Climate averages 1991–2020
Pietermaritzburg weather
in September.
A warm, moderately wet month: the 6th warmest and the 5th driest of the year.
Long-term climate patterns, not a forecast for a particular trip.
September is a warm month in Pietermaritzburg: daytime highs average 24.0°C and nights cool to about 11.2°C. By daytime temperature it is the 6th warmest of the 12 months.
Expect about 56 mm of rain on roughly 10 days, which makes September a moderately wet month (the 5th driest of the 12 months). Daylight, from sunrise to sunset, lasts about 11 h 53 min on an average September day.
The nearest other city in this atlas is Mpumalanga (32 km away). In September its highs average 22.8°C, 1.2°C cooler than Pietermaritzburg, with 58 mm of rain.
Among the 95 cities listed in South Africa, Pietermaritzburg ranks joint 60th of 95 for the warmest September highs and joint 84th of 95 for the driest September (rainfall, lowest first). The mean September high of those 95 cities is 24.3°C; Pietermaritzburg is 0.2°C cooler than that mean.
From September to October, average highs fall by 0.1°C to 23.9°C, and monthly rainfall rises from 56 mm to 92 mm.
The annual picture
September 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, selected | 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
September in nearby cities
- Mpumalanga in SeptemberSouth Africa · 32 kmHigh 22.8°C · Low 11.1°C · 58 mm rain
- Pinetown in SeptemberSouth Africa · 53 kmHigh 22.3°C · Low 13.6°C · 60 mm rain
- Ntuzuma in SeptemberSouth Africa · 55 kmHigh 23.6°C · Low 14.3°C · 60 mm rain
- Durban in SeptemberSouth Africa · 67 kmHigh 22.5°C · Low 16.1°C · 60 mm rain
- KwaDukuza in SeptemberSouth Africa · 93 kmHigh 23.9°C · Low 15.4°C · 59 mm rain
- Ladysmith in SeptemberSouth Africa · 132 kmHigh 25.7°C · Low 10.0°C · 39 mm rain
- Dundee, South Africa in SeptemberSouth Africa · 162 kmHigh 24.8°C · Low 10.4°C · 35 mm rain
- Richards Bay in SeptemberSouth Africa · 185 kmHigh 24.7°C · Low 17.4°C · 54 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.