Potchefstroom climate

Name: Potchefstroom
Address: ZA

Potchefstroom is warmest in December, with average highs of 28 °C, and coldest in July, when nights average 3.3 °C. December is the wettest month (109 mm) and July the driest (3.8 mm). Figures are 1991–2020 climate normals.

Across a full year Potchefstroom averages 620 mm of rain, 185 days above 25 °C and 7 days below freezing.

South Africa · population 178,285 · 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 December 28 °C
Coldest month July 3.3 °C
Driest month July 4 mm
Wettest month December 109 mm
Least cloud July 12 % cloud
Hottest on record January 40 °C
Coldest on record July -3.8 °C

What to expectPotchefstroom through the year

Potchefstroom has a clear annual cycle: average daily highs run from 19 °C in July to 28 °C in December, a swing of 12 °C in mean temperature across the year.

Counted across a normal year, 185 days a year reach 25 °C, 53 of them reach 30 °C, 7 nights drop below freezing. The warmest reading in the 1991–2020 record is 40 °C, in January.

Rain is strongly seasonal. December averages 109 mm against 4 mm in July — 29 times as much. Planning around the dry months matters more here than planning around temperature.

Month by month

Month	Avg high	Rainfall	Cloud
January	28.2 °C	104 mm	46 %
February	27.7 °C	94 mm	43 %
March	26.3 °C	75 mm	38 %
April	23.7 °C	40 mm	33 %
May	21.3 °C	19 mm	20 %
June	18.6 °C	9 mm	14 %
July	18.8 °C	4 mm	12 %
August	22.1 °C	11 mm	15 %
September	26.5 °C	16 mm	22 %
October	28.0 °C	63 mm	35 %
November	28.1 °C	78 mm	43 %
December	28.4 °C	109 mm	47 %

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	28.2 °C	17.0 °C	22.5 °C	39.7 °C	7.8 °C	26	9	0
February	27.7 °C	16.6 °C	22.0 °C	35.9 °C	11.1 °C	23	6	0
March	26.3 °C	14.8 °C	20.4 °C	33.6 °C	7.3 °C	21	3	0
April	23.7 °C	11.3 °C	17.3 °C	31.0 °C	1.8 °C	10	0	0
May	21.3 °C	7.1 °C	13.9 °C	29.7 °C	-2.4 °C	3	0	0
June	18.6 °C	3.8 °C	10.8 °C	26.0 °C	-3.5 °C	0	0	2
July	18.8 °C	3.3 °C	10.7 °C	27.2 °C	-3.8 °C	0	0	4
August	22.1 °C	6.2 °C	14.0 °C	30.4 °C	-3.0 °C	6	0	1
September	26.5 °C	10.6 °C	18.5 °C	33.3 °C	0.1 °C	21	6	0
October	28.0 °C	13.5 °C	20.7 °C	35.8 °C	4.8 °C	24	10	0
November	28.1 °C	14.9 °C	21.4 °C	37.0 °C	5.2 °C	24	10	0
December	28.4 °C	16.6 °C	22.3 °C	37.3 °C	6.0 °C	27	9	0

Rain, sun and wind month by month

Month	Rainfall	Wet days	Daylight	Cloud cover	Humidity	Wind
January	104 mm	14	14 h/day	46 %	63 %	17 km/h
February	94 mm	12	13 h/day	43 %	65 %	16 km/h
March	75 mm	10	12 h/day	38 %	65 %	15 km/h
April	40 mm	6	11 h/day	33 %	63 %	15 km/h
May	19 mm	3	11 h/day	20 %	56 %	14 km/h
June	9 mm	2	10 h/day	14 %	54 %	15 km/h
July	4 mm	1	11 h/day	12 %	49 %	15 km/h
August	11 mm	2	11 h/day	15 %	42 %	18 km/h
September	16 mm	3	12 h/day	22 %	37 %	19 km/h
October	63 mm	9	13 h/day	35 %	46 %	20 km/h
November	78 mm	11	13 h/day	43 %	53 %	20 km/h
December	109 mm	15	14 h/day	47 %	60 %	19 km/h

How Potchefstroom 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
Potchefstroom	28 °C	3.3 °C	620 mm	185
Klerksdorp · South Africa	29 °C	3.0 °C	569 mm	194
Carletonville · South Africa	26 °C	2.9 °C	705 mm	135
Westonaria · South Africa	26 °C	3.1 °C	728 mm	117
Evaton · South Africa	26 °C	2.8 °C	731 mm	136
Vereeniging · South Africa	27 °C	2.7 °C	708 mm	151
Soweto · South Africa	25 °C	2.8 °C	729 mm	102

Where Potchefstroom ranks

Ranking	Position	Value
Places with the best weather in Africa in April	16th of 50	94/100
The coolest places in Africa in June	22nd of 50	19 °C
The coolest places in Africa in July	29th of 50	19 °C
The coolest places in Africa in May	30th of 50	21 °C
The coolest places in Africa in August	49th of 50	22 °C

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

QuestionsCommon questions about Potchefstroom’s climate

When is the best time to visit Potchefstroom?

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

How hot does Potchefstroom get?

In December, the warmest month, daily highs average 28 °C. About 53 days a year pass 30 °C. The highest value in the 1991–2020 record is 40 °C.

How cold does it get in winter?

Nights average 3.3 °C in July, the coldest month. A normal year has 7 nights below freezing.

Which month is wettest in Potchefstroom?

December, averaging 109 mm over 15 days with rain. The driest month is July with 4 mm. The year as a whole averages 620 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 Potchefstroom 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: -26.717°, 27.100° (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.