Polokwane climate

Name: Polokwane
Address: ZA

Polokwane is warmest in February, with average highs of 27 °C, and coldest in July, when nights average 6.7 °C. December is the wettest month (128 mm) and July the driest (3.1 mm). Figures are 1991–2020 climate normals.

Across a full year Polokwane averages 606 mm of rain, 162 days above 25 °C and 0 days below freezing.

South Africa · population 272,461 · 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 February 27 °C
Coldest month July 6.7 °C
Driest month July 3 mm
Wettest month December 128 mm
Least cloud June 15 % cloud
Hottest on record February 37 °C
Coldest on record July -0.5 °C

What to expectPolokwane through the year

Polokwane has a clear annual cycle: average daily highs run from 19 °C in July to 27 °C in February, a swing of 8.9 °C in mean temperature across the year.

Counted across a normal year, 162 days a year reach 25 °C, 33 of them reach 30 °C, 0 nights drop below freezing. The warmest reading in the 1991–2020 record is 37 °C, in February.

Rain is strongly seasonal. December averages 128 mm against 3 mm in July — 41 times as much. Planning around the dry months matters more here than planning around temperature.

Month by month

Month	Avg high	Rainfall	Cloud
January	26.7 °C	111 mm	54 %
February	26.7 °C	82 mm	51 %
March	25.7 °C	72 mm	44 %
April	23.7 °C	39 mm	36 %
May	21.8 °C	11 mm	19 %
June	19.4 °C	4 mm	15 %
July	19.2 °C	3 mm	16 %
August	22.3 °C	4 mm	18 %
September	25.6 °C	13 mm	24 %
October	26.6 °C	44 mm	40 %
November	26.4 °C	95 mm	55 %
December	26.5 °C	128 mm	59 %

Temperature month by month

Month	Avg high	Avg low	Mean	Record high	Record low	Days above 25 °C	Days above 30 °C
January	26.7 °C	16.5 °C	21.3 °C	37.0 °C	9.5 °C	22	5
February	26.7 °C	16.4 °C	21.2 °C	37.2 °C	11.2 °C	20	4
March	25.7 °C	15.2 °C	20.1 °C	33.7 °C	9.0 °C	18	2
April	23.7 °C	12.8 °C	17.8 °C	31.6 °C	5.0 °C	10	0
May	21.8 °C	10.0 °C	15.4 °C	29.9 °C	1.4 °C	4	0
June	19.4 °C	7.4 °C	12.9 °C	26.5 °C	0.7 °C	1	0
July	19.2 °C	6.7 °C	12.4 °C	28.4 °C	-0.5 °C	0	0
August	22.3 °C	8.7 °C	15.1 °C	30.6 °C	2.2 °C	7	0
September	25.6 °C	11.5 °C	18.3 °C	34.8 °C	2.6 °C	18	5
October	26.6 °C	13.4 °C	19.7 °C	36.2 °C	6.0 °C	20	7
November	26.4 °C	14.8 °C	20.4 °C	35.7 °C	7.8 °C	20	6
December	26.5 °C	16.0 °C	21.0 °C	34.5 °C	8.7 °C	21	5

Rain, sun and wind month by month

Month	Rainfall	Wet days	Daylight	Cloud cover	Humidity	Wind
January	111 mm	13	13 h/day	54 %	69 %	15 km/h
February	82 mm	10	13 h/day	51 %	69 %	14 km/h
March	72 mm	9	12 h/day	44 %	69 %	14 km/h
April	39 mm	5	12 h/day	36 %	67 %	13 km/h
May	11 mm	2	11 h/day	19 %	59 %	13 km/h
June	4 mm	1	11 h/day	15 %	57 %	13 km/h
July	3 mm	1	11 h/day	16 %	55 %	14 km/h
August	4 mm	1	11 h/day	18 %	51 %	15 km/h
September	13 mm	2	12 h/day	24 %	51 %	17 km/h
October	44 mm	7	13 h/day	40 %	57 %	17 km/h
November	95 mm	12	13 h/day	55 %	64 %	16 km/h
December	128 mm	15	14 h/day	59 %	69 %	15 km/h

How Polokwane 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
Polokwane	27 °C	6.7 °C	606 mm	162
Middelburg · South Africa	26 °C	3.7 °C	674 mm	127
Emalahleni · South Africa	25 °C	2.6 °C	711 mm	101
Soshanguve · South Africa	29 °C	5.6 °C	570 mm	205
Pretoria · South Africa	28 °C	5.1 °C	627 mm	178
Centurion · South Africa	27 °C	4.6 °C	627 mm	152

Where Polokwane ranks

Ranking	Position	Value
Places with the best weather in Africa in April	1st of 50	96/100
Places with the best weather in Africa in May	7th of 50	96/100
Places with the best weather in Africa year-round	11th of 50	88/100
Places with the best weather in the world in May	12th of 50	96/100
Places with the best weather in Africa in September	14th of 50	93/100
Places with the best weather in the world in April	14th of 50	96/100

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

QuestionsCommon questions about Polokwane’s climate

When is the best time to visit Polokwane?

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

How hot does Polokwane get?

In February, the warmest month, daily highs average 27 °C. About 33 days a year pass 30 °C. The highest value in the 1991–2020 record is 37 °C.

How cold does it get in winter?

Nights average 6.7 °C in July, the coldest month. A normal year has 0 nights below freezing.

Which month is wettest in Polokwane?

December, averaging 128 mm over 15 days with rain. The driest month is July with 3 mm. The year as a whole averages 606 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 Polokwane 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: -23.904°, 29.469° (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.