Climate averages 1991–2020
Richards Bay weather
in December.
A warm, moderately wet month: the 4th warmest and the 8th driest of the year.
Long-term climate patterns, not a forecast for a particular trip.
December is a warm month in Richards Bay: daytime highs average 27.8°C and nights cool to about 21.4°C. By daytime temperature it is the 4th warmest of the 12 months.
Expect about 86 mm of rain on roughly 12 days, which makes December a moderately wet month (the 8th driest of the 12 months). Daylight, from sunrise to sunset, lasts about 13 h 56 min on an average December day.
The nearest other city in this atlas is KwaDukuza (95 km away). In December its highs average 26.7°C, 1.1°C cooler than Richards Bay, with 99 mm of rain.
Among the 95 cities listed in South Africa, Richards Bay ranks 31st of 95 for the warmest December highs and 21st of 95 for the driest December (rainfall, lowest first). The mean December high of those 95 cities is 26.6°C; Richards Bay is 1.2°C warmer than that mean.
From December to January, average highs rise by 0.7°C to 28.6°C, and monthly rainfall rises from 86 mm to 108 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
Richards Bay climate table
| Month | Average highHigh / low | Average low | Rainfall mm/month | Rain days ≥1 mm/day | Daylight hours/dayDaylight h/day |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 28.6°C22.4°C | 22.4°C | 108 | 13.5 | 13.714 h |
| February | 28.7°C22.6°C | 22.6°C | 95 | 11.9 | 13.113 h |
| March | 28.0°C21.8°C | 21.8°C | 97 | 12.3 | 12.312 h |
| April | 26.2°C19.9°C | 19.9°C | 79 | 10.4 | 11.411 h |
| May | 24.7°C17.7°C | 17.7°C | 56 | 7.6 | 10.711 h |
| June | 23.1°C15.4°C | 15.4°C | 39 | 6.6 | 10.310 h |
| July | 22.6°C14.9°C | 14.9°C | 47 | 6.9 | 10.510 h |
| August | 23.6°C15.9°C | 15.9°C | 39 | 7.0 | 11.111 h |
| September | 24.7°C17.4°C | 17.4°C | 54 | 8.2 | 11.912 h |
| October | 25.0°C18.4°C | 18.4°C | 79 | 12.2 | 12.813 h |
| November | 26.2°C19.8°C | 19.8°C | 93 | 13.2 | 13.514 h |
| December, selected | 27.8°C21.4°C | 21.4°C | 86 | 11.7 | 13.914 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
- KwaDukuza in DecemberSouth Africa · 95 kmHigh 26.7°C · Low 20.0°C · 99 mm rain
- Ntuzuma in DecemberSouth Africa · 150 kmHigh 26.1°C · Low 19.1°C · 94 mm rain
- Durban in DecemberSouth Africa · 154 kmHigh 25.5°C · Low 20.5°C · 94 mm rain
- Pinetown in DecemberSouth Africa · 161 kmHigh 24.9°C · Low 18.5°C · 94 mm rain
- Vryheid in DecemberSouth Africa · 166 kmHigh 25.5°C · Low 15.0°C · 158 mm rain
- Mpumalanga in DecemberSouth Africa · 178 kmHigh 24.7°C · Low 16.0°C · 102 mm rain
- Pietermaritzburg in DecemberSouth Africa · 185 kmHigh 25.8°C · Low 16.2°C · 129 mm rain
- Dundee, South Africa in DecemberSouth Africa · 189 kmHigh 26.3°C · Low 15.1°C · 154 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 Richards Bay) is explained once on the Richards Bay year overview and on the Sources, method and limits page.