Climate and average weather in Kroonstad

In Kroonstad, the summers are hot, showery, and mostly clear and the winters are mild and clear.

Best: late March to mid October

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Kroonstad typically varies from 2°C to 29°C, and is rarely below -2°C or above 34°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 Kroonstad for warm-weather activities is from late March to mid October.

Hottest
Jan
29°
Coldest
Jun
Wettest
Dec
104 mm
Driest
Jul
7 mm
Rain / yr
594 mm
86 wet days
Daylight
10.2–13.8 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
1,399 m
27.7°S
Clearest
Jul
13% cloud

Kroonstad is city in the Free State, South Africa.

Founded
1854

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

Kroonstad 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 mid October.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

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

The hot season lasts 5.7 months, from September 30 to March 20, with daily high temperatures above 26°C. The hottest month of the year in Kroonstad is January, with an average high of 29°C and low of 17°C.

The cool season lasts 2.4 months, from May 27 to August 7, with daily high temperatures below 20°C. The coldest month of the year in Kroonstad is June, with an average low of 3°C and high of 18°C.

Days typically run about 14°C warmer than nights, with the widest day–night swing (around 16°C) in July.

10°20°30°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan2917
Feb2817
Mar2715
Apr2411
May216
Jun183
Jul182
Aug215
Sep2510
Oct2713
Nov2814
Dec2916

How hot and cold Kroonstad really feels

Feels-like highFeels-like lowactual air temp

The felt-temperature range through the year — heat index on the day's high (summer humidity), wind chill on the night's low (winter wind). The dashed lines are the plain thermometer; the gap is how much hotter or colder it really feels.

On the coldest nights, wind chill pulls the feels-like down to about -1°C (around July 8), with roughly 44 freezing days a year (feels-like at or below 0°C), worst in July.

10°20°30°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Feels-like high (°C)Air high (°C)Feels-like low (°C)Air low (°C)
Jan29291717
Feb28281717
Mar27271515
Apr24241011
May212146
Jun181803
Jul181802
Aug212135
Sep2525910
Oct27271313
Nov28281414
Dec29291616

Average hourly temperature in Kroonstad

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 29°C, and coldest before dawn in June, near C.

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

Kroonstad 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° / 17°10113.713.65.2
Feb28° / 17°8111.8135.9
Mar27° / 15°6810.212.26.8
Apr24° / 11°45711.47.8
May21° / 20310.78.3
Jun18° / 121.610.38.0
Jul18° / 70.910.48.1
Aug21° / 152118.6
Sep25° / 10°142.711.88.6
Oct27° / 13°598.812.77.1
Nov28° / 14°7110.413.46.4
Dec29° / 16°10413.713.75.3

Chance of rain

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

Kroonstad gets about 594 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 6.3 months, from around Oct 9 to Apr 19, peaking in January at about 46% 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 104 mm over about 14 wet days; July is the driest, with 7 mm.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwetterdrierwettermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetJan 24 · 46%Jul 10 · 2%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan4414
Feb4212
Mar3310
Apr247
May93
Jun52
Jul31
Aug62
Sep103
Oct279
Nov3510
Dec4314

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Kroonstad collects about 594 mm of rain across 86 wet days — roughly 49 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. December is the wettest month with 104 mm, while July is the driest at just 7 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 48% of the year’s total.

0255075100125JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec1018168452012715145971104
Rainfall (mm)Rain days
Jan10114
Feb8112
Mar6810
Apr457
May203
Jun122
Jul71
Aug152
Sep143
Oct599
Nov7110
Dec10414

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Kroonstad, 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 19 and lasts for 5.6 months, ending around October 5. The clearest month is July, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 93% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around October 6 and lasts for 6.4 months, ending around April 18. The cloudiest month is November, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 32% 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 18 · 94%Nov 20 · 66%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastcloudierclearercloudier
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan7129
Feb7426
Mar7525
Apr7822
May8515
Jun919
Jul937
Aug919
Sep8515
Oct7525
Nov6832
Dec6931

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 December 21, brings about 13 h 48 min of light; the shortest, around June 22, 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)
Jan13.65:337:07
Feb13.05:566:55
Mar12.26:156:27
Apr11.46:315:52
May10.76:485:26
Jun10.37:035:19
Jul10.47:045:29
Aug11.06:455:45
Sep11.86:106:01
Oct12.75:366:16
Nov13.45:156:38
Dec13.75:156:59

Sunny days

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

Kroonstad averages about 19 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 13 and 26 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 5.3 months, from around Apr 22 to Sep 29. The sunniest month is July, with roughly 26 sunny days (brilliant).

The greyest month is December, down near 13 sunny days — about 49% fewer than the July peak.

051015202530JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgreyersunniergreyergloomymixedbrightbrilliantJul 1626 daysDec 2613 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan14Mixed
Feb14Bright
Mar16Bright
Apr18Bright
May23Bright
Jun25Brilliant
Jul27Brilliant
Aug25Brilliant
Sep22Bright
Oct17Bright
Nov15Mixed
Dec14Mixed

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

The more humid part of the year lasts 3.3 months, from around December 12 to March 20. The muggiest month is January, when the air feels humid, muggy or worse about 25% of the time.

The most comfortable stretch runs from around March 21 to December 11, and April 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%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecApr 19 · 100%Jan 28 · 70%humidcomfortabledryhumidcomfortable
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)Humid (%)
Jan373825
Feb324225
Mar53388
Apr9090
May10000
Jun10000
Jul10000
Aug10000
Sep10000
Oct9190
Nov77212
Dec53389

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 Kroonstad is typically calm, near 11 km/h, and varies little with the seasons.

The windier part of the year lasts 5.6 months, from around Aug 11 to Jan 26. The windiest month is October, averaging about 13 km/h (light breeze).

The calmer part of the year runs from around Jan 27 to Aug 10, with May the calmest month at about 9 km/h.

05101520JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwindiercalmerwindiercalmlight breezeOct 17 · 13 km/hMay 14 · 9 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan11calm
Feb10calm
Mar10calm
Apr9calm
May9calm
Jun9calm
Jul10calm
Aug11calm
Sep12light breeze
Oct13light breeze
Nov13light breeze
Dec12light breeze

Hazard calendar for Kroonstad

In seasonPeak

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

Kroonstad'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 Kroonstad

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

Around early April, Kroonstad is still near the start of its best-weather window — great conditions with the peak-season crowds not yet at full swing.

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 Kroonstad for general outdoor tourist activities is from late March to mid October, with a peak score in the first week of September.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationSep 3 · 9.0

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
Jan5.2fair
Feb5.9good
Mar6.8good
Apr7.8ideal
May8.3ideal
Jun8.0ideal
Jul8.1ideal
Aug8.6ideal
Sep8.6ideal
Oct7.1good
Nov6.4good
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 Kroonstad for hot-weather activities is from late August to late April, with a peak score in the third week of September.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationSep 16 · 7.9

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 Kroonstad, 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 29°C), the essentials are light clothes, rain gear and sun protection. In the cold season around June (highs near 18°C), pack a warm layer.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In January, Kroonstad sees daytime highs around 29°C and nights near 17°C. Pack light clothes and sun protection. Worth having: rain gear. About 14 days see rain.

UV index (midday) in Kroonstad 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 Kroonstad peaks around January 13 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 13UV 15Jun 21UV 5
UV index (midday)Level
Jan15Extreme
Feb13Extreme
Mar11Extreme
Apr8Very high
May6High
Jun5Moderate
Jul5High
Aug7Very high
Sep9Very high
Oct11Extreme
Nov13Extreme
Dec14Extreme

Average hourly UV index in Kroonstad

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
May5.51
Jun4.50
Jul50
Aug63
Sep74.5
Oct85.5
Nov8.56.5
Dec97

Air quality in Kroonstad 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 Kroonstad is worst in July — around 32 µg/m³ PM2.5 (moderate), about 3.8× the cleanest month (December, 9 µg/m³).

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

010203040JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecGoodModerateGoodJul 1432 µg/m³Dec 179 µg/m³
PM2.5 (µg/m³)Level
Jan10Good
Feb13Moderate
Mar17Moderate
Apr20Moderate
May27Moderate
Jun30Moderate
Jul32Moderate
Aug28Moderate
Sep25Moderate
Oct17Moderate
Nov10Good
Dec9Good
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free dayReliably frost-free (≥90%)

Kroonstad is mild enough that a frost-free day stays more likely than not even in midwinter. Nights are reliably above freezing from about August 5 to May 31 (300 days); outside that window a hard frost is an occasional risk.

0%25%50%75%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecreliably frost-freereliably frost-freeAug 590%May 3190%
Frost-free chance (%)Frost nights
Jan1000
Feb1000
Mar1000
Apr1000
May971
Jun8130
Jul7831
Aug944
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. Kroonstad banks about 2,795 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)
Jan402
Feb347
Mar334
Apr223
May115
Jun14
Jul12
Aug101
Sep224
Oct306
Nov333
Dec383

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.

Kroonstad receives about 5.7 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — bright — with a clear seasonal swing between 3.7 and 7.4 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 6.3 months, from around Sep 6 to Mar 16. The brightest month is December, averaging about 7.4 kWh/m² (intense).

The dimmest month is June, down near 3.8 kWh/m² — roughly 49% less than the December peak.

0123456789JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbrighterdimmerbrighterdimmoderatebrightintenseDec 197.4 kWhJun 203.7 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan7.1Intense
Feb6.6Intense
Mar5.8Bright
Apr4.9Bright
May4.2Bright
Jun3.8Moderate
Jul4.0Bright
Aug4.9Bright
Sep6.1Intense
Oct6.8Intense
Nov7.3Intense
Dec7.4Intense

Where is Kroonstad?

Kroonstad sits at 27.7°S, 27.2°E, 1,399 m above sea level, in South Africa. The nearest listed city is Hennenman, 42 km away.

Topography around Kroonstad

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Kroonstad has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 106 m around an average of 1,377 m above sea level; within 16 km, only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 164 m; within 80 km, significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 472 m.

The land around Kroonstad is covered by grassland (44%) and artificial surfaces (35%) within 3 km, grassland (68%) and cropland (25%) within 16 km, and grassland (57%) and cropland (40%) within 80 km.

3 km
106 m
16 km
164 m
80 km
472 m
treesshrubsgrasslandcroplandartificial surfaceswater
Nearby: Hennenman 42 km · Phomolong 43 km · Kutloanong 52 km · Koppies 56 km · Viljoenskroon 57 km · Odendaalsrus 59 km · Allanridge 59 km · Welkom 61 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 Kroonstad (-27.6504°, 27.2349°, elevation 1,399 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).