Home › Cities › South Africa › Polokwane
Polokwane, South Africa climate
BSh Hot semi-arid
Polokwane has a mildly seasonal warm-temperate climate (Hot semi-arid, Köppen BSh). The hottest month is January with an average daily high near 30°C, while the coldest is July averaging around 4°C at night. Precipitation totals about 573 mm a year and is strongly seasonal — January alone averages 114 mm while June barely receives 1 mm.
Temperature & precipitation
Daily high–low temperature range with the monthly average, plus monthly precipitation · 1991–2020 normals · hover a month for the exact figuresClear vs cloudy days
Share of days each month that are clear, partly cloudy or cloudy · 1991–2020 · hover a month for the day countsPolokwane climate normals (1991–2020)
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avg high (°C) | 30 | 29 | 28 | 27 | 24 | 22 | 22 | 24 | 28 | 29 | 29 | 29 |
| Avg temp (°C) | 23 | 23 | 22 | 19 | 16 | 13 | 13 | 15 | 19 | 21 | 22 | 23 |
| Avg low (°C) | 17 | 17 | 16 | 12 | 8 | 5 | 4 | 7 | 10 | 14 | 15 | 17 |
| Precipitation (mm) | 114 | 108 | 79 | 16 | 14 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 4 | 36 | 100 | 94 |
| Jan – Jun | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avg high (°C) | 30 | 29 | 28 | 27 | 24 | 22 |
| Avg temp (°C) | 23 | 23 | 22 | 19 | 16 | 13 |
| Avg low (°C) | 17 | 17 | 16 | 12 | 8 | 5 |
| Precipitation (mm) | 114 | 108 | 79 | 16 | 14 | 1 |
| Jul – Dec | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avg high (°C) | 22 | 24 | 28 | 29 | 29 | 29 |
| Avg temp (°C) | 13 | 15 | 19 | 21 | 22 | 23 |
| Avg low (°C) | 4 | 7 | 10 | 14 | 15 | 17 |
| Precipitation (mm) | 3 | 6 | 4 | 36 | 100 | 94 |
How often — frequency of weather events
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Days with measurable rain (days) | 11 | 9 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0.8 | 2 | 7 | 12 | 11 |
| Days with high ≥ 32°C (days) | 7 | 5 | 3 | 0.9 | 0.1 | — | — | 0.1 | 4 | 8 | 7 | 6 |
| Days with low ≤ 0°C (days) | — | — | — | — | 0.2 | 0.3 | 2 | 0.4 | — | — | — | — |
| Jan – Jun | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Days with measurable rain (days) | 11 | 9 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 2 |
| Days with high ≥ 32°C (days) | 7 | 5 | 3 | 0.9 | 0.1 | — |
| Days with low ≤ 0°C (days) | — | — | — | — | 0.2 | 0.3 |
| Jul – Dec | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Days with measurable rain (days) | 1 | 0.8 | 2 | 7 | 12 | 11 |
| Days with high ≥ 32°C (days) | — | 0.1 | 4 | 8 | 7 | 6 |
| Days with low ≤ 0°C (days) | 2 | 0.4 | — | — | — | — |
Sky & atmosphere
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cloud cover (%) | 60 | 57 | 54 | 45 | 30 | 26 | 28 | 28 | 35 | 48 | 62 | 64 |
| Clear days (≤ 30% cloud) | 5 | 6 | 7 | 11 | 17 | 19 | 18 | 19 | 15 | 10 | 5 | 5 |
| Partly cloudy days (30–70%) | 13 | 13 | 15 | 13 | 11 | 8 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 10 | 11 |
| Cloudy days (≥ 70%) | 13 | 10 | 9 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 9 | 14 | 15 |
| Relative humidity (%) | 65 | 66 | 66 | 63 | 56 | 56 | 55 | 49 | 45 | 52 | 58 | 63 |
| Wind speed (m/s) | 2.5 | 2.4 | 2.2 | 2.0 | 1.9 | 2.0 | 2.1 | 2.6 | 3.0 | 3.2 | 2.8 | 2.5 |
| Jan – Jun | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cloud cover (%) | 60 | 57 | 54 | 45 | 30 | 26 |
| Clear days (≤ 30% cloud) | 5 | 6 | 7 | 11 | 17 | 19 |
| Partly cloudy days (30–70%) | 13 | 13 | 15 | 13 | 11 | 8 |
| Cloudy days (≥ 70%) | 13 | 10 | 9 | 7 | 3 | 3 |
| Relative humidity (%) | 65 | 66 | 66 | 63 | 56 | 56 |
| Wind speed (m/s) | 2.5 | 2.4 | 2.2 | 2.0 | 1.9 | 2.0 |
| Jul – Dec | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cloud cover (%) | 28 | 28 | 35 | 48 | 62 | 64 |
| Clear days (≤ 30% cloud) | 18 | 19 | 15 | 10 | 5 | 5 |
| Partly cloudy days (30–70%) | 10 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 10 | 11 |
| Cloudy days (≥ 70%) | 3 | 4 | 5 | 9 | 14 | 15 |
| Relative humidity (%) | 55 | 49 | 45 | 52 | 58 | 63 |
| Wind speed (m/s) | 2.1 | 2.6 | 3.0 | 3.2 | 2.8 | 2.5 |
Methodology & sources
Temperature & precipitation — 1991–2020 normals computed from 14 years of daily observations at Polokwane, a weather station, about 5 km from the city centre. The underlying daily records come from NOAA's global station network.
Cloud, humidity, wind & sunshine — modelled estimates from NASA POWER, NASA's satellite-and-reanalysis climatology. This is the standard global source for atmospheric variables, which are not measured at most weather stations.