Climate and average weather in Mdantsane

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

Best: late February to late December

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Mdantsane typically varies from 12°C to 26°C, and is rarely below 9°C or above 31°C. February is the hottest month of the year, while August is the coldest.

Based on the travel score, the best times of year to visit Mdantsane for warm-weather activities are from early January to late January and late February to late December.

Hottest
Feb
26°
Coldest
Aug
12°
Wettest
Mar
82 mm
Driest
May
25 mm
Rain / yr
693 mm
98 wet days
Daylight
9.8–14.2 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
278 m
32.9°S
Clearest
Jul
30% cloud

Mdantsane is township.

Founded
1940

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

Mdantsane 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 February to late December.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

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

Temperatures in Mdantsane stay fairly even through the year, without a distinct hot or cool season. The warmest month is February, with an average high of 26°C and low of 20°C; the coolest is August, with an average low of 12°C and high of 21°C.

Days typically run about 7°C warmer than nights year-round.

10°15°20°25°30°35°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan2619
Feb2620
Mar2519
Apr2417
May2315
Jun2112
Jul2112
Aug2112
Sep2113
Oct2215
Nov2316
Dec2418

Average hourly temperature in Mdantsane

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 26°C, and coldest before dawn in August, near 12°C.

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

Mdantsane 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° / 19°7611.113.96.5
Feb26° / 20°8010.513.26.4
Mar25° / 19°8211.512.36.7
Apr24° / 17°738.211.27.4
May23° / 15°254.610.38.0
Jun21° / 12°253.59.98.0
Jul21° / 12°284.1107.9
Aug21° / 12°38610.87.5
Sep21° / 13°496.711.87.1
Oct22° / 15°651012.86.7
Nov23° / 16°7710.713.76.6
Dec24° / 18°7611.414.16.7

Chance of rain

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

Mdantsane gets about 693 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 6.5 months, from around Oct 1 to Apr 16, peaking in February at about 39% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Jun 30.

March is the wettest month by volume, with 82 mm over about 12 wet days; May is the driest, with 25 mm.

0%10%20%30%40%50%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwetterdrierwettermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetFeb 11 · 39%Jun 30 · 9%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan3611
Feb3811
Mar3612
Apr278
May155
Jun124
Jul144
Aug196
Sep237
Oct3110
Nov3611
Dec3611

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Mdantsane collects about 693 mm of rain across 98 wet days — roughly 58 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. March is the wettest month with 82 mm, while May is the driest at just 25 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 34% of the year’s total.

0255075100JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec768082732525283849657776
Rainfall (mm)Rain days
Jan7611
Feb8011
Mar8212
Apr738
May255
Jun254
Jul284
Aug386
Sep497
Oct6510
Nov7711
Dec7611

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Mdantsane, 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 16 and lasts for 4.9 months, ending around September 12. The clearest month is July, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 80% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around September 13 and lasts for 7.1 months, ending around April 15. 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%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecJul 4 · 83%Dec 7 · 41%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastcloudierclearercloudier
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan4456
Feb4852
Mar5644
Apr6040
May7030
Jun7921
Jul8020
Aug7327
Sep5842
Oct4753
Nov4456
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 December 14, brings about 14 h 12 min of light; the shortest, around June 15, 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)
Jan13.95:207:17
Feb13.25:477:00
Mar12.36:116:26
Apr11.26:345:45
May10.36:565:14
Jun9.97:145:04
Jul10.07:145:15
Aug10.86:505:36
Sep11.86:095:57
Oct12.85:296:19
Nov13.75:026:46
Dec14.15:007:10

Sunny days

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

Mdantsane averages about 13 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 7 and 21 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 4.8 months, from around Apr 17 to Sep 10. The sunniest month is June, with roughly 20 sunny days (bright).

The greyest month is November, down near 8 sunny days — about 62% fewer than the June peak.

0510152025JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgreyersunniergreyergloomymixedbrightbrilliantJun 2821 daysNov 137 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan9Mixed
Feb8Mixed
Mar12Mixed
Apr13Mixed
May16Bright
Jun20Bright
Jul21Bright
Aug18Bright
Sep12Mixed
Oct10Mixed
Nov7Gloomy
Dec8Mixed

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

The more humid part of the year lasts 5.5 months, from around November 7 to April 21. The muggiest month is February, when the air feels humid, muggy or worse about 88% of the time.

The most comfortable stretch runs from around April 22 to November 6, 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 19 · 100%Feb 7 · 11%oppressivemuggycomfortablehumiddryhumidcomfortablehumid
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)Humid (%)Muggy (%)Oppressive (%)
Jan31336407
Feb210285010
Mar51638383
Apr213237100
May6033700
Jun955000
Jul964000
Aug8812000
Sep6827500
Oct43371910
Nov24353380
Dec92341252

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 Mdantsane is typically light breeze, near 14 km/h, and varies little with the seasons.

The windier part of the year lasts 6.2 months, from around Aug 15 to Feb 18. The windiest month is October, averaging about 15 km/h (light breeze).

The calmer part of the year runs from around Feb 19 to Aug 14, with May the calmest month at about 13 km/h.

05101520JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwindiercalmerwindiercalmlight breezeOct 21 · 16 km/hMay 11 · 13 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan15light breeze
Feb14light breeze
Mar14light breeze
Apr13light breeze
May13light breeze
Jun14light breeze
Jul14light breeze
Aug14light breeze
Sep15light breeze
Oct15light breeze
Nov15light breeze
Dec15light breeze

Best time to visit Mdantsane

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

Around late December, Mdantsane 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 Mdantsane for general outdoor tourist activities is from late February to late January, with a peak score in the last week of June.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationJun 24 · 8.1

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
Jan6.5good
Feb6.4good
Mar6.7good
Apr7.4good
May8.0ideal
Jun8.0ideal
Jul7.9ideal
Aug7.5good
Sep7.1good
Oct6.7good
Nov6.6good
Dec6.7good

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 Mdantsane for hot-weather activities is from mid November to late June, with a peak score in the first week of April.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationApr 7 · 6.2

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 Mdantsane, 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.

Mdantsane packs about the same all year — highs hold near 26°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, Mdantsane sees daytime highs around 26°C and nights near 20°C. Worth packing: light clothes, rain gear and sun protection. About 11 days see rain.

Sea temperature near Mdantsane

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 23 km away) is warmest in February at about 25°C and coldest in August near 20°C.

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

18°20°22°24°26°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDeccoolrefreshingwarmcomfortable to swim
Sea temperature (°C)Comfort
Jan24Warm
Feb25Warm
Mar25Warm
Apr24Warm
May23Refreshing
Jun22Refreshing
Jul21Refreshing
Aug20Refreshing
Sep21Refreshing
Oct21Refreshing
Nov22Refreshing
Dec23Refreshing

UV index (midday) in Mdantsane 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 Mdantsane peaks around January 15 at about 13 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near June 22 at about 3 (moderate).

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

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecExtremeVery highHighModerateHighExtremeJan 15UV 13Jun 22UV 3
UV index (midday)Level
Jan13Extreme
Feb11Extreme
Mar10Very high
Apr6High
May5Moderate
Jun3Moderate
Jul3Moderate
Aug5Moderate
Sep6High
Oct10Extreme
Nov11Extreme
Dec12Extreme

Average hourly UV index in Mdantsane

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
Mar7.55
Apr5.50.5
May40
Jun1.50
Jul20
Aug4.50
Sep60.5
Oct85.5
Nov8.56
Dec96.5

Air quality in Mdantsane 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 Mdantsane is worst in August — around 20 µg/m³ PM2.5 (moderate), about 2.6× the cleanest month (February, 8 µg/m³).

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

0102030JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecGoodModerateGoodAug 1520 µg/m³Feb 98 µg/m³
PM2.5 (µg/m³)Level
Jan8Good
Feb8Good
Mar9Good
Apr12Good
May15Moderate
Jun17Moderate
Jul17Moderate
Aug20Moderate
Sep16Moderate
Oct12Moderate
Nov9Good
Dec8Good
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free dayFrost-free year round

Mdantsane 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. Mdantsane banks about 3,397 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)
Jan386
Feb361
Mar373
Apr304
May266
Jun204
Jul196
Aug200
Sep218
Oct257
Nov286
Dec346

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.

Mdantsane receives about 4.6 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — bright — with a clear seasonal swing between 2.9 and 6.3 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 6.2 months, from around Sep 15 to Mar 21. The brightest month is December, averaging about 6.3 kWh/m² (intense).

The dimmest month is June, down near 2.9 kWh/m² — roughly 54% less than the December peak.

01234567JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbrighterdimmerbrighterdimmoderatebrightintenseDec 216.3 kWhJun 192.9 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan6.1Intense
Feb5.5Bright
Mar4.8Bright
Apr3.9Moderate
May3.2Moderate
Jun2.9Moderate
Jul3.1Moderate
Aug3.8Moderate
Sep4.7Bright
Oct5.3Bright
Nov6.0Intense
Dec6.3Intense

Where is Mdantsane?

Mdantsane sits at 32.9°S, 27.8°E, 278 m above sea level, in South Africa. The nearest listed city is East London, 16 km away.

Topography around Mdantsane

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Mdantsane has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 182 m around an average of 257 m above sea level; within 16 km, significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 521 m; within 80 km, very significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 1,921 m.

The land around Mdantsane is covered by trees (44%), artificial surfaces (25%) and grassland (24%) within 3 km, trees (53%) and grassland (31%) within 16 km, and grassland (36%), water (28%) and trees (25%) within 80 km.

3 km
182 m
16 km
521 m
80 km
1,921 m
treesshrubsgrasslandcroplandartificial surfacesbare terrainwater
Nearby: East London 16 km · Gonubie 22 km · Ndevana 25 km · Bhisho 33 km · Qonce 36 km · Stutterheim 52 km · Dimbaza 53 km · Butterworth 76 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 Mdantsane (-32.9332°, 27.7766°, elevation 278 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).