Climate and average weather in Kariega

In Kariega, the summers are warm, fairly dry, and mostly clear and the winters are mild and mostly clear.

Best: early January to late December

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Kariega typically varies from 9°C to 28°C, and is rarely below 6°C or above 33°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 Kariega for warm-weather activities is from early January to late December.

Hottest
Feb
28°
Coldest
Jul
Wettest
Nov
57 mm
Driest
May
23 mm
Rain / yr
458 mm
77 wet days
Daylight
9.8–14.2 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
122 m
33.8°S
Clearest
Jul
33% cloud

Kariega is South African city.

Founded
1804

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

Kariega 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 early January to late December.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

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

Temperatures in Kariega stay fairly even through the year, without a distinct hot or cool season. The warmest month is February, with an average high of 28°C and low of 18°C; the coolest is July, with an average low of 9°C and high of 21°C.

Days typically run about 10°C warmer than nights year-round.

10°15°20°25°30°35°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan2718
Feb2818
Mar2717
Apr2515
May2312
Jun2110
Jul219
Aug2110
Sep2211
Oct2313
Nov2415
Dec2617

Average hourly temperature in Kariega

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 28°C, and coldest before dawn in July, near C.

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

Kariega 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° / 18°407.9146.9
Feb28° / 18°447.813.36.8
Mar27° / 17°477.812.37.1
Apr25° / 15°407.211.27.5
May23° / 12°234.510.38.0
Jun21° / 10°244.19.87.8
Jul21° / 243.9107.9
Aug21° / 10°365.710.77.6
Sep22° / 11°315.511.87.5
Oct23° / 13°48712.87.4
Nov24° / 15°577.813.87.4
Dec26° / 17°45814.27.1

Chance of rain

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

Kariega gets about 458 mm of precipitation a year. On a typical day the chance of rain is some rain, but that rises and falls sharply with the seasons.

The wetter season lasts 6.7 months, from around Oct 6 to Apr 27, peaking in February at about 30% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Jul 6.

November is the wettest month by volume, with 57 mm over about 8 wet days; May is the driest, with 23 mm.

0%10%20%30%40%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwetterdrierwettermostly drysome rainoften wetFeb 14 · 30%Jul 6 · 11%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan258
Feb288
Mar258
Apr247
May145
Jun144
Jul134
Aug186
Sep196
Oct237
Nov268
Dec268

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Kariega collects about 458 mm of rain across 77 wet days — roughly 38 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. November is the wettest month with 57 mm, while May is the driest at just 23 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 33% of the year’s total.

0255075JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec404447402324243631485745
Rainfall (mm)Rain days
Jan408
Feb448
Mar478
Apr407
May235
Jun244
Jul244
Aug366
Sep316
Oct487
Nov578
Dec458

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

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

The clearer part of the year begins around April 25 and lasts for 4.5 months, ending around September 7. The clearest month is July, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 78% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around September 8 and lasts for 5.9 months, ending around March 7. The cloudiest month is November, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 44% 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%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecJul 7 · 79%Nov 10 · 53%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastcloudierclearercloudier
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan6238
Feb6139
Mar6535
Apr6436
May6832
Jun7525
Jul7822
Aug7327
Sep6238
Oct5743
Nov5644
Dec6139

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 14 h 12 min of light; the shortest, around June 7, only 9 h 48 min — a swing of roughly 4 h 24 min.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan14.05:277:28
Feb13.35:557:10
Mar12.36:206:36
Apr11.26:445:53
May10.37:075:22
Jun9.87:265:12
Jul10.07:255:23
Aug10.77:005:45
Sep11.86:196:07
Oct12.85:386:29
Nov13.85:106:57
Dec14.25:087:22

Sunny days

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

Kariega averages about 14 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 10 and 19 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 4.1 months, from around May 5 to Sep 7. The sunniest month is July, with roughly 19 sunny days (bright).

The greyest month is November, down near 10 sunny days — about 45% fewer than the July peak.

0510152025JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgreyersunniergreyergloomymixedbrightbrilliantJul 1719 daysNov 610 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan14Mixed
Feb12Mixed
Mar15Mixed
Apr13Mixed
May15Mixed
Jun17Bright
Jul19Bright
Aug17Bright
Sep13Mixed
Oct11Mixed
Nov10Mixed
Dec12Mixed

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 Kariega, how humid it feels changes dramatically over the year.

The more humid part of the year lasts 4.6 months, from around November 25 to April 14. The muggiest month is February, when the air feels humid, muggy or worse about 70% of the time.

The most comfortable stretch runs from around April 15 to November 24, and June 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%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecJun 7 · 100%Feb 11 · 28%muggyhumiddrycomfortablehumidcomfortablehumid
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)Humid (%)Muggy (%)Oppressive (%)
Jan102937231
Feb82240291
Mar152941141
Apr43342120
May8116200
Jun991000
Jul991000
Aug946000
Sep8415100
Oct6328800
Nov43371730
Dec223532120

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 Kariega is typically light breeze, near 12 km/h, and varies little with the seasons.

The windier part of the year lasts 5.3 months, from around Sep 17 to Feb 23. The windiest month is November, averaging about 14 km/h (light breeze).

The calmer part of the year runs from around Feb 24 to Sep 16, with April the calmest month at about 11 km/h.

05101520JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwindiercalmerwindiercalmlight breezeNov 16 · 14 km/hApr 28 · 11 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan13light breeze
Feb13light breeze
Mar12calm
Apr11calm
May11calm
Jun12calm
Jul12calm
Aug12calm
Sep12light breeze
Oct13light breeze
Nov14light breeze
Dec14light breeze

Best time to visit Kariega

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

Around late December, Kariega 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, Kariega suits general outdoor tourist activities for most of the year, with a peak score in the second week of May.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDectravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationMay 14 · 8.2

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
Jan7.0good
Feb6.8good
Mar7.2good
Apr7.5ideal
May8.0ideal
Jun7.8ideal
Jul7.9ideal
Aug7.6ideal
Sep7.5ideal
Oct7.4good
Nov7.4good
Dec7.1good

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 Kariega for hot-weather activities is from mid October to late May, with a peak score in the first week of March.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationMar 3 · 7.3

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 Kariega, 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 February (highs near 28°C), the essentials are light clothes and sun protection. In the cold season around July (highs near 21°C), pack a light layer.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In February, Kariega sees daytime highs around 28°C and nights near 18°C. Pack light clothes and sun protection. About 8 days see rain.

Sea temperature near Kariega

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 25 km away) is warmest in January at about 21°C and coldest in August near 17°C.

It's comfortable for a long swim from Dec 26 to Mar 29 — about 3.1 months when the water holds above 20°C.

16°18°20°22°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDeccoolrefreshingcomfortable to swim
Sea temperature (°C)Comfort
Jan21Refreshing
Feb21Refreshing
Mar20Refreshing
Apr20Cool
May19Cool
Jun18Cool
Jul17Cool
Aug17Cool
Sep17Cool
Oct18Cool
Nov19Cool
Dec20Cool

UV index (midday) in Kariega 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 Kariega peaks around January 15 at about 13 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near June 23 at about 3 (moderate).

The index reaches 3 or more — the level where the WHO recommends sun protection — in 10 months of the year.

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecExtremeVery highHighModerateHighVery highExtremeJan 15UV 13Jun 23UV 3
UV index (midday)Level
Jan13Extreme
Feb11Extreme
Mar9Very high
Apr6High
May4Moderate
Jun3Moderate
Jul3Moderate
Aug4Moderate
Sep6High
Oct10Extreme
Nov11Extreme
Dec12Extreme

Average hourly UV index in Kariega

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
Mar7.54.5
Apr5.50
May3.50
Jun00
Jul0.50
Aug40
Sep61.5
Oct85.5
Nov8.56
Dec97

Air quality in Kariega 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 Kariega is worst in June — around 22 µg/m³ PM2.5 (moderate), about 2.5× the cleanest month (January, 9 µg/m³).

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

0102030JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecGoodModerateGoodJun 1621 µg/m³Jan 249 µg/m³
PM2.5 (µg/m³)Level
Jan9Good
Feb9Good
Mar11Good
Apr14Moderate
May19Moderate
Jun22Moderate
Jul18Moderate
Aug19Moderate
Sep16Moderate
Oct13Moderate
Nov10Good
Dec9Good
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free dayFrost-free year round

Kariega 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. Kariega banks about 3,230 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around February.

01,0002,0003,000JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°C·days)
Jan391
Feb364
Mar368
Apr286
May235
Jun166
Jul160
Aug170
Sep201
Oct254
Nov284
Dec350

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.

Kariega receives about 4.9 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — bright — with a clear seasonal swing between 2.7 and 7.2 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 6.1 months, from around Sep 19 to Mar 23. The brightest month is December, averaging about 7.1 kWh/m² (intense).

The dimmest month is June, down near 2.7 kWh/m² — roughly 61% less than the December peak.

012345678JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbrighterdimmerbrighterdimmoderatebrightintenseDec 207.2 kWhJun 182.7 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan7.0Intense
Feb6.2Intense
Mar5.2Bright
Apr4.0Bright
May3.1Moderate
Jun2.7Moderate
Jul2.9Moderate
Aug3.7Moderate
Sep4.8Bright
Oct5.8Bright
Nov6.7Intense
Dec7.1Intense

Where is Kariega?

Kariega sits at 33.8°S, 25.4°E, 122 m above sea level, in South Africa. The nearest listed city is Port Elizabeth, 30 km away.

Fort Beaufort

Topography around Kariega

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Kariega has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 151 m around an average of 86 m above sea level; within 16 km, large variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 946 m; within 80 km, very significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 1,658 m.

The land around Kariega is covered by artificial surfaces (53%) and grassland (24%) within 3 km, trees (47%) and grassland (33%) within 16 km, and grassland (37%) and water (30%) within 80 km.

3 km
151 m
16 km
946 m
80 km
1,658 m
treesshrubsgrasslandcroplandartificial surfacesbare terrainwater
Nearby: Port Elizabeth 30 km · Jeffreys Bay 55 km · Humansdorp 66 km · Kruisfontein 68 km · Somerset East 116 km · Grahamstown 116 km · Port Alfred 138 km · Fort Beaufort 158 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 Kariega (-33.7556°, 25.4007°, elevation 122 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. 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).