Positioned between the cold Atlantic and warm Indian Ocean, Cape Town enjoys a Mediterranean climate.
Cape Town has a temperate climate, and doesn't experience great extremes in temperature. But the weather in winter (June, July, August) is significantly colder than the summer (December, January, February) weather. In Cape Town the daytime temperatures rarely fall below 10 degrees.
Cape Town is located in a winter rainfall area and receives its rain from April to October. During winter it does not rain every day. Sometimes there will be a couple of days of rain and then several days of sunshine, however it does sometimes rain for a couple of weeks in succession.
Occasionally snow falls in the high mountains in winter.
Summer is the sunny season, but there are many sunny days in the winter as well.
Other than certain sheltered areas, Cape Town is windy in the summer. The prevailing summer wind is the south-easter, nicknamed the "Cape Docter" as it blows the pollution out to sea. The "Cape Doctor" can be very forceful, reminding one that if you're blown away, there is little between the Cape Peninsula and Anartica. During winter the prevailing wind is a north-western wind, which brings the rain to Cape Town.
Weather statistics are measured from Cape Town International Airport, which lies on the exposed Cape Flats about 15km (9miles), from Cape Town's city centre. Owing to the mountainous terrain, different parts of Cape Town may experience VASTLY different weather at the same time. The south east winds can be blowing up to 80km/h (50mph) at Cape Point where the temperature will be 20 degrees Celsius, yet in the city center it may be dead calm with a temperature of 40 degrees Celsius.
Cape Town 5 day weather forecast |
Cape Town 6 to 10 day weather forecast |
Cape Town monthly averages and records- temperature, precipitation |
Especially in winter months brown haze pollution is sometimes visible because of temperature inversion and a drop in the south-easterly winds.
Washington Post |
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SA Weather Service |
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