Climate averages 1991–2020
Pietermaritzburg weather
in July.
A mild, fairly dry month: one of the coolest and the 2nd driest of the year. Meets the pleasant-weather rule
Long-term climate patterns, not a forecast for a particular trip.
July is a mild month in Pietermaritzburg: daytime highs average 20.7°C and nights cool to about 6.5°C. By daytime temperature it is one of the coolest months of the year.
Expect about 28 mm of rain on roughly 4 days, which makes July a fairly dry month (the 2nd driest of the 12 months). Daylight, from sunrise to sunset, lasts about 10 h 26 min on an average July day.
The nearest other city in this atlas is Mpumalanga (32 km away). In July its highs average 20.4°C, about as warm as Pietermaritzburg, with 33 mm of rain.
Among the 95 cities listed in South Africa, Pietermaritzburg ranks joint 12th of 95 for the warmest July highs and joint 78th of 95 for the driest July (rainfall, lowest first). The mean July high of those 95 cities is 18.5°C; Pietermaritzburg is 2.2°C warmer than that mean.
From July to August, average highs rise by 1.8°C to 22.5°C, and monthly rainfall rises from 28 mm to 32 mm.
The annual picture
July 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, selected | 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 | 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
July in nearby cities
- Mpumalanga in JulySouth Africa · 32 kmHigh 20.4°C · Low 6.9°C · 33 mm rain
- Pinetown in JulySouth Africa · 53 kmHigh 20.7°C · Low 10.4°C · 42 mm rain
- Ntuzuma in JulySouth Africa · 55 kmHigh 22.0°C · Low 10.8°C · 42 mm rain
- Durban in JulySouth Africa · 67 kmHigh 21.4°C · Low 13.7°C · 42 mm rain
- KwaDukuza in JulySouth Africa · 93 kmHigh 21.9°C · Low 12.7°C · 41 mm rain
- Ladysmith in JulySouth Africa · 132 kmHigh 19.4°C · Low 3.8°C · 16 mm rain
- Dundee, South Africa in JulySouth Africa · 162 kmHigh 18.7°C · Low 5.4°C · 14 mm rain
- Richards Bay in JulySouth Africa · 185 kmHigh 22.6°C · Low 14.9°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 Pietermaritzburg) is explained once on the Pietermaritzburg year overview and on the Sources, method and limits page.