The climate of South Africa: when to go to South Africa

South Africa has a temperate type of climate. South Africa’s climate varies according to distance from the sea, altitude and the presence of hot and cold sea currents. These currents are cold, along the coast washed by the Atlantic ocean, and are warm, along the coast washed by the Indian ocean.

Most of the interior of the nation is made up of highlands, known in South Africa as a ‘veld’. These highlands have an altitude that varies between 900 m and 1,800 meters. The days are generally bright and shiny with high summer temperatures and lower temperatures in winter.

The Western Cape area of South Africa has a Mediterranean climate with hot and dry summers and cold and wet winters. The internal provinces of Gauteng, where the city of Johannesburg is located, the Mpumalanga and the Free State have a warm climate during the summer with frequent afternoon thunderstorms, while the winter days are warm, but the nights reach temperatures close to zero.

The east coast of South Africa which includes the whole province of Kwa Zulu Natal and part of the Eastern Cape, has a sub-tropical climate, with a high humidity. The Northern Cape province is characterized by an arid semi-desert climate.

CLIMATE OF SOUTH AFRICA: CLIMATE OF GAUTENG

Pretoria: The climate of the capital of South Africa, Pretoria is characterized by dry winters with temperatures ranging between 22 ° C and 5 ° C. While summers are hot, with temperatures between 29 ° C and 17 ° C. Thunderstorms and rains are frequent during the months between November and January.

Climate of Pretoria.

PRETORIA (1339 meters)
Month	Average low (°C)	Average high (°C)	Precip. (mm)	Precip. days
January	18	29	136	14
February	17	28	75	11
March	16	27	82	10
April	12	24	51	7
May	8	22	13	3
June	5	19	7	1
July	5	20	3	1
August	8	22	6	2
September	12	26	22	3
October	14	27	71	9
November	16	27	98	12
December	17	28	110	15
YEAR	12	25	674	87

Johannesburg: Johannesburg’s climate has dry winters with maximum temperatures ranging between 24 ° C-16 ° C. During the summer, that is, the months from November to February, which represent the rainy season, temperatures often exceed 30 ° C and afternoon thunderstorms are common.

Climate of Johannesburg.

JOHANNESBURG (1753 meters)
Month	Average low (°C)	Average high (°C)	Precip. (mm)	Precip. days
January	15	26	125	16
February	14	25	90	11
March	13	24	91	12
April	10	21	54	9
May	7	19	13	3
June	4	16	9	2
July	4	17	4	1
August	6	19	6	2
September	9	23	27	4
October	11	24	72	10
November	13	24	117	15
December	14	25	105	15
YEAR	10	22	713	99

CLIMATE OF THE WESTERN CAPE

Cape Town: Cape Town has a pleasant Mediterranean climate with well defined seasons. The climate of this South African city has winter rains, between May and August, and temperatures around 18 ° C, and hot summers with temperatures ranging between 25-27 ° C.

Climate of Cape Town.

CAPE TOWN (44 meters)
Month	Average low (°C)	Average high (°C)	Precip. (mm)	Precip. days
January	16	26	15	6
February	16	27	17	5
March	14	25	20	5
April	12	23	41	8
May	9	20	69	11
June	8	18	93	13
July	7	18	82	12
August	8	18	77	14
September	9	19	40	10
October	11	21	30	9
November	13	24	14	5
December	15	25	17	6
YEAR	11	22	515	103

CAPE TOWN
Month	Sea Water Temperature °C
January	20
February	20
March	20
April	18
May	17
June	16
July	16
August	16
September	16
October	16
November	18
December	19

CLIMATE OF THE NORTHERN CAPE

Upington: Upington is located near the Kalahari desert. This area of South Africa has a hot and dry climate. Little rain falls between December and April. The best time to visit the Upington region is the warm and sunny winter months between June and September.

UPINGTON (848 meters)
Month	Average low (°C)	Average high (°C)	Precip. (mm)	Precip. days
January	20	36	24	4
February	20	34	35	6
March	18	32	37	6
April	13	28	26	5
May	8	24	10	2
June	5	21	4	2
July	4	21	2	1
August	6	23	4	1
September	9	27	4	2
October	13	30	9	3
November	16	33	17	3
December	19	35	17	4
YEAR	13	29	189	37

CLIMATE OF THE EASTERN CAPE

Port Elizabeth: Port Elizabeth has a sub-tropical climate with rainfall spread throughout the year. The city has mild temperatures ranging between 20 ° C and 9 ° C during the winter and 25 ° C-17 ° C during the summer. Port Elizabeth has a pleasant climate which allows swimming all year round.

Climate of Port Elizabeth.

PORT ELIZABETH (15 meters)
Month	Average low (°C)	Average high (°C)	Precip. (mm)	Precip. days
January	18	25	36	9
February	18	25	40	9
March	17	25	54	10
April	14	23	58	9
May	12	22	59	9
June	9	20	62	8
July	9	20	47	8
August	10	20	64	10
September	11	20	62	9
October	13	21	59	11
November	15	22	49	11
December	16	24	34	9
YEAR	14	22	624	112

PORT ELIZABETH
Month	Sea Water Temperature °C
January	23
February	23
March	23
April	22
May	21
June	20
July	19
August	19
September	19
October	20
November	21
December	22

CLIMATE OF KWAZULU-NATAL

Durban: Durban has a sub-tropical climate, with warm and sunny winters, and hot and humid summers. Average temperatures are around 16 ° C -25 ° C all year round. Rain is frequent during the summer months, between October and March, when it occurs in the form of afternoon thunderstorms.

Climate of Durban.

DURBAN (12 meters)
Month	Average low (°C)	Average high (°C)	Precip. (mm)	Precip. days
January	21	28	134	15
February	21	28	113	13
March	20	28	120	13
April	17	26	73	9
May	14	25	59	7
June	11	23	28	5
July	11	23	39	5
August	13	23	62	7
September	15	23	73	11
October	17	24	98	15
November	18	25	108	16
December	20	27	102	15
YEAR	17	25	1009	130

DURBAN
Month	Sea Water Temperature °C
January	26
February	26
March	26
April	25
May	24
June	22
July	22
August	21
September	21
October	22
November	23
December	24

CLIMATE OF THE FREE STATE

Bloemfontein: The climate of Bloemfontein is characterized by dry winters from May to August with temperatures around 17 ° C during the day and even -2 ° C during the night. The summer from October to February has temperatures of around 30 ° C during the day and gusts of rain in the afternoon. The rainiest month is February. Snow is a rare occurrence.

Climate of Bloemfontein.

BLOEMFONTEIN / MANGAUNG (1395 meters)
Month	Average low (°C)	Average high (°C)	Precip. (mm)	Precip. days
January	15	31	83	11
February	15	29	111	11
March	12	27	72	11
April	8	23	56	9
May	3	20	17	4
June	-2	17	12	3
July	-2	17	8	2
August	1	20	15	3
September	5	24	24	4
October	9	26	43	7
November	12	28	58	9
December	14	30	60	10
YEAR	8	24	559	84

CLIMATE OF THE MPUMALANGA

Nelspruit: Nelspruit and the South African region of Mpumalanga have a sub-tropical climate with average maximum temperatures around 23 ° C during the winter and up to 29 ° C during the summer. In this area of the country the rainy season runs from November to March.

Climate of Nelspruit.

NELSPRUIT (689 meters)
Month	Average low (°C)	Average high (°C)	Precip. (mm)	Precip. days
January	19	29	127	14
February	19	29	108	12
March	18	28	90	12
April	14	27	51	7
May	10	25	15	4
June	6	23	9	2
July	6	23	10	2
August	9	25	10	3
September	12	27	26	5
October	14	27	75	11
November	17	27	115	15
December	18	28	131	14
YEAR	13	27	767	100

CLIMATE OF LIMPOPO

Polokwane: Polokwane and the province of Limpopo have a tropical climate with winter temperatures between 20 ° C and 4 ° C and summer temperatures between 28 ° C and 16 ° C. Despite its position on the Tropic of Capricorn, the city enjoys a pleasant climate thanks to the altitude at which it is located. The rainy season runs from November to March.

Climate of Polokwane.

POLOKWANE / PIETERSBURG (1310 meters)
Month	Average low (°C)	Average high (°C)	Precip. (mm)	Precip. days
January	17	28	82	10
February	17	28	60	8
March	15	27	52	8
April	12	24	33	6
May	8	22	11	2
June	5	20	5	1
July	4	20	3	1
August	7	22	6	1
September	10	25	17	2
October	13	26	43	7
November	15	27	85	10
December	16	27	81	11
YEAR	12	25	478	65

CLIMATE OF THE NORTH-WEST PROVINCE

Rustenburg: Rustenburg and the area of South Africa towards the border with Botswana has a sub-tropical climate with average temperatures ranging between 2º C and 20ºC during the winter and between 22º C and 35 ° C during the summer. The rains are concentrated in the months between September and April, the rainiest month is December.

Climate of Rustenburg.

RUSTENBURG (1170 meters)
Month	Average low (°C)	Average high (°C)	Precip. (mm)	Precip. days
January	19	32	78	10
February	18	31	71	8
March	16	30	58	8
April	12	27	38	6
May	7	25	6	1
June	3	22	12	2
July	2	22	3	1
August	6	26	5	1
September	11	28	25	4
October	15	30	57	7
November	16	31	61	10
December	18	31	105	12
YEAR	12	28	519	69