Climate and average weather in Lydenburg

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

Best: early April to late October

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Lydenburg typically varies from 5°C to 26°C, and is rarely below 1°C or above 30°C. January is the hottest month of the year, while July is the coldest.

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

Hottest
Jan
26°
Coldest
Jul
Wettest
Dec
156 mm
Driest
Jul
5 mm
Rain / yr
798 mm
108 wet days
Daylight
10.4–13.6 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
1,371 m
25.1°S
Clearest
Jun
17% cloud

Lydenburg is town in Mpumalanga, South Africa.

Founded
1849

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

Lydenburg 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 April to late October.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

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

Temperatures in Lydenburg stay fairly even through the year, without a distinct hot or cool season. The warmest month is January, with an average high of 26°C and low of 16°C; the coolest is July, with an average low of 5°C and high of 19°C.

Days typically run about 12°C warmer than nights, with the widest day–night swing (around 14°C) in July.

10°20°30°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan2616
Feb2616
Mar2514
Apr2312
May218
Jun195
Jul195
Aug217
Sep2410
Oct2412
Nov2514
Dec2515

Average hourly temperature in Lydenburg

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 26°C, and coldest before dawn in July, near C.

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

Lydenburg 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
Jan26° / 16°15517.113.45.6
Feb26° / 16°1231412.96.0
Mar25° / 14°9413.612.26.5
Apr23° / 12°447.411.47.5
May21° / 142.710.88.3
Jun19° / 61.710.58.1
Jul19° / 51.210.68.2
Aug21° / 10211.18.5
Sep24° / 10°204.111.88.5
Oct24° / 12°5910.212.67.1
Nov25° / 14°11315.213.26.0
Dec25° / 15°15618.613.55.4

Chance of rain

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

Lydenburg gets about 798 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 5.9 months, from around Oct 13 to Apr 9, peaking in December at about 60% 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 156 mm over about 19 wet days; July is the driest, with 5 mm.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwetterdrierwettermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetDec 11 · 60%Jul 10 · 4%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan5517
Feb5014
Mar4314
Apr267
May93
Jun52
Jul41
Aug72
Sep144
Oct3210
Nov5115
Dec5919

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Lydenburg collects about 798 mm of rain across 108 wet days — roughly 67 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. December is the wettest month with 156 mm, while July is the driest at just 5 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 54% of the year’s total.

0255075100125150175200JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec15512394441465102059113156
Rainfall (mm)Rain days
Jan15517
Feb12314
Mar9414
Apr447
May143
Jun62
Jul51
Aug102
Sep204
Oct5910
Nov11315
Dec15619

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Lydenburg, 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 5.8 months, ending around October 6. The clearest month is July, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 90% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around October 7 and lasts for 6.1 months, ending around April 11. The cloudiest month is December, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 60% 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 22 · 91%Dec 4 · 35%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastcloudierclearercloudier
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan4456
Feb5248
Mar5941
Apr7030
May8614
Jun9010
Jul9010
Aug8812
Sep8119
Oct6040
Nov4456
Dec4060

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 16, brings about 13 h 36 min of light; the shortest, around June 16, only 10 h 24 min — a swing of roughly 3 h 12 min.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan13.45:256:50
Feb12.95:476:39
Mar12.26:026:13
Apr11.46:165:41
May10.86:315:18
Jun10.56:455:12
Jul10.66:465:21
Aug11.16:295:36
Sep11.85:575:48
Oct12.65:256:01
Nov13.25:066:21
Dec13.55:086:41

Sunny days

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

Lydenburg averages about 16 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 5 and 25 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 5.8 months, from around Apr 13 to Oct 5. The sunniest month is July, with roughly 25 sunny days (brilliant).

The greyest month is December, down near 6 sunny days — about 75% fewer than the July peak.

051015202530JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgreyersunniergreyergloomymixedbrightbrilliantJul 2325 daysDec 45 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan8Gloomy
Feb9Mixed
Mar11Mixed
Apr16Bright
May23Bright
Jun24Brilliant
Jul25Brilliant
Aug24Brilliant
Sep20Bright
Oct13Mixed
Nov8Gloomy
Dec6Gloomy

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

The more humid part of the year lasts 4.0 months, from around November 22 to March 23. The muggiest month is January, when the air feels humid, muggy or worse about 39% of the time.

The most comfortable stretch runs from around March 24 to November 21, and May 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%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecMay 2 · 100%Jan 25 · 59%humidcomfortabledryhumidcomfortablehumid
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)Humid (%)Muggy (%)
Jan1348381
Feb1650341
Mar3253150
Apr782020
May99100
Jun100000
Jul100000
Aug100000
Sep99100
Oct821700
Nov464770
Dec2154240

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 Lydenburg is steady company: average speeds sit near 6 km/hcalm — in every month of the year, with no meaningful windy or calm season.

0510JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDeccalmOct 6 · 7 km/hApr 25 · 5 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan6calm
Feb6calm
Mar5calm
Apr5calm
May5calm
Jun5calm
Jul5calm
Aug6calm
Sep7calm
Oct7calm
Nov6calm
Dec6calm

Hazard calendar for Lydenburg

In seasonPeak

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

Lydenburg's rainy season runs November–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 Lydenburg

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

Around mid April, Lydenburg 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 Lydenburg for general outdoor tourist activities is from early April to late October, with a peak score in the first week of September.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationSep 3 · 8.7

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
Jan5.6good
Feb6.0good
Mar6.5good
Apr7.5good
May8.3ideal
Jun8.2ideal
Jul8.2ideal
Aug8.5ideal
Sep8.5ideal
Oct7.1good
Nov6.0good
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 Lydenburg for hot-weather activities is from late August to late October, with a peak score in the third week of September.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationSep 16 · 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 Lydenburg, 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 26°C), the essentials are light clothes, rain gear and sun protection. In the cold season around July (highs near 19°C), pack a warm layer.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In January, Lydenburg sees daytime highs around 26°C and nights near 16°C. Pack rain gear and sun protection. Worth having: light clothes. About 17 days see rain.

UV index (midday) in Lydenburg 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 Lydenburg peaks around January 14 at about 14 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near June 21 at about 6 (high).

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

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecExtremeVery highHighVery highExtremeJan 14UV 14Jun 21UV 6
UV index (midday)Level
Jan14Extreme
Feb14Extreme
Mar13Extreme
Apr8Very high
May6High
Jun6High
Jul6High
Aug8Very high
Sep9Very high
Oct10Extreme
Nov13Extreme
Dec14Extreme

Average hourly UV index in Lydenburg

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
Feb8.57
Mar86
Apr74
May5.52
Jun50
Jul50
Aug6.53.5
Sep74.5
Oct85.5
Nov96.5
Dec97

Air quality in Lydenburg 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 Lydenburg is worst in July — around 40 µg/m³ PM2.5 (poor), about 2.9× the cleanest month (December, 14 µg/m³).

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

0204060JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecModeratePoorModerateJul 2039 µg/m³Dec 2314 µg/m³
PM2.5 (µg/m³)Level
Jan14Moderate
Feb15Moderate
Mar20Moderate
Apr26Moderate
May35Poor
Jun36Poor
Jul40Poor
Aug38Poor
Sep30Moderate
Oct20Moderate
Nov20Moderate
Dec14Moderate
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free dayFrost-free year round

Lydenburg 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
Jun990
Jul980
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. Lydenburg banks about 2,590 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around January.

01,0002,000JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°C·days)
Jan333
Feb297
Mar293
Apr217
May142
Jun63
Jul56
Aug128
Sep209
Oct256
Nov277
Dec318

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.

Lydenburg receives about 5.3 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — bright — with a clear seasonal swing between 3.9 and 6.4 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 6.6 months, from around Aug 30 to Mar 18. The brightest month is December, averaging about 6.2 kWh/m² (intense).

The dimmest month is June, down near 3.9 kWh/m² — roughly 37% less than the December peak.

01234567JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbrighterdimmerbrighterdimmoderatebrightintenseDec 306.4 kWhJun 253.9 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan6.2Intense
Feb6.0Bright
Mar5.4Bright
Apr4.7Bright
May4.3Bright
Jun3.9Moderate
Jul4.1Bright
Aug4.9Bright
Sep5.7Bright
Oct6.1Intense
Nov6.1Intense
Dec6.3Intense

Where is Lydenburg?

Lydenburg sits at 25.1°S, 30.4°E, 1,371 m above sea level, in South Africa. The nearest listed city is Sabie, 34 km away.

Topography around Lydenburg

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Lydenburg has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 145 m around an average of 1,409 m above sea level; within 16 km, large variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 1,159 m; within 80 km, very significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 1,911 m.

The land around Lydenburg is covered by grassland (60%) and artificial surfaces (28%) within 3 km, grassland (68%) within 16 km, and grassland (46%) and trees (28%) within 80 km.

3 km
145 m
16 km
1,159 m
80 km
1,911 m
treesshrubsgrasslandcroplandartificial surfaces
Nearby: Sabie 34 km · Praktiseer 58 km · White River 63 km · Mbombela 68 km · Mafemani 73 km · Dwarsloop 74 km · Hlanganani 75 km · Belfast 78 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 Lydenburg (-25.096°, 30.4439°, elevation 1,371 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).