Climate averages 1991–2020
Cape Town weather
in January.
A warm, fairly dry month: the 2nd warmest and the 2nd driest of the year. Meets the pleasant-weather rule
Long-term climate patterns, not a forecast for a particular trip.
January is a warm month in Cape Town: daytime highs average 25.6°C and nights cool to about 17.5°C. By daytime temperature it is the 2nd warmest of the 12 months.
Expect about 15 mm of rain on roughly 3 days, which makes January a fairly dry month (the 2nd driest of the 12 months). Daylight, from sunrise to sunset, lasts about 14 h 08 min on an average January day.
The nearest other city in this atlas is Atlantis (40 km away). In January its highs average 26.9°C, 1.3°C warmer than Cape Town, with 9.8 mm of rain.
Among the 95 cities listed in South Africa, Cape Town ranks joint 62nd of 95 for the warmest January highs and 2nd of 95 for the driest January (rainfall, lowest first). The mean January high of those 95 cities is 27.0°C; Cape Town is 1.4°C cooler than that mean.
From January to February, average highs rise by 0.3°C to 25.9°C, and monthly rainfall falls from 15 mm to 14 mm.
The annual picture
January 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, selected | 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 | 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
January in nearby cities
- Atlantis in JanuarySouth Africa · 40 kmHigh 26.9°C · Low 16.1°C · 9.8 mm rain
- Somerset West in JanuarySouth Africa · 41 kmHigh 27.2°C · Low 18.5°C · 21 mm rain
- Stellenbosch in JanuarySouth Africa · 41 kmHigh 28.7°C · Low 17.0°C · 21 mm rain
- Paarl in JanuarySouth Africa · 55 kmHigh 30.9°C · Low 17.5°C · 21 mm rain
- Worcester, South Africa in JanuarySouth Africa · 100 kmHigh 30.9°C · Low 17.2°C · 24 mm rain
- Mossel Bay in JanuarySouth Africa · 344 kmHigh 24.4°C · Low 17.9°C · 38 mm rain
- Oudtshoorn in JanuarySouth Africa · 351 kmHigh 29.6°C · Low 15.8°C · 30 mm rain
- George in JanuarySouth Africa · 373 kmHigh 23.4°C · Low 16.5°C · 51 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.