Climate averages 1991–2020
Pietermaritzburg weather
in August.
A warm, fairly dry month: the 10th warmest and the 4th driest of the year. Meets the pleasant-weather rule
Long-term climate patterns, not a forecast for a particular trip.
August is a warm month in Pietermaritzburg: daytime highs average 22.5°C and nights cool to about 8.7°C. By daytime temperature it is the 10th warmest of the 12 months.
Expect about 32 mm of rain on roughly 6 days, which makes August a fairly dry month (the 4th driest of the 12 months). Daylight, from sunrise to sunset, lasts about 11 h 03 min on an average August day.
The nearest other city in this atlas is Mpumalanga (32 km away). In August its highs average 21.8°C, 0.7°C cooler than Pietermaritzburg, with 30 mm of rain.
Among the 95 cities listed in South Africa, Pietermaritzburg ranks joint 16th of 95 for the warmest August highs and joint 73rd of 95 for the driest August (rainfall, lowest first). The mean August high of those 95 cities is 21.0°C; Pietermaritzburg is 1.5°C warmer than that mean.
From August to September, average highs rise by 1.6°C to 24.0°C, and monthly rainfall rises from 32 mm to 56 mm.
The annual picture
August 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
Pietermaritzburg climate table
| Month | Average highHigh / low | Average low | Rainfall mm/month | Rain days ≥1 mm/day | Daylight hours/dayDaylight h/day |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 26.4°C17.3°C | 17.3°C | 134 | 18.0 | 13.814 h |
| February | 26.6°C17.6°C | 17.6°C | 113 | 15.0 | 13.113 h |
| March | 25.9°C16.4°C | 16.4°C | 96 | 14.3 | 12.312 h |
| April | 23.9°C13.6°C | 13.6°C | 58 | 9.7 | 11.411 h |
| May | 22.6°C10.1°C | 10.1°C | 29 | 5.1 | 10.711 h |
| June | 20.7°C6.9°C | 6.9°C | 20 | 3.4 | 10.310 h |
| July | 20.7°C6.5°C | 6.5°C | 28 | 3.8 | 10.410 h |
| August, selected | 22.5°C8.7°C | 8.7°C | 32 | 5.9 | 11.111 h |
| September | 24.0°C11.2°C | 11.2°C | 56 | 9.5 | 11.912 h |
| October | 23.9°C13.0°C | 13.0°C | 92 | 15.4 | 12.813 h |
| November | 24.7°C14.5°C | 14.5°C | 116 | 17.2 | 13.614 h |
| December | 25.8°C16.2°C | 16.2°C | 129 | 19.2 | 14.014 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
August in nearby cities
- Mpumalanga in AugustSouth Africa · 32 kmHigh 21.8°C · Low 8.8°C · 30 mm rain
- Pinetown in AugustSouth Africa · 53 kmHigh 21.6°C · Low 11.7°C · 34 mm rain
- Ntuzuma in AugustSouth Africa · 55 kmHigh 23.0°C · Low 12.3°C · 34 mm rain
- Durban in AugustSouth Africa · 67 kmHigh 22.0°C · Low 14.7°C · 34 mm rain
- KwaDukuza in AugustSouth Africa · 93 kmHigh 23.0°C · Low 13.9°C · 31 mm rain
- Ladysmith in AugustSouth Africa · 132 kmHigh 22.2°C · Low 6.5°C · 28 mm rain
- Dundee, South Africa in AugustSouth Africa · 162 kmHigh 21.5°C · Low 7.5°C · 22 mm rain
- Richards Bay in AugustSouth Africa · 185 kmHigh 23.6°C · Low 15.9°C · 39 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 Pietermaritzburg) is explained once on the Pietermaritzburg year overview and on the Sources, method and limits page.