Pretoria climate

Name: Pretoria
Address: ZA

Pretoria is warmest in January, with average highs of 28 °C, and coldest in July, when nights average 5.1 °C. December is the wettest month (109 mm) and July the driest (3.1 mm). Figures are 1991–2020 climate normals.

Across a full year Pretoria averages 627 mm of rain, 178 days above 25 °C and 0 days below freezing.

South Africa · population 2,112,693 · 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 28 °C
Coldest month July 5.1 °C
Driest month July 3 mm
Wettest month December 109 mm
Least cloud July 11 % cloud
Hottest on record January 38 °C
Coldest on record July -1.3 °C

What to expectPretoria through the year

Pretoria has a clear annual cycle: average daily highs run from 19 °C in July to 28 °C in January, a swing of 10 °C in mean temperature across the year.

Counted across a normal year, 178 days a year reach 25 °C, 46 of them reach 30 °C, 0 nights drop below freezing. The warmest reading in the 1991–2020 record is 38 °C, in January.

Rain is strongly seasonal. December averages 109 mm against 3 mm in July — 35 times as much. Planning around the dry months matters more here than planning around temperature.

Month by month

Month	Avg high	Rainfall	Cloud
January	27.6 °C	101 mm	50 %
February	27.6 °C	98 mm	47 %
March	26.2 °C	84 mm	41 %
April	23.6 °C	38 mm	34 %
May	21.6 °C	16 mm	19 %
June	19.0 °C	7 mm	13 %
July	19.2 °C	3 mm	11 %
August	22.4 °C	7 mm	15 %
September	26.5 °C	17 mm	22 %
October	27.5 °C	61 mm	37 %
November	27.1 °C	87 mm	50 %
December	27.3 °C	109 mm	55 %

Temperature month by month

Month	Avg high	Avg low	Mean	Record high	Record low	Days above 25 °C	Days above 30 °C
January	27.6 °C	17.0 °C	22.2 °C	38.1 °C	9.5 °C	26	8
February	27.6 °C	16.9 °C	22.1 °C	36.3 °C	12.2 °C	23	7
March	26.2 °C	15.4 °C	20.6 °C	34.5 °C	9.7 °C	20	4
April	23.6 °C	12.3 °C	17.8 °C	31.7 °C	4.4 °C	10	0
May	21.6 °C	8.7 °C	14.9 °C	29.6 °C	0.7 °C	3	0
June	19.0 °C	5.7 °C	12.0 °C	26.0 °C	-1.2 °C	0	0
July	19.2 °C	5.1 °C	11.8 °C	26.6 °C	-1.3 °C	0	0
August	22.4 °C	7.6 °C	14.8 °C	29.9 °C	-0.5 °C	7	0
September	26.5 °C	11.4 °C	18.9 °C	34.5 °C	2.7 °C	21	5
October	27.5 °C	13.8 °C	20.6 °C	37.5 °C	6.3 °C	23	9
November	27.1 °C	15.1 °C	21.0 °C	37.8 °C	6.3 °C	22	7
December	27.3 °C	16.5 °C	21.7 °C	36.7 °C	8.7 °C	24	6

Rain, sun and wind month by month

Month	Rainfall	Wet days	Daylight	Cloud cover	Humidity	Wind
January	101 mm	14	14 h/day	50 %	65 %	16 km/h
February	98 mm	11	13 h/day	47 %	64 %	15 km/h
March	84 mm	10	12 h/day	41 %	64 %	15 km/h
April	38 mm	6	11 h/day	34 %	62 %	14 km/h
May	16 mm	2	11 h/day	19 %	54 %	14 km/h
June	7 mm	1	11 h/day	13 %	52 %	15 km/h
July	3 mm	1	11 h/day	11 %	47 %	15 km/h
August	7 mm	1	11 h/day	15 %	43 %	17 km/h
September	17 mm	2	12 h/day	22 %	41 %	18 km/h
October	61 mm	8	13 h/day	37 %	50 %	19 km/h
November	87 mm	12	13 h/day	50 %	59 %	18 km/h
December	109 mm	15	14 h/day	55 %	65 %	17 km/h

How Pretoria 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
Pretoria	28 °C	5.1 °C	627 mm	178
Centurion · South Africa	27 °C	4.6 °C	627 mm	152
Thembisa · South Africa	26 °C	3.5 °C	641 mm	121
Soshanguve · South Africa	29 °C	5.6 °C	570 mm	205
Benoni · South Africa	25 °C	2.7 °C	705 mm	107
Johannesburg · South Africa	25 °C	2.4 °C	731 mm	87
Krugersdorp · South Africa	25 °C	2.6 °C	664 mm	92

Where Pretoria ranks

Ranking	Position	Value
Places with the best weather in Africa in April	3rd of 50	96/100
Places with the best weather in the world in April	17th of 50	96/100
Places with the best weather in Africa in May	19th of 50	95/100
Places with the best weather in Africa year-round	29th of 50	85/100
Places with the best weather in Africa in August	33rd of 50	92/100
Places with the best weather in the world in May	43rd of 50	95/100

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

QuestionsCommon questions about Pretoria’s climate

When is the best time to visit Pretoria?

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

How hot does Pretoria get?

In January, the warmest month, daily highs average 28 °C. About 46 days a year pass 30 °C. The highest value in the 1991–2020 record is 38 °C.

How cold does it get in winter?

Nights average 5.1 °C in July, the coldest month. A normal year has 0 nights below freezing.

Which month is wettest in Pretoria?

December, averaging 109 mm over 15 days with rain. The driest month is July with 3 mm. The year as a whole averages 627 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 Pretoria 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: -25.745°, 28.188° (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.