areas covered with snow.
The Besana Mail – Zim Truth Radar examined a photo shared on Facebook supposedly depicting snow in Harare, Zimbabwe and found it to be ALTERED.
This fact-check was produced by The Besana Mail as part of the African Fact-Checking Alliance’s (AFCA)incubation programme. It was produced with peer-mentorship from Code for Africa’s fact-checking initiative, PesaCheck, with financial support from Norway. AFCA mentorship respects the journalistic independence of the researchers, offering access to advanced techniques and tools. Editorial decision-making remains with The Besana Mail. Want to learn more? Visit: https://factcheck.africa/
