Climate averages 1991–2020
Cape Town weather
in December.
A warm, fairly dry month: the 4th warmest and the 4th driest of the year. Meets the pleasant-weather rule
Long-term climate patterns, not a forecast for a particular trip.
December is a warm month in Cape Town: daytime highs average 24.3°C and nights cool to about 16.4°C. By daytime temperature it is the 4th warmest of the 12 months.
Expect about 17 mm of rain on roughly 4 days, which makes December a fairly dry month (the 4th driest of the 12 months). Daylight, from sunrise to sunset, lasts about 14 h 22 min on an average December day.
The nearest other city in this atlas is Atlantis (40 km away). In December its highs average 25.4°C, 1.2°C warmer than Cape Town, with 12 mm of rain.
Among the 95 cities listed in South Africa, Cape Town ranks joint 87th of 95 for the warmest December highs and 2nd of 95 for the driest December (rainfall, lowest first). The mean December high of those 95 cities is 26.6°C; Cape Town is 2.4°C cooler than that mean.
From December to January, average highs rise by 1.3°C to 25.6°C, and monthly rainfall falls from 17 mm to 15 mm.
The annual picture
December in context
Monthly rainfall
Average total · mmAverages from hourly ERA5 reanalysis data. Actual weather varies from year to year. How these numbers are calculated
Every month, side by side
Cape Town climate table
| Month | Average highHigh / low | Average low | Rainfall mm/month | Rain days ≥1 mm/day | Daylight hours/dayDaylight h/day |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 25.6°C17.5°C | 17.5°C | 15 | 2.8 | 14.114 h |
| February | 25.9°C17.7°C | 17.7°C | 14 | 3.0 | 13.313 h |
| March | 24.6°C16.5°C | 16.5°C | 16 | 3.3 | 12.312 h |
| April | 22.0°C14.2°C | 14.2°C | 43 | 5.2 | 11.311 h |
| May | 19.3°C12.1°C | 12.1°C | 67 | 8.4 | 10.410 h |
| June | 16.9°C10.0°C | 10.0°C | 108 | 11.1 | 9.910 h |
| July | 16.4°C9.3°C | 9.3°C | 98 | 9.9 | 10.110 h |
| August | 16.5°C9.5°C | 9.5°C | 87 | 10.3 | 10.911 h |
| September | 17.9°C10.8°C | 10.8°C | 51 | 8.2 | 11.912 h |
| October | 20.4°C12.8°C | 12.8°C | 33 | 5.8 | 12.913 h |
| November | 22.1°C14.4°C | 14.4°C | 30 | 5.1 | 13.914 h |
| December, selected | 24.3°C16.4°C | 16.4°C | 17 | 3.6 | 14.414 h |
Rainfall is the average of the 30 separate monthly totals. A rain day is a local calendar day with at least 1 mm of precipitation. Daylight is the calculated sunrise-to-sunset length, not measured sunshine.
Compare places
December in nearby cities
- Atlantis in DecemberSouth Africa · 40 kmHigh 25.4°C · Low 14.9°C · 12 mm rain
- Somerset West in DecemberSouth Africa · 41 kmHigh 25.6°C · Low 17.2°C · 24 mm rain
- Stellenbosch in DecemberSouth Africa · 41 kmHigh 26.9°C · Low 15.7°C · 24 mm rain
- Paarl in DecemberSouth Africa · 55 kmHigh 28.9°C · Low 16.0°C · 25 mm rain
- Worcester, South Africa in DecemberSouth Africa · 100 kmHigh 29.0°C · Low 15.8°C · 24 mm rain
- Mossel Bay in DecemberSouth Africa · 344 kmHigh 23.4°C · Low 16.8°C · 35 mm rain
- Oudtshoorn in DecemberSouth Africa · 351 kmHigh 28.5°C · Low 14.7°C · 31 mm rain
- George in DecemberSouth Africa · 373 kmHigh 22.3°C · Low 15.3°C · 47 mm rain
Read the numbers correctly
Climate, not a promise.
These patterns help compare months. They cannot tell you the weather on a specific day of your trip.
Sources, method and limitsHow these numbers are made (what the highs, lows and rain days mean, the sources and the model cell used for Cape Town) is explained once on the Cape Town year overview and on the Sources, method and limits page.