Climate and average weather in Glencoe

In Glencoe, the summers are warm, wet, and partly cloudy and the winters are mild and clear.

Best: late March to early October

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Glencoe typically varies from 5°C to 27°C, and is rarely below 1°C or above 33°C. January is the hottest month of the year, while June is the coldest.

Based on the travel score, the best time of year to visit Glencoe for warm-weather activities is from late March to early October.

Hottest
Jan
27°
Coldest
Jun
Wettest
Dec
154 mm
Driest
Jun
11 mm
Rain / yr
906 mm
118 wet days
Daylight
10.2–13.8 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
1,293 m
28.2°S
Clearest
Jul
18% cloud

Glencoe is town in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

Founded
1903

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

Glencoe 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 late March to early October.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

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

The hot season lasts 5.2 months, from October 20 to March 27, with daily high temperatures above 25°C. The hottest month of the year in Glencoe is January, with an average high of 27°C and low of 16°C.

The cool season lasts 2.1 months, from May 30 to August 1, with daily high temperatures below 21°C. The coldest month of the year in Glencoe is June, with an average low of 6°C and high of 20°C.

Days typically run about 13°C warmer than nights, with the widest day–night swing (around 15°C) in August.

10°20°30°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan2716
Feb2716
Mar2614
Apr2412
May228
Jun206
Jul205
Aug228
Sep2510
Oct2512
Nov2613
Dec2715

Average hourly temperature in Glencoe

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 January afternoons, near 27°C, and coldest before dawn in June, near C.

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

Glencoe 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
Jan27° / 16°15117.613.65.4
Feb27° / 16°12814.7135.7
Mar26° / 14°10512.912.26.5
Apr24° / 12°527.611.37.6
May22° / 183.210.68.3
Jun20° / 111.810.28.2
Jul20° / 141.710.48.3
Aug22° / 223.7118.3
Sep25° / 10°356.111.87.8
Oct25° / 12°9212.712.76.5
Nov26° / 13°1251713.45.5
Dec27° / 15°15419.113.85.3

Chance of rain

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

Glencoe gets about 906 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 6.0 months, from around Oct 2 to Apr 1, peaking in December at about 62% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Jul 10.

December is the wettest month by volume, with 154 mm over about 19 wet days; June is the driest, with 11 mm.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwetterdrierwettermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetDec 6 · 62%Jul 10 · 5%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan5718
Feb5315
Mar4113
Apr268
May103
Jun62
Jul62
Aug124
Sep216
Oct4013
Nov5717
Dec6019

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Glencoe collects about 906 mm of rain across 118 wet days — roughly 76 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. December is the wettest month with 154 mm, while June is the driest at just 11 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 48% of the year’s total.

0255075100125150175200JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec15112810552181114223592125154
Rainfall (mm)Rain days
Jan15118
Feb12815
Mar10513
Apr528
May183
Jun112
Jul142
Aug224
Sep356
Oct9213
Nov12517
Dec15419

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Glencoe, 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 12 and lasts for 5.4 months, ending around September 21. The clearest month is June, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 89% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around September 22 and lasts for 6.6 months, ending around April 11. The cloudiest month is December, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 57% 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 13 · 89%Dec 7 · 41%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastcloudierclearercloudier
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan4753
Feb5446
Mar6040
Apr6931
May8317
Jun8911
Jul8812
Aug8317
Sep7030
Oct5149
Nov4654
Dec4357

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 11, 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)
Jan13.65:206:57
Feb13.05:446:44
Mar12.26:036:15
Apr11.36:205:39
May10.66:385:14
Jun10.26:535:06
Jul10.46:545:16
Aug11.06:345:33
Sep11.85:595:49
Oct12.75:246:05
Nov13.45:026:27
Dec13.85:026:49

Sunny days

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

Glencoe averages about 15 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 6 and 25 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 5.5 months, from around Apr 9 to Sep 22. The sunniest month is July, with roughly 25 sunny days (brilliant).

The greyest month is November, down near 7 sunny days — about 72% fewer than the July peak.

051015202530JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgreyersunniergreyergloomymixedbrightbrilliantJul 1925 daysNov 206 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan8Gloomy
Feb9Mixed
Mar13Mixed
Apr16Bright
May22Bright
Jun24Brilliant
Jul25Brilliant
Aug23Bright
Sep17Bright
Oct10Mixed
Nov7Gloomy
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 Glencoe, how humid it feels changes dramatically over the year.

The more humid part of the year lasts 3.9 months, from around November 26 to March 23. The muggiest month is January, when the air feels humid, muggy or worse about 45% of the time.

The most comfortable stretch runs from around March 24 to November 25, and April is the most comfortable month — the air is dry or comfortable 98% of the time.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecApr 29 · 100%Jan 31 · 49%humidcomfortabledryhumidcomfortablehumid
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)Humid (%)Muggy (%)
Jan1242433
Feb1143442
Mar2953180
Apr782020
May99100
Jun100000
Jul100000
Aug100000
Sep99100
Oct821810
Nov524080
Dec2352241

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.

Wind in Glencoe is steady company: average speeds sit near 9 km/hcalm — in every month of the year, with no meaningful windy or calm season.

051015JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDeccalmlight breezeSep 21 · 11 km/hMar 16 · 8 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan9calm
Feb8calm
Mar8calm
Apr8calm
May8calm
Jun9calm
Jul9calm
Aug10calm
Sep11calm
Oct11calm
Nov10calm
Dec10calm

Hazard calendar for Glencoe

In seasonPeak

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

Glencoe's rainy season runs October–March, when most of the year's rain falls.

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

Best time to visit Glencoe

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

Around late September, Glencoe 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 Glencoe for general outdoor tourist activities is from late March to early October, with a peak score in the last week of May.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationMay 25 · 8.4

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
Jan5.4fair
Feb5.7good
Mar6.5good
Apr7.6ideal
May8.3ideal
Jun8.3ideal
Jul8.3ideal
Aug8.3ideal
Sep7.8ideal
Oct6.5good
Nov5.5good
Dec5.3fair

The beach/pool score favors clear, rainless days with daytime highs between 24°C and 34°C. Based on this score, the best times of year to visit Glencoe for hot-weather activities run from late February to mid May and again from mid August to late October, with a peak score in the second week of September.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationSep 8 · 7.2

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 Glencoe, 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.

For a warm-season trip around January (highs near 27°C), the essentials are light clothes, rain gear and sun protection. In the cold season around June (highs near 20°C), pack a warm layer.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In January, Glencoe sees daytime highs around 27°C and nights near 16°C. Pack rain gear and sun protection. Worth having: light clothes. About 18 days see rain.

UV index (midday) in Glencoe 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 Glencoe peaks around January 15 at about 15 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near June 21 at about 5 (moderate).

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

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecExtremeVery highHighModerateHighVery highExtremeJan 15UV 15Jun 21UV 5
UV index (midday)Level
Jan15Extreme
Feb13Extreme
Mar11Extreme
Apr8Very high
May6High
Jun5Moderate
Jul5Moderate
Aug7High
Sep8Very high
Oct10Very high
Nov12Extreme
Dec14Extreme

Average hourly UV index in Glencoe

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 January the burn window is concentrated in the middle of the day: about 9 hours a day reach index 3 (protection recommended), and 7 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)
Jan97
Feb8.56.5
Mar7.55.5
Apr6.54
May50
Jun4.50
Jul4.50
Aug62
Sep6.54
Oct85.5
Nov8.56.5
Dec97

Air quality in Glencoe 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 Glencoe is worst in September — around 45 µg/m³ PM2.5 (poor), about 4.5× the cleanest month (January, 10 µg/m³).

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

0204060JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecGoodModeratePoorModerateGoodSep 945 µg/m³Jan 1210 µg/m³
PM2.5 (µg/m³)Level
Jan10Good
Feb12Moderate
Mar16Moderate
Apr23Moderate
May31Moderate
Jun36Poor
Jul41Poor
Aug45Poor
Sep45Poor
Oct24Moderate
Nov13Moderate
Dec11Good
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free day

Glencoe is mild enough that a frost-free day stays more likely than not even in midwinter.

0%25%50%75%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Frost-free chance (%)Frost nights
Jan1000
Feb1000
Mar1000
Apr1000
May1000
Jun970
Jul960
Aug990
Sep1000
Oct1000
Nov1000
Dec1000

Growing degree days

Degree days (base 10°C)

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. Glencoe banks about 2,778 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around January.

01,0002,0003,000JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°C·days)
Jan351
Feb314
Mar310
Apr228
May155
Jun78
Jul78
Aug152
Sep228
Oct264
Nov288
Dec332

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.

Glencoe receives about 5.1 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — bright — with a clear seasonal swing between 3.5 and 6.5 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 6.5 months, from around Sep 6 to Mar 21. The brightest month is December, averaging about 6.4 kWh/m² (intense).

The dimmest month is June, down near 3.6 kWh/m² — roughly 43% less than the December peak.

012345678JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbrighterdimmerbrighterdimmoderatebrightintenseDec 276.5 kWhJun 243.5 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan6.3Intense
Feb6.0Intense
Mar5.3Bright
Apr4.5Bright
May4.0Moderate
Jun3.6Moderate
Jul3.8Moderate
Aug4.5Bright
Sep5.3Bright
Oct5.7Bright
Nov6.1Intense
Dec6.4Intense

Where is Glencoe?

Glencoe sits at 28.2°S, 30.1°E, 1,293 m above sea level, in South Africa. The nearest listed city is Dundee, 9.0 km away.

Topography around Glencoe

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Glencoe has significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 255 m around an average of 1,305 m above sea level; within 16 km, large variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 743 m; within 80 km, very significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 1,843 m.

The land around Glencoe is covered by grassland (57%) within 3 km, grassland (67%) within 16 km, and grassland (72%) within 80 km.

3 km
255 m
16 km
743 m
80 km
1,843 m
treesshrubsgrasslandcroplandartificial surfacesbare terrain
Nearby: Dundee 9.0 km · Newcastle 51 km · Ladysmith 56 km · Mondlo 60 km · Vryheid 78 km · Volksrust 94 km · Estcourt 97 km · Harrismith 100 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 Glencoe (-28.1783°, 30.147°, elevation 1,293 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. 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).