South Africa · 33.92°S 18.42°E · 30-year monthly averages, judged against the Warm preset (highs 19–28 °C66–82 °F, dry or showers)
The best time to visit Cape Town is September to May, with highs of 19–25 °C66–77 °F and nights of 10–16 °C50–61 °F, and rainfall of 16–80 mm0.6–3.1 in a month.
Most rain falls in the winter half of the year (June averages 96 mm3.8 in). The dry season is September to April, with 16 mm0.6 in in January. February is the hottest month (highs of 25 °C77 °F) and July the coldest (17 °C63 °F).
The figures are 30-year monthly averages (WorldClim 2.1 monthly normals 1970–2000) for the 0.25° grid cell at -33.92, 18.42. This is a climate guide, not a forecast.
Pick the weather you like. Every month is then judged against it: temperature above the month names, rain below.
Good time to go for a Warm holiday: September to May.
Open Cape Town on the interactive map ↗ the same verdicts for any place on Earth, in any month
Reading the chart. Gold means good: the month fits what you picked. Any other colour shows the reason it does not. The temperature bar can be too cold or too hot; the rain bar can be too dry, too rainy or monsoon. A faded gold bar means that half fits but the other half does not. A gold month name means both halves fit.
What the verdicts mean. Temperature is the month's average daily high (the afternoon), judged against the preset's band (highs 19–28 °C66–82 °F for Warm). Rain is judged by each month's class within Cape Town's own year, not by raw millimetres: dry under 60 mm2.4 in, showers 60–100 mm2.4–3.9 in, rainy from 100 mm3.9 in and at least 35 % of the wettest month. Too rainy is a rainy-season month that the preset does not allow. Monsoon is the heaviest kind of rainy season: 180 mm7.1 in or more (120 mm4.7 in near the yearly peak) in a climate where the wettest month has at least three times the rain of the driest. Every monsoon month is also a rainy-season month; the label says which kind. Full rules on the method page.
| Month | Rain | High | Low | Season | Warm verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 160.6 | 2576 | 1661 | dry | good |
| February | 160.6 | 2577 | 1661 | dry | good |
| March | 160.6 | 2475 | 1559 | dry | good |
| April | 401.6 | 2272 | 1355 | dry | good |
| May | 803.1 | 2067 | 1152 | showers | good |
| June | 963.8 | 1864 | 1049 | showers | too cold |
| July | 883.5 | 1763 | 948 | showers | too cold |
| August | 803.1 | 1864 | 948 | showers | too cold |
| September | 481.9 | 1965 | 1050 | dry | good |
| October | 321.3 | 2169 | 1254 | dry | good |
| November | 160.6 | 2272 | 1456 | dry | good |
| December | 160.6 | 2474 | 1559 | dry | good |
| Looking for | Rule | Months that fit |
|---|---|---|
| Warm | highs 19–28 °C66–82 °F, dry or showers | September to May |
| Tropical | highs 28–38 °C82–100 °F, any rain except monsoon | |
| Beach | highs 28–38 °C82–100 °F, dry or showers | |
| Cool | highs 3–19 °C37–66 °F, any rain except monsoon | June to August |
| Snow | highs below 3 °C37 °F, any rain |
Not really. Most rain falls in the winter half of the year (June averages 96 mm3.8 in). The dry season is September to April, with 16 mm0.6 in in January.
February is the hottest month (highs of 25 °C77 °F) and July the coldest (17 °C63 °F). Annual rainfall is about 544 mm21 in.
The nearest destinations that fit the Warm preset in the months when Cape Town does not:
The interactive map colours the whole world by how well it fits the weather you like, in any month, and shows this chart for any place you tap.