Maseru climate

Name: Maseru
Address: LS

Maseru is warmest in January, with average highs of 27 °C, and coldest in July, when nights average -0.9 °C. January is the wettest month (142 mm) and July the driest (9.9 mm). Figures are 1991–2020 climate normals.

Across a full year Maseru averages 851 mm of rain, 107 days above 25 °C and 53 days below freezing.

Lesotho · population 359,753 · 1991–2020 normals

Temperature below 0 °C to above 30 °C Rain band height is that month’s share of the wettest month

Warmest month January 27 °C
Coldest month July -0.9 °C
Driest month July 10 mm
Wettest month January 142 mm
Least cloud July 16 % cloud
Hottest on record January 39 °C
Coldest on record July -8.0 °C

What to expectMaseru through the year

Maseru has a clear annual cycle: average daily highs run from 15 °C in July to 27 °C in January, a swing of 14 °C in mean temperature across the year.

Counted across a normal year, 107 days a year reach 25 °C, 18 of them reach 30 °C, 53 nights drop below freezing. The warmest reading in the 1991–2020 record is 39 °C, in January.

Rain is strongly seasonal. January averages 142 mm against 10 mm in July — 14 times as much. Planning around the dry months matters more here than planning around temperature.

Month by month

Month	Avg high	Rainfall	Cloud
January	26.6 °C	142 mm	42 %
February	25.8 °C	112 mm	41 %
March	24.0 °C	103 mm	38 %
April	20.6 °C	65 mm	35 %
May	17.6 °C	29 mm	27 %
June	14.6 °C	17 mm	20 %
July	14.9 °C	10 mm	16 %
August	18.0 °C	25 mm	21 %
September	22.6 °C	24 mm	27 %
October	24.2 °C	82 mm	38 %
November	25.1 °C	109 mm	40 %
December	26.3 °C	134 mm	42 %

Temperature month by month

Month	Avg high	Avg low	Mean	Record high	Record low	Days above 25 °C	Days above 30 °C	Days below 0 °C
January	26.6 °C	14.2 °C	20.4 °C	39.3 °C	4.7 °C	21	5	0
February	25.8 °C	13.6 °C	19.7 °C	33.3 °C	7.0 °C	17	2	0
March	24.0 °C	11.6 °C	17.7 °C	31.2 °C	3.2 °C	11	1	0
April	20.6 °C	7.7 °C	14.1 °C	28.3 °C	-2.6 °C	2	0	0
May	17.6 °C	3.3 °C	10.3 °C	25.3 °C	-6.4 °C	0	0	4
June	14.6 °C	-0.4 °C	6.8 °C	22.4 °C	-7.0 °C	0	0	18
July	14.9 °C	-0.9 °C	6.6 °C	21.9 °C	-8.0 °C	0	0	20
August	18.0 °C	1.7 °C	9.8 °C	27.0 °C	-6.4 °C	1	0	10
September	22.6 °C	6.0 °C	14.5 °C	30.5 °C	-4.0 °C	9	0	1
October	24.2 °C	9.3 °C	17.0 °C	33.8 °C	-0.6 °C	13	2	0
November	25.1 °C	11.0 °C	18.2 °C	34.3 °C	0.8 °C	15	4	0
December	26.3 °C	13.2 °C	19.8 °C	37.0 °C	3.3 °C	20	5	0

Rain, sun and wind month by month

Month	Rainfall	Wet days	Daylight	Cloud cover	Humidity	Wind
January	142 mm	15	14 h/day	42 %	65 %	15 km/h
February	112 mm	13	13 h/day	41 %	68 %	14 km/h
March	103 mm	12	12 h/day	38 %	69 %	13 km/h
April	65 mm	8	11 h/day	35 %	68 %	13 km/h
May	29 mm	4	11 h/day	27 %	64 %	12 km/h
June	17 mm	3	10 h/day	20 %	62 %	13 km/h
July	10 mm	2	10 h/day	16 %	57 %	13 km/h
August	25 mm	3	11 h/day	21 %	51 %	15 km/h
September	24 mm	4	12 h/day	27 %	44 %	17 km/h
October	82 mm	9	13 h/day	38 %	51 %	18 km/h
November	109 mm	11	14 h/day	40 %	56 %	18 km/h
December	134 mm	14	14 h/day	42 %	61 %	17 km/h

How Maseru compares

The same four figures for nearby destinations, so the numbers above have something to be read against. Summer high is the warmest month's average high; winter low is the coldest month's average low.

Destination	Summer high	Winter low	Rain per year	Days above 25 °C
Maseru	27 °C	-0.9 °C	851 mm	107
Botshabelo · South Africa	29 °C	1.4 °C	602 mm	154
Bloemfontein · South Africa	30 °C	1.7 °C	519 mm	174
Welkom · South Africa	29 °C	2.1 °C	548 mm	176

Where Maseru ranks

Ranking	Position	Value
The coolest places in Africa in July	1st of 50	15 °C
The coolest places in Africa in June	1st of 50	15 °C
The coolest places in Africa in May	1st of 50	18 °C
The coolest places in Africa in August	5th of 50	18 °C
The coolest places in Africa year-round	22nd of 50	22 °C
The coolest places in Africa in September	25th of 50	23 °C

Planning a trip? See the best time to visit Maseru.

QuestionsCommon questions about Maseru’s climate

When is the best time to visit Maseru?

That depends on what you want, so the honest answer is a comparison rather than a single month. January, February, December sit closest to 20 °C on average, January is the warmest month and July the driest. The month-by-month table above has the full picture.

How hot does Maseru get?

In January, the warmest month, daily highs average 27 °C. About 18 days a year pass 30 °C. The highest value in the 1991–2020 record is 39 °C.

How cold does it get in winter?

Nights average -0.9 °C in July, the coldest month. A normal year has 53 nights below freezing.

Which month is wettest in Maseru?

January, averaging 142 mm over 15 days with rain. The driest month is July with 10 mm. The year as a whole averages 851 mm.

Are these figures a forecast?

No. They are 1991–2020 climate normals: the average of thirty years, which describes what a month is usually like in Maseru rather than what any particular week will bring. Individual years can differ substantially from the normal.

Data sources and method

ERA5 / ERA5-Land reanalysis — Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), ECMWF. Copernicus Licence
Open-Meteo — Open-Meteo.com. CC BY 4.0
NOAA OISST v2.1 — NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory. Public domain
GeoNames — GeoNames.org. CC BY 4.0

Normal period: 1991–2020
Data point: -29.317°, 27.483° (the coordinates the reanalysis values are taken for)
Dataset version: era5-1991-2020-scores1.1
Last processed: 1 August 2026

Measured values come from ERA5 reanalysis and are reproduced unchanged. Calculated by us: monthly rankings, daylight hours, beach and comfort scores. Full formulas are on the methodology page.

Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026. Neither the European Commission nor ECMWF is responsible for any use that may be made of the Copernicus information or data it contains.