Climate averages 1991–2020
Pietermaritzburg weather
in December.
A warm, wet month: the 4th warmest and the 11th driest of the year.
Long-term climate patterns, not a forecast for a particular trip.
December is a warm month in Pietermaritzburg: daytime highs average 25.8°C and nights cool to about 16.2°C. By daytime temperature it is the 4th warmest of the 12 months.
Expect about 129 mm of rain on roughly 19 days, which makes December a wet month (the 11th driest of the 12 months). Daylight, from sunrise to sunset, lasts about 14 h 00 min on an average December day.
The nearest other city in this atlas is Mpumalanga (32 km away). In December its highs average 24.7°C, 1.1°C cooler than Pietermaritzburg, with 102 mm of rain.
Among the 95 cities listed in South Africa, Pietermaritzburg ranks 50th of 95 for the warmest December highs and joint 60th of 95 for the driest December (rainfall, lowest first). The mean December high of those 95 cities is 26.6°C; Pietermaritzburg is 0.8°C cooler than that mean.
From December to January, average highs rise by 0.6°C to 26.4°C, and monthly rainfall rises from 129 mm to 134 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
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 | 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, selected | 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
December in nearby cities
- Mpumalanga in DecemberSouth Africa · 32 kmHigh 24.7°C · Low 16.0°C · 102 mm rain
- Pinetown in DecemberSouth Africa · 53 kmHigh 24.9°C · Low 18.5°C · 94 mm rain
- Ntuzuma in DecemberSouth Africa · 55 kmHigh 26.1°C · Low 19.1°C · 94 mm rain
- Durban in DecemberSouth Africa · 67 kmHigh 25.5°C · Low 20.5°C · 94 mm rain
- KwaDukuza in DecemberSouth Africa · 93 kmHigh 26.7°C · Low 20.0°C · 99 mm rain
- Ladysmith in DecemberSouth Africa · 132 kmHigh 27.9°C · Low 15.8°C · 179 mm rain
- Dundee, South Africa in DecemberSouth Africa · 162 kmHigh 26.3°C · Low 15.1°C · 154 mm rain
- Richards Bay in DecemberSouth Africa · 185 kmHigh 27.8°C · Low 21.4°C · 86 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.