Climate averages 1991–2020
Polokwane weather
in January.
A warm, wet month: the warmest and the 11th driest of the year.
Long-term climate patterns, not a forecast for a particular trip.
January is a warm month in Polokwane: daytime highs average 26.7°C and nights cool to about 16.6°C. By daytime temperature it is the warmest month of the year.
Expect about 116 mm of rain on roughly 14 days, which makes January a wet month (the 11th driest of the 12 months). Daylight, from sunrise to sunset, lasts about 13 h 26 min on an average January day.
The nearest other city in this atlas is Mokopane (57 km away). In January its highs average 28.7°C, 2.1°C warmer than Polokwane, with 112 mm of rain.
Among the 95 cities listed in South Africa, Polokwane ranks joint 44th of 95 for the warmest January highs and joint 56th of 95 for the driest January (rainfall, lowest first). The mean January high of those 95 cities is 27.0°C; Polokwane is 0.3°C cooler than that mean.
From January to February, average highs stay level at 26.6°C, and monthly rainfall falls from 116 mm to 88 mm.
The annual picture
January 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
Polokwane climate table
| Month | Average highHigh / low | Average low | Rainfall mm/month | Rain days ≥1 mm/day | Daylight hours/dayDaylight h/day |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January, selected | 26.7°C16.6°C | 16.6°C | 116 | 13.7 | 13.413 h |
| February | 26.6°C16.5°C | 16.5°C | 88 | 10.2 | 12.913 h |
| March | 25.6°C15.4°C | 15.4°C | 74 | 9.5 | 12.212 h |
| April | 23.6°C13.0°C | 13.0°C | 39 | 5.4 | 11.612 h |
| May | 21.7°C10.2°C | 10.2°C | 11 | 2.5 | 11.011 h |
| June | 19.4°C7.5°C | 7.5°C | 4.2 | 0.9 | 10.711 h |
| July | 19.2°C6.9°C | 6.9°C | 3.2 | 0.7 | 10.811 h |
| August | 22.2°C8.9°C | 8.9°C | 3.8 | 0.9 | 11.311 h |
| September | 25.6°C11.7°C | 11.7°C | 13 | 2.6 | 11.912 h |
| October | 26.5°C13.5°C | 13.5°C | 46 | 8.0 | 12.613 h |
| November | 26.3°C15.0°C | 15.0°C | 98 | 13.5 | 13.313 h |
| December | 26.4°C16.2°C | 16.2°C | 131 | 15.9 | 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
January in nearby cities
- Mokopane in JanuarySouth Africa · 57 kmHigh 28.7°C · Low 18.0°C · 112 mm rain
- Louis Trichardt in JanuarySouth Africa · 105 kmHigh 28.1°C · Low 18.8°C · 102 mm rain
- Thohoyandou in JanuarySouth Africa · 149 kmHigh 27.5°C · Low 18.9°C · 179 mm rain
- Bela Bela in JanuarySouth Africa · 162 kmHigh 28.8°C · Low 18.4°C · 97 mm rain
- Phalaborwa in JanuarySouth Africa · 170 kmHigh 30.5°C · Low 21.0°C · 93 mm rain
- Somaroboro in JanuarySouth Africa · 173 kmHigh 27.4°C · Low 16.9°C · 94 mm rain
- Hammanskraal in JanuarySouth Africa · 206 kmHigh 29.3°C · Low 18.5°C · 98 mm rain
- Middelburg in JanuarySouth Africa · 208 kmHigh 25.5°C · Low 15.4°C · 122 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 Polokwane) is explained once on the Polokwane year overview and on the Sources, method and limits page.