Climate and average weather in Eshowe

In Eshowe, the weather is humid, hot, showery, and partly cloudy and remarkably steady, with daytime highs holding near hot levels all year. The wettest stretch peaks around January.

Best: mid April to late September

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Eshowe typically varies from 12°C to 30°C, and is rarely below 9°C or above 35°C. February is the hottest month of the year, while July is the coldest.

Based on the travel score, the best time of year to visit Eshowe for warm-weather activities is from mid April to late September.

Hottest
Feb
30°
Coldest
Jul
12°
Wettest
Jan
106 mm
Driest
Jun
25 mm
Rain / yr
799 mm
114 wet days
Daylight
10.2–13.8 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
539 m
28.9°S
Clearest
Jun
23% cloud

Eshowe is town in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

Founded
1880

Air quality: WHO Ambient Air Quality Database. Density & description: Wikidata (CC0), GeoNames.

Eshowe weather by month, at a glance

The whole year in one picture — sky, rain, humidity, temperature and travel score. Click any band to jump to its full chart.

Each stripe is one measure across the whole year, stacked so a single day reads top to bottom. The sky band runs overcast grey on top down to clear blue at the base — more blue means sunnier — followed by the rainfall curve, the humidity band, a temperature strip that tints each stretch of the year by how warm its average high is, and the travel-score line at the foot. Scan straight down any date to read that day across every measure at once; the score climbs highest around mid April to late September.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

Daily average highs and lows in Eshowe, from 1991–2020 of climate data. The shaded bands show the range most days fall in — 10th to 90th percentile.

Temperatures in Eshowe stay fairly even through the year, without a distinct hot or cool season. The warmest month is February, with an average high of 30°C and low of 21°C; the coolest is July, with an average low of 12°C and high of 24°C.

Days typically run about 9°C warmer than nights, with the widest day–night swing (around 12°C) in June.

10°20°30°40°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan2921
Feb3021
Mar2920
Apr2718
May2615
Jun2413
Jul2412
Aug2514
Sep2516
Oct2617
Nov2719
Dec2820

Average hourly temperature in Eshowe

A compact picture of the whole year, hour by hour: each column is a day, each row an hour, and the color is the modeled average temperature. Darker overlays mark night, lighter ones the civil-twilight hours around sunrise and sunset.

Read left to right for the day of the year and top to bottom for the hour of the day; the color is the modeled temperature, cool blues through to hot reds on the same scale as the other charts. A vertical slice is a single day's swing — coolest just before dawn, warmest in the mid-afternoon — while a horizontal slice follows one hour across the seasons. The darker overlay marks night and the lighter one the twilight around sunrise and sunset. Colors run warmest on February afternoons, near 30°C, and coldest before dawn in July, near 12°C.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec12 AM2 AM4 AM6 AM8 AM10 AM12 PM2 PM4 PM6 PM8 PM10 PM12 AM

Eshowe weather by month

Every month at a glance. Click a month for its detailed page.

MonthHigh / Low (°C)Rainfall (mm)Wet daysDaylight (hours)Travel score
Jan29° / 21°10613.613.64.8
Feb30° / 21°9412.3134.9
Mar29° / 20°8911.912.25.5
Apr27° / 18°638.811.36.9
May26° / 15°415.610.68.0
Jun24° / 13°254.510.28.6
Jul24° / 12°395.110.38.5
Aug25° / 14°295.8118.1
Sep25° / 16°527.911.87.3
Oct26° / 17°7912.212.76.4
Nov27° / 19°9213.213.45.9
Dec28° / 20°9113.113.85.4

Chance of rain

How likely it is to rain on a typical day, and how that shifts across the wetter and drier seasons.

Eshowe gets about 799 mm of precipitation a year. On a typical day the chance of rain is often wet, but that rises and falls sharply with the seasons.

The wetter season lasts 6.4 months, from around Sep 27 to Apr 9, peaking in November at about 46% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Jun 15.

January is the wettest month by volume, with 106 mm over about 14 wet days; June is the driest, with 25 mm.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwetterdrierwettermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetNov 16 · 46%Jun 15 · 15%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan4414
Feb4412
Mar3812
Apr299
May196
Jun155
Jul165
Aug196
Sep278
Oct3812
Nov4413
Dec4313

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Eshowe collects about 799 mm of rain across 114 wet days — roughly 67 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. January is the wettest month with 106 mm, while June is the driest at just 25 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 37% of the year’s total.

0255075100125JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec1069489634125392952799291
Rainfall (mm)Rain days
Jan10614
Feb9412
Mar8912
Apr639
May416
Jun255
Jul395
Aug296
Sep528
Oct7912
Nov9213
Dec9113

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

How often the daytime sky is clear, partly cloudy or overcast.

In Eshowe, the average share of the sky covered by clouds shows significant seasonal variation over the course of the year.

The clearer part of the year begins around April 7 and lasts for 5.4 months, ending around September 16. The clearest month is June, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 85% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around September 17 and lasts for 5.7 months, ending around March 7. The cloudiest month is November, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 63% of the time.

0%100%10%90%20%80%30%70%40%60%50%50%60%40%70%30%80%20%90%10%100%0%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecJun 15 · 85%Nov 28 · 34%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastcloudierclearercloudier
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan4456
Feb5248
Mar5941
Apr6535
May7921
Jun8515
Jul8317
Aug7525
Sep6139
Oct4456
Nov3763
Dec3961

Daylight, sunrise and sunset

DaylightNight

Hours of daylight through the year, with sunrise and sunset times.

The gold band is daylight — sunrise runs along its lower edge, sunset along the upper — so it widens toward summer and pinches toward winter, with night the dark area above and below. The longest day, around January 1, brings about 13 h 48 min of light; the shortest, around June 5, only 10 h 12 min — a swing of roughly 3 h 36 min.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan13.65:146:53
Feb13.05:386:40
Mar12.25:576:10
Apr11.36:155:34
May10.66:335:07
Jun10.26:494:59
Jul10.36:505:09
Aug11.06:305:27
Sep11.85:545:43
Oct12.75:186:00
Nov13.44:556:23
Dec13.84:556:45

Sunny days

How many genuinely sunny days each month brings — days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — banded into plain-language zones.

Eshowe averages about 14 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 6 and 23 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 5.4 months, from around Apr 8 to Sep 17. The sunniest month is June, with roughly 22 sunny days (bright).

The greyest month is November, down near 6 sunny days — about 72% fewer than the June peak.

0510152025JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgreyersunniergreyergloomymixedbrightbrilliantJun 1523 daysNov 196 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan9Mixed
Feb10Mixed
Mar13Mixed
Apr15Bright
May20Bright
Jun22Bright
Jul23Bright
Aug20Bright
Sep14Mixed
Oct9Mixed
Nov6Gloomy
Dec7Gloomy

Humidity comfort

DryComfortableHumidMuggyOppressiveMiserable

Share of days at each humidity comfort level, based on the dew point — the measure that tracks how muggy it actually feels.

Humidity comfort is graded by the dew point — the temperature at which the air would be fully saturated — because it tracks how muggy it actually feels far better than relative humidity does. A low dew point feels dry and crisp; a high one feels sticky and oppressive no matter the reading on a humidity gauge.

In Eshowe, how humid it feels changes dramatically over the year.

The more humid part of the year lasts 6.6 months, from around October 14 to May 2. The muggiest month is February, when the air feels humid, muggy or worse about 98% of the time.

The most comfortable stretch runs from around May 3 to October 13, and July is the most comfortable month — the air is dry or comfortable 100% of the time.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecJul 14 · 100%Feb 2 · 1%oppressivemuggycomfortablehumiddryhumidcomfortablehumid
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)Humid (%)Muggy (%)Oppressive (%)
Jan02175427
Feb02145134
Mar03235321
Apr51845302
May29402930
Jun7522200
Jul8218000
Aug5935600
Sep26472610
Oct93345130
Nov51643333
Dec17314913

Wind

Average wind speed through the year, banded into plain-language speed zones so a number reads as 'breezy' or 'calm' without knowing the scale.

This is the average sustained wind speed at the standard 10 metres above open ground — the steady flow a weather station reports, not the sharper gusts that come and go, which can run half again as fast. It's the number that says whether a place is generally breezy or calm.

Across the year, average wind speed in Eshowe is typically calm, near 11 km/h, and varies little with the seasons.

The windier part of the year lasts 6.0 months, from around Aug 17 to Feb 14. The windiest month is October, averaging about 13 km/h (light breeze).

The calmer part of the year runs from around Feb 15 to Aug 16, with May the calmest month at about 10 km/h.

05101520JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwindiercalmerwindiercalmlight breezeOct 13 · 13 km/hMay 22 · 10 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan12light breeze
Feb11calm
Mar11calm
Apr10calm
May10calm
Jun10calm
Jul10calm
Aug11calm
Sep12light breeze
Oct13light breeze
Nov13light breeze
Dec13light breeze

Hazard calendar for Eshowe

In seasonPeak

When the seasonal hazards worth planning around — the rainy season, tropical-cyclone risk and dust haze — are active through the year.

Eshowe sits in the South Indian Ocean cyclone belt; the season peaks January–March.

Cyclone
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec

Best time to visit Eshowe

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

To characterize how pleasant the weather is in Eshowe throughout the year, we compute two travel scores — one for general sightseeing, one for beach and pool weather.

Around late September, Eshowe is still near the tail of its best-weather window — great conditions with the peak-season crowds already thinning.

Inferred from the travel-score curve; month-by-month visitor numbers are a planned addition.

The travel score favors clear, rainless days with daytime highs between 18°C and 28°C. Based on this score, the best time of year to visit Eshowe for general outdoor tourist activities is from mid April to late September, with a peak score in the second week of June.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationJun 14 · 8.6

The travel score (filled area), and its constituents: the temperature score (red line), the cloud cover score (blue line), and the precipitation score (green line).

Travel score (0–10)Rating
Jan4.8fair
Feb4.9fair
Mar5.6good
Apr6.9good
May7.9ideal
Jun8.6ideal
Jul8.5ideal
Aug8.1ideal
Sep7.3good
Oct6.4good
Nov5.9good
Dec5.4fair

The beach/pool score favors clear, rainless days with daytime highs between 24°C and 34°C. Based on this score, the best time of year to visit Eshowe for hot-weather activities is from late November to early November, with a peak score in the third week of May.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationMay 20 · 7.4

The beach/pool score (filled area), and its constituents: the temperature score (red line), the cloud cover score (blue line), and the precipitation score (green line).

What to pack for Eshowe, by month

EssentialRecommendedOptional

Month by month, what's worth putting in the bag — from the temperature range, rain chance, sun and wind. Tap a month for a quick packing note.

Eshowe packs about the same all year — highs hold near 30°C. Across the year the things worth having are light clothes, rain gear and sun protection.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In February, Eshowe sees daytime highs around 30°C and nights near 21°C. Pack light clothes. Worth having: rain gear and sun protection. About 12 days see rain.

Sea temperature near Eshowe

Average ocean temperature at the nearest coast, month by month, banded into swim-comfort zones — the other half of the beach question.

The sea at the nearest coast (about 31 km away) is warmest in February at about 26°C and coldest in August near 21°C.

The water stays above 20°C all year — warm enough for a swim any month.

20°22°24°26°28°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDeccoolrefreshingwarmcomfortable to swim
Sea temperature (°C)Comfort
Jan25Warm
Feb26Warm
Mar25Warm
Apr24Warm
May23Refreshing
Jun22Refreshing
Jul21Refreshing
Aug21Refreshing
Sep21Refreshing
Oct22Refreshing
Nov23Refreshing
Dec24Refreshing

UV index (midday) in Eshowe by month

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Clear-sky midday UV index through the year, shaded by the WHO exposure levels — how much sun protection each month calls for.

Under clear skies, the midday UV index in Eshowe peaks around February 9 at about 12 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near June 22 at about 4 (moderate).

The index reaches 3 or more — the level where the WHO recommends sun protection — every month of the year.

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecExtremeHighModerateHighVery highExtremeExtremeFeb 9UV 12Jun 22UV 4
UV index (midday)Level
Jan12Extreme
Feb12Extreme
Mar11Extreme
Apr6High
May5High
Jun4Moderate
Jul4Moderate
Aug6High
Sep7High
Oct10Extreme
Nov10Very high
Dec12Extreme

Average hourly UV index in Eshowe

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Modeled clear-sky UV for every hour of every day — when in the day sun protection actually matters.

The whole year hour by hour: each column is a day, each row an hour, and the color is the modeled clear-sky UV index — the midday peak scaled down as the sun sits lower in the sky. Darker overlays mark night, lighter ones the civil-twilight hours around sunrise and sunset.

UV falls off far faster than brightness as the sun drops, so even in February the burn window is concentrated in the middle of the day: about 8.5 hours a day reach index 3 (protection recommended), and 6.5 hours reach 6 or more. Mornings and late afternoons stay comparatively gentle year round.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec12 AM2 AM4 AM6 AM8 AM10 AM12 PM2 PM4 PM6 PM8 PM10 PM12 AM
UV ≥ 3 (h/day)UV ≥ 6 (h/day)
Jan8.56.5
Feb8.56.5
Mar7.55.5
Apr5.50.5
May4.50
Jun3.50
Jul40
Aug5.50
Sep62.5
Oct7.55.5
Nov85.5
Dec8.56.5

Air quality in Eshowe by month

GoodModeratePoorUnhealthyVery unhealthy

Average fine-particle pollution (PM2.5) through the year — so you can see which months the air is worst, not just the yearly average.

Air quality in Eshowe is worst in July — around 43 µg/m³ PM2.5 (poor), about 5.5× the cleanest month (January, 8 µg/m³).

Modeled monthly averages (CAMS reanalysis, 2015–2024).

0204060JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecGoodModeratePoorModerateGoodJul 1442 µg/m³Jan 198 µg/m³
PM2.5 (µg/m³)Level
Jan8Good
Feb9Good
Mar13Moderate
Apr20Moderate
May33Moderate
Jun40Poor
Jul43Poor
Aug35Poor
Sep29Moderate
Oct18Moderate
Nov14Moderate
Dec11Good
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free dayFrost-free year round

Eshowe is frost-free year round — even the coldest nights rarely reach freezing, so there is no start or end to the growing season.

0%25%50%75%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecfrost-free year round
Frost-free chance (%)Frost nights
Jan1000
Feb1000
Mar1000
Apr1000
May1000
Jun1000
Jul1000
Aug1000
Sep1000
Oct1000
Nov1000
Dec1000

Growing degree days

Degree days (base 10°C)Frost-free shaded

Growing degree days tally heat above 10°C: each day adds however many degrees its average temperature runs over that threshold, and cold days add nothing. Eshowe banks about 4,317 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around February.

01,0002,0003,0004,000JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°C·days)
Jan474
Feb432
Mar451
Apr376
May321
Jun248
Jul245
Aug284
Sep316
Oct350
Nov379
Dec440

Solar energy

Average daily shortwave solar energy reaching the ground, banded into brightness zones so the number means something at a glance.

Solar energy is how much sunlight actually reaches the ground each day, measured in kilowatt-hours per square metre (kWh/m²) — the combined effect of how long the sun is up, how high it climbs, and how much cloud gets in the way. It's the raw fuel a solar panel has to work with: for scale, 1 kWh/m² a day is dim and wintry, while 7+ is desert-bright.

Eshowe receives about 4.6 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — bright — with a clear seasonal swing between 3.2 and 6.0 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 6.2 months, from around Sep 21 to Mar 27. The brightest month is January, averaging about 5.9 kWh/m² (bright).

The dimmest month is June, down near 3.2 kWh/m² — roughly 46% less than the January peak.

01234567JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbrighterdimmerbrighterdimmoderatebrightintenseJan 26.0 kWhJun 253.2 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan5.9Bright
Feb5.7Bright
Mar5.0Bright
Apr4.1Bright
May3.6Moderate
Jun3.2Moderate
Jul3.3Moderate
Aug4.0Moderate
Sep4.5Bright
Oct4.9Bright
Nov5.4Bright
Dec5.8Bright

Where is Eshowe?

Eshowe sits at 28.9°S, 31.5°E, 539 m above sea level, in South Africa. The nearest listed city is Mandeni, 29 km away.

Topography around Eshowe

How much the land rises and falls, and what covers it, within 3, 16 and 80 km of Eshowe.

Within 3 km, the terrain around Eshowe has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 204 m around an average of 495 m above sea level; within 16 km, large variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 829 m; within 80 km, very significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 1,787 m.

The land around Eshowe is covered by trees (59%) within 3 km, grassland (42%) and trees (41%) within 16 km, and trees (33%), grassland (31%) and water (21%) within 80 km.

3 km
204 m
16 km
829 m
80 km
1,787 m
treesshrubsgrasslandcroplandartificial surfaceswater
Nearby: Mandeni 29 km · eSikhaleni 42 km · Empangeni 44 km · KwaDukuza 52 km · Richards Bay 56 km · Ulundi 62 km · Shakaskraal 67 km · Ballitoville 77 km

South Africa travel facts

Travel advisory
Level 2
Exercise Increased Caution
Power plugs
Type C / M / N
230 V · 50 Hz
Prices
≈ 41% of US
price level, 2025
GDP per capita
$6,598
2025
Happiness
5.0 / 10
World Happiness, 2025
Safe drinking water
68%
of population, 2024
Homicide rate
43.7
per 100k, 2022
Road deaths
22.2
per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group
Upper middle
World Bank
English
Very high
EF EPI 602
Religion
Christian 86%or other traditional African religions 5%nothing in particular 5%Muslim 2%

Sources: World Bank, US State Department, World Happiness Report, WHO/UNICEF, EF EPI, CIA World Factbook.

Data sources

Temperature, precipitation, cloud, humidity, wind and solar figures are a 1991–2020 climatology for Eshowe (-28.8865°, 31.4699°, elevation 539 m), computed from hourly ERA5 reanalysis — contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information. Sun figures are astronomical calculations, not observations. City data © GeoNames, CC BY 4.0. Map outlines from Natural Earth (public domain); interactive map © Google. Tropical-cyclone seasons are the published climatological basin seasons (NOAA National Hurricane Center / regional warning centres). Sea temperatures are the NOAA OISST v2.1 1991–2020 monthly climatology (public domain), sampled at the nearest ocean point. UV index is derived from CAMS (Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service) clear-sky UV data — contains modified Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service information. Monthly air-quality (PM2.5) seasonality is from the CAMS EAC4 reanalysis (Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service), scaled to the WHO annual mean where available. Topography is sampled from the Copernicus DEM GLO-90 elevation model (© ESA/Airbus) and ESA WorldCover 2021 land cover (CC BY 4.0).