Climate averages 1991–2020
Soweto weather
in December.
A warm, wet month: the 3rd warmest and the wettest of the year.
Long-term climate patterns, not a forecast for a particular trip.
December is a warm month in Soweto: daytime highs average 24.9°C and nights cool to about 14.6°C. By daytime temperature it is the 3rd warmest of the 12 months.
Expect about 141 mm of rain on roughly 18 days, which makes December a wet month (the wettest month of the year). Daylight, from sunrise to sunset, lasts about 13 h 45 min on an average December day.
The nearest other city in this atlas is Roodepoort (12 km away). In December its highs average 24.4°C, about as warm as Soweto, with 141 mm of rain.
Among the 95 cities listed in South Africa, Soweto ranks joint 74th of 95 for the warmest December highs and joint 78th of 95 for the driest December (rainfall, lowest first). The mean December high of those 95 cities is 26.6°C; Soweto is 1.7°C cooler than that mean.
From December to January, average highs stay level at 25.0°C, and monthly rainfall falls from 141 mm to 132 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
Soweto climate table
| Month | Average highHigh / low | Average low | Rainfall mm/month | Rain days ≥1 mm/day | Daylight hours/dayDaylight h/day |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 25.0°C14.9°C | 14.9°C | 132 | 16.9 | 13.614 h |
| February | 24.7°C14.7°C | 14.7°C | 118 | 14.4 | 13.013 h |
| March | 23.4°C13.1°C | 13.1°C | 90 | 12.8 | 12.312 h |
| April | 21.1°C10.1°C | 10.1°C | 45 | 7.3 | 11.511 h |
| May | 19.0°C6.6°C | 6.6°C | 18 | 3.1 | 10.811 h |
| June | 16.7°C3.7°C | 3.7°C | 8.1 | 1.4 | 10.511 h |
| July | 16.9°C2.9°C | 2.9°C | 3.2 | 0.8 | 10.711 h |
| August | 20.1°C5.6°C | 5.6°C | 9.7 | 1.9 | 11.211 h |
| September | 24.2°C9.3°C | 9.3°C | 21 | 3.4 | 11.912 h |
| October | 25.1°C11.7°C | 11.7°C | 73 | 10.4 | 12.713 h |
| November | 24.7°C13.0°C | 13.0°C | 99 | 13.9 | 13.413 h |
| December, selected | 24.9°C14.6°C | 14.6°C | 141 | 18.4 | 13.714 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
- Roodepoort in DecemberSouth Africa · 12 kmHigh 24.4°C · Low 13.9°C · 141 mm rain
- Randfontein in DecemberSouth Africa · 18 kmHigh 24.7°C · Low 14.3°C · 141 mm rain
- Johannesburg in DecemberSouth Africa · 20 kmHigh 24.3°C · Low 13.7°C · 138 mm rain
- Westonaria in DecemberSouth Africa · 22 kmHigh 25.5°C · Low 15.1°C · 141 mm rain
- Krugersdorp in DecemberSouth Africa · 22 kmHigh 24.6°C · Low 14.1°C · 128 mm rain
- Randburg in DecemberSouth Africa · 24 kmHigh 25.4°C · Low 14.8°C · 117 mm rain
- Alberton in DecemberSouth Africa · 26 kmHigh 25.4°C · Low 14.8°C · 138 mm rain
- Tokoza in DecemberSouth Africa · 29 kmHigh 25.5°C · Low 14.9°C · 130 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 Soweto) is explained once on the Soweto year overview and on the Sources, method and limits page.
Roodepoort, Westonaria and Randfontein lie in the same rainfall cell, so their rainfall figures are identical to these; temperatures differ because they come from smaller 0.1° cells.