Climate averages 1991–2020
Phalaborwa weather
in December.
A hot, wet month: one of the warmest and one of the wettest of the year.
Long-term climate patterns, not a forecast for a particular trip.
December is a hot month in Phalaborwa: daytime highs average 30.7°C and nights cool to about 20.5°C. By daytime temperature it is one of the warmest months of the year.
Expect about 93 mm of rain on roughly 10 days, which makes December a wet month (one of the wettest months of the year). Daylight, from sunrise to sunset, lasts about 13 h 35 min on an average December day.
The nearest other city in this atlas is Thohoyandou (130 km away). In December its highs average 27.7°C, 3.0°C cooler than Phalaborwa, with 161 mm of rain.
Among the 95 cities listed in South Africa, Phalaborwa ranks 3rd of 95 for the warmest December highs and 30th of 95 for the driest December (rainfall, lowest first). The mean December high of those 95 cities is 26.6°C; Phalaborwa is 4.1°C warmer than that mean.
From December to January, average highs fall by 0.2°C to 30.5°C, and monthly rainfall stays at 93 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
Phalaborwa climate table
| Month | Average highHigh / low | Average low | Rainfall mm/month | Rain days ≥1 mm/day | Daylight hours/dayDaylight h/day |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 30.5°C21.0°C | 21.0°C | 93 | 9.3 | 13.413 h |
| February | 30.7°C21.1°C | 21.1°C | 69 | 8.0 | 12.913 h |
| March | 30.0°C20.2°C | 20.2°C | 43 | 6.4 | 12.212 h |
| April | 28.0°C17.6°C | 17.6°C | 20 | 3.8 | 11.512 h |
| May | 26.4°C14.3°C | 14.3°C | 8.9 | 1.7 | 11.011 h |
| June | 24.3°C11.6°C | 11.6°C | 3.7 | 0.8 | 10.711 h |
| July | 23.9°C11.0°C | 11.0°C | 4.5 | 0.6 | 10.811 h |
| August | 26.2°C12.8°C | 12.8°C | 3.8 | 1.0 | 11.311 h |
| September | 28.8°C15.5°C | 15.5°C | 11 | 2.0 | 11.912 h |
| October | 29.5°C17.5°C | 17.5°C | 24 | 4.0 | 12.613 h |
| November | 30.1°C19.2°C | 19.2°C | 62 | 7.9 | 13.313 h |
| December, selected | 30.7°C20.5°C | 20.5°C | 93 | 9.8 | 13.614 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
- Thohoyandou in DecemberSouth Africa · 130 kmHigh 27.7°C · Low 18.5°C · 161 mm rain
- Louis Trichardt in DecemberSouth Africa · 161 kmHigh 28.2°C · Low 18.4°C · 103 mm rain
- Polokwane in DecemberSouth Africa · 170 kmHigh 26.4°C · Low 16.2°C · 131 mm rain
- Mbombela in DecemberSouth Africa · 171 kmHigh 27.7°C · Low 18.2°C · 151 mm rain
- Ressano Garcia in DecemberMozambique · 188 kmHigh 31.0°C · Low 21.4°C · 101 mm rain
- Mokopane in DecemberSouth Africa · 218 kmHigh 28.7°C · Low 17.7°C · 99 mm rain
- Chibuto in DecemberMozambique · 256 kmHigh 30.4°C · Low 21.9°C · 104 mm rain
- Matola in DecemberMozambique · 261 kmHigh 28.7°C · Low 21.8°C · 103 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 Phalaborwa) is explained once on the Phalaborwa year overview and on the Sources, method and limits page.