Emalahleni climate

Name: Emalahleni
Address: ZA

Emalahleni is warmest in October, with average highs of 25 °C, and coldest in July, when nights average 2.6 °C. December is the wettest month (123 mm) and June the driest (6.0 mm). Figures are 1991–2020 climate normals.

Across a full year Emalahleni averages 711 mm of rain, 101 days above 25 °C and 9 days below freezing.

South Africa · population 373,403 · 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 October 25 °C
Coldest month July 2.6 °C
Driest month June 6 mm
Wettest month December 123 mm
Least cloud July 13 % cloud
Hottest on record January 35 °C
Coldest on record June -4.1 °C

What to expectEmalahleni through the year

Emalahleni has a clear annual cycle: average daily highs run from 17 °C in July to 25 °C in October, a swing of 9.9 °C in mean temperature across the year.

Counted across a normal year, 101 days a year reach 25 °C, 8 of them reach 30 °C, 9 nights drop below freezing. The warmest reading in the 1991–2020 record is 35 °C, in January.

Rain is strongly seasonal. December averages 123 mm against 6 mm in June — 21 times as much. Planning around the dry months matters more here than planning around temperature.

Month by month

Month	Avg high	Rainfall	Cloud
January	24.8 °C	121 mm	52 %
February	24.9 °C	97 mm	48 %
March	23.7 °C	93 mm	42 %
April	21.5 °C	44 mm	35 %
May	19.5 °C	15 mm	20 %
June	17.2 °C	6 mm	14 %
July	17.3 °C	6 mm	13 %
August	20.4 °C	9 mm	16 %
September	24.2 °C	20 mm	23 %
October	24.9 °C	72 mm	40 %
November	24.3 °C	106 mm	53 %
December	24.6 °C	123 mm	57 %

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	24.8 °C	14.5 °C	19.4 °C	35.0 °C	6.8 °C	14	1	0
February	24.9 °C	14.3 °C	19.3 °C	32.4 °C	9.0 °C	13	1	0
March	23.7 °C	12.9 °C	18.1 °C	31.6 °C	6.5 °C	10	0	0
April	21.5 °C	9.9 °C	15.5 °C	29.3 °C	2.0 °C	3	0	0
May	19.5 °C	6.2 °C	12.5 °C	26.5 °C	-3.5 °C	1	0	0
June	17.2 °C	3.1 °C	9.7 °C	24.0 °C	-4.1 °C	0	0	3
July	17.3 °C	2.6 °C	9.5 °C	24.3 °C	-3.9 °C	0	0	5
August	20.4 °C	5.4 °C	12.6 °C	27.8 °C	-2.9 °C	2	0	1
September	24.2 °C	9.0 °C	16.5 °C	31.7 °C	-0.7 °C	14	0	0
October	24.9 °C	11.4 °C	18.0 °C	34.2 °C	2.7 °C	17	3	0
November	24.3 °C	12.7 °C	18.3 °C	34.4 °C	3.1 °C	14	1	0
December	24.6 °C	14.1 °C	19.1 °C	33.1 °C	3.8 °C	14	1	0

Rain, sun and wind month by month

Month	Rainfall	Wet days	Daylight	Cloud cover	Humidity	Wind
January	121 mm	15	14 h/day	52 %	71 %	15 km/h
February	97 mm	12	13 h/day	48 %	70 %	14 km/h
March	93 mm	11	12 h/day	42 %	69 %	14 km/h
April	44 mm	6	11 h/day	35 %	67 %	14 km/h
May	15 mm	3	11 h/day	20 %	59 %	14 km/h
June	6 mm	1	11 h/day	14 %	56 %	14 km/h
July	6 mm	1	11 h/day	13 %	52 %	15 km/h
August	9 mm	2	11 h/day	16 %	48 %	16 km/h
September	20 mm	3	12 h/day	23 %	46 %	17 km/h
October	72 mm	10	13 h/day	40 %	56 %	18 km/h
November	106 mm	13	13 h/day	53 %	65 %	17 km/h
December	123 mm	16	14 h/day	57 %	70 %	16 km/h

How Emalahleni 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
Emalahleni	25 °C	2.6 °C	711 mm	101
Middelburg · South Africa	26 °C	3.7 °C	674 mm	127
Benoni · South Africa	25 °C	2.7 °C	705 mm	107
Thembisa · South Africa	26 °C	3.5 °C	641 mm	121
Centurion · South Africa	27 °C	4.6 °C	627 mm	152
Pretoria · South Africa	28 °C	5.1 °C	627 mm	178
Soshanguve · South Africa	29 °C	5.6 °C	570 mm	205

Where Emalahleni ranks

Ranking	Position	Value
The coolest places in Africa in May	9th of 50	19 °C
The coolest places in Africa in June	10th of 50	17 °C
The coolest places in Africa in July	11th of 50	17 °C
Places with the best weather in Africa in September	16th of 50	93/100
The coolest places in Africa in August	22nd of 50	20 °C
Places with the best weather in Africa year-round	26th of 50	85/100

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

QuestionsCommon questions about Emalahleni’s climate

When is the best time to visit Emalahleni?

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, October is the warmest month and June the driest. The month-by-month table above has the full picture.

How hot does Emalahleni get?

In October, the warmest month, daily highs average 25 °C. About 8 days a year pass 30 °C. The highest value in the 1991–2020 record is 35 °C.

How cold does it get in winter?

Nights average 2.6 °C in July, the coldest month. A normal year has 9 nights below freezing.

Which month is wettest in Emalahleni?

December, averaging 123 mm over 16 days with rain. The driest month is June with 6 mm. The year as a whole averages 711 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 Emalahleni 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: -25.871°, 29.233° (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.