Rustenburg climate

Name: Rustenburg
Address: ZA

Rustenburg is warmest in October, with average highs of 29 °C, and coldest in July, when nights average 5.4 °C. December is the wettest month (110 mm) and July the driest (2.7 mm). Figures are 1991–2020 climate normals.

Across a full year Rustenburg averages 564 mm of rain, 202 days above 25 °C and 1 days below freezing.

South Africa · population 373,695 · 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 29 °C
Coldest month July 5.4 °C
Driest month July 3 mm
Wettest month December 110 mm
Least cloud July 11 % cloud
Hottest on record January 41 °C
Coldest on record August -1.0 °C

What to expectRustenburg through the year

Rustenburg has a clear annual cycle: average daily highs run from 20 °C in July to 29 °C in October, a swing of 11 °C in mean temperature across the year.

Counted across a normal year, 202 days a year reach 25 °C, 73 of them reach 30 °C, 1 nights drop below freezing. The warmest reading in the 1991–2020 record is 41 °C, in January.

Rain is strongly seasonal. December averages 110 mm against 3 mm in July — 40 times as much. Planning around the dry months matters more here than planning around temperature.

Month by month

Month	Avg high	Rainfall	Cloud
January	28.8 °C	94 mm	49 %
February	28.7 °C	89 mm	46 %
March	27.1 °C	70 mm	40 %
April	24.5 °C	34 mm	34 %
May	22.2 °C	17 mm	18 %
June	19.6 °C	7 mm	13 %
July	19.8 °C	3 mm	11 %
August	23.1 °C	7 mm	14 %
September	27.4 °C	14 mm	21 %
October	28.8 °C	48 mm	35 %
November	28.7 °C	72 mm	47 %
December	28.7 °C	110 mm	53 %

Temperature month by month

Month	Avg high	Avg low	Mean	Record high	Record low	Days above 25 °C	Days above 30 °C
January	28.8 °C	18.2 °C	23.4 °C	40.8 °C	10.6 °C	27	12
February	28.7 °C	18.1 °C	23.3 °C	37.4 °C	13.6 °C	24	10
March	27.1 °C	16.4 °C	21.6 °C	35.7 °C	10.2 °C	23	6
April	24.5 °C	13.1 °C	18.7 °C	31.9 °C	4.9 °C	13	1
May	22.2 °C	9.1 °C	15.5 °C	30.5 °C	0.8 °C	5	0
June	19.6 °C	5.8 °C	12.5 °C	26.4 °C	-0.2 °C	1	0
July	19.8 °C	5.4 °C	12.4 °C	27.4 °C	-0.8 °C	0	0
August	23.1 °C	8.1 °C	15.6 °C	30.7 °C	-1.0 °C	8	0
September	27.4 °C	12.3 °C	19.9 °C	35.5 °C	3.0 °C	23	8
October	28.8 °C	14.9 °C	21.9 °C	38.9 °C	6.9 °C	26	14
November	28.7 °C	16.2 °C	22.4 °C	38.7 °C	7.6 °C	25	12
December	28.7 °C	17.6 °C	23.1 °C	38.8 °C	9.4 °C	27	11

Rain, sun and wind month by month

Month	Rainfall	Wet days	Daylight	Cloud cover	Humidity	Wind
January	94 mm	13	14 h/day	49 %	63 %	14 km/h
February	89 mm	11	13 h/day	46 %	63 %	13 km/h
March	70 mm	10	12 h/day	40 %	63 %	13 km/h
April	34 mm	6	11 h/day	34 %	62 %	13 km/h
May	17 mm	2	11 h/day	18 %	54 %	12 km/h
June	7 mm	1	11 h/day	13 %	52 %	13 km/h
July	3 mm	0	11 h/day	11 %	47 %	13 km/h
August	7 mm	1	11 h/day	14 %	41 %	15 km/h
September	14 mm	2	12 h/day	21 %	38 %	16 km/h
October	48 mm	7	13 h/day	35 %	46 %	17 km/h
November	72 mm	11	13 h/day	47 %	55 %	16 km/h
December	110 mm	14	14 h/day	53 %	62 %	15 km/h

How Rustenburg 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
Rustenburg	29 °C	5.4 °C	564 mm	202
Krugersdorp · South Africa	25 °C	2.6 °C	664 mm	92
Carletonville · South Africa	26 °C	2.9 °C	705 mm	135
Westonaria · South Africa	26 °C	3.1 °C	728 mm	117
Soshanguve · South Africa	29 °C	5.6 °C	570 mm	205
Soweto · South Africa	25 °C	2.8 °C	729 mm	102
Pretoria · South Africa	28 °C	5.1 °C	627 mm	178

Where Rustenburg ranks

Ranking	Position	Value
Places with the best weather in Africa in April	11th of 50	96/100
Places with the best weather in Africa in May	16th of 50	96/100
Places with the best weather in Africa in August	28th of 50	93/100
The coolest places in Africa in June	32nd of 50	20 °C
Places with the best weather in the world in April	34th of 50	96/100
Places with the best weather in the world in May	35th of 50	96/100

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

QuestionsCommon questions about Rustenburg’s climate

When is the best time to visit Rustenburg?

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

How hot does Rustenburg get?

In October, the warmest month, daily highs average 29 °C. About 73 days a year pass 30 °C. The highest value in the 1991–2020 record is 41 °C.

How cold does it get in winter?

Nights average 5.4 °C in July, the coldest month. A normal year has 1 nights below freezing.

Which month is wettest in Rustenburg?

December, averaging 110 mm over 14 days with rain. The driest month is July with 3 mm. The year as a whole averages 564 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 Rustenburg 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: -25.668°, 27.242° (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.