Thembisa climate

Name: Thembisa
Address: ZA

Thembisa is warmest in October, with average highs of 26 °C, and coldest in July, when nights average 3.5 °C. December is the wettest month (114 mm) and July the driest (2.7 mm). Figures are 1991–2020 climate normals.

Across a full year Thembisa averages 641 mm of rain, 121 days above 25 °C and 4 days below freezing.

South Africa · population 511,655 · 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 26 °C
Coldest month July 3.5 °C
Driest month July 3 mm
Wettest month December 114 mm
Least cloud July 12 % cloud
Hottest on record January 37 °C
Coldest on record June -3.2 °C

What to expectThembisa through the year

Thembisa has a clear annual cycle: average daily highs run from 18 °C in July to 26 °C in October, a swing of 10 °C in mean temperature across the year.

Counted across a normal year, 121 days a year reach 25 °C, 13 of them reach 30 °C, 4 nights drop below freezing. The warmest reading in the 1991–2020 record is 37 °C, in January.

Rain is strongly seasonal. December averages 114 mm against 3 mm in July — 42 times as much. Planning around the dry months matters more here than planning around temperature.

Month by month

Month	Avg high	Rainfall	Cloud
January	25.6 °C	108 mm	52 %
February	25.5 °C	101 mm	49 %
March	24.2 °C	79 mm	43 %
April	21.8 °C	37 mm	36 %
May	19.8 °C	15 mm	20 %
June	17.4 °C	6 mm	14 %
July	17.6 °C	3 mm	12 %
August	20.7 °C	8 mm	16 %
September	24.7 °C	19 mm	23 %
October	25.6 °C	65 mm	39 %
November	25.2 °C	86 mm	51 %
December	25.4 °C	114 mm	56 %

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	25.6 °C	15.3 °C	20.4 °C	36.5 °C	7.3 °C	18	2	0
February	25.5 °C	15.1 °C	20.2 °C	32.9 °C	10.4 °C	16	2	0
March	24.2 °C	13.7 °C	18.8 °C	32.7 °C	7.7 °C	12	1	0
April	21.8 °C	10.7 °C	16.1 °C	29.1 °C	2.3 °C	4	0	0
May	19.8 °C	7.1 °C	13.2 °C	27.7 °C	-1.9 °C	1	0	0
June	17.4 °C	4.1 °C	10.4 °C	24.3 °C	-3.2 °C	0	0	1
July	17.6 °C	3.5 °C	10.2 °C	24.3 °C	-2.8 °C	0	0	2
August	20.7 °C	6.1 °C	13.2 °C	28.3 °C	-2.3 °C	2	0	0
September	24.7 °C	9.8 °C	17.2 °C	32.2 °C	0.8 °C	16	1	0
October	25.6 °C	12.1 °C	18.8 °C	35.6 °C	4.3 °C	19	4	0
November	25.2 °C	13.4 °C	19.2 °C	35.0 °C	4.5 °C	17	2	0
December	25.4 °C	14.9 °C	20.0 °C	35.0 °C	6.3 °C	17	2	0

Rain, sun and wind month by month

Month	Rainfall	Wet days	Daylight	Cloud cover	Humidity	Wind
January	108 mm	15	14 h/day	52 %	69 %	17 km/h
February	101 mm	12	13 h/day	49 %	68 %	16 km/h
March	79 mm	10	12 h/day	43 %	67 %	15 km/h
April	37 mm	6	11 h/day	36 %	65 %	15 km/h
May	15 mm	2	11 h/day	20 %	56 %	15 km/h
June	6 mm	1	11 h/day	14 %	53 %	16 km/h
July	3 mm	1	11 h/day	12 %	49 %	16 km/h
August	8 mm	2	11 h/day	16 %	45 %	18 km/h
September	19 mm	3	12 h/day	23 %	42 %	19 km/h
October	65 mm	9	13 h/day	39 %	53 %	20 km/h
November	86 mm	12	13 h/day	51 %	61 %	19 km/h
December	114 mm	16	14 h/day	56 %	67 %	18 km/h

How Thembisa 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
Thembisa	26 °C	3.5 °C	641 mm	121
Centurion · South Africa	27 °C	4.6 °C	627 mm	152
Benoni · South Africa	25 °C	2.7 °C	705 mm	107
Pretoria · South Africa	28 °C	5.1 °C	627 mm	178
Johannesburg · South Africa	25 °C	2.4 °C	731 mm	87
Krugersdorp · South Africa	25 °C	2.6 °C	664 mm	92
Soweto · South Africa	25 °C	2.8 °C	729 mm	102

Where Thembisa ranks

Ranking	Position	Value
The coolest places in Africa in June	12th of 50	17 °C
The coolest places in Africa in May	12th of 50	20 °C
The coolest places in Africa in July	14th of 50	18 °C
Places with the best weather in Africa in September	22nd of 50	91/100
The coolest places in Africa in August	31st of 50	21 °C
The coolest places in Africa in April	50th of 50	22 °C

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

QuestionsCommon questions about Thembisa’s climate

When is the best time to visit Thembisa?

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 July the driest. The month-by-month table above has the full picture.

How hot does Thembisa get?

In October, the warmest month, daily highs average 26 °C. About 13 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 3.5 °C in July, the coldest month. A normal year has 4 nights below freezing.

Which month is wettest in Thembisa?

December, averaging 114 mm over 16 days with rain. The driest month is July with 3 mm. The year as a whole averages 641 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 Thembisa 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: -25.996°, 28.227° (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.