Climate and average weather in Parys

In Parys, 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 Parys typically varies from 3°C to 28°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 Parys for warm-weather activities is from late March to early October.

Hottest
Jan
28°
Coldest
Jun
Wettest
Dec
129 mm
Driest
Jul
5 mm
Rain / yr
697 mm
98 wet days
Daylight
10.3–13.7 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
1,398 m
26.9°S
Clearest
Jul
13% cloud

Parys is town in Free State, South Africa.

Density
2,168/km²
people per km²
Founded
1882

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

Parys 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 Parys, from 1991–2020 of climate data. The shaded bands show the range most days fall in — 10th to 90th percentile.

The hot season lasts 6.3 months, from September 14 to March 23, with daily high temperatures above 26°C. The hottest month of the year in Parys is January, with an average high of 28°C and low of 17°C.

The cool season lasts 2.2 months, from May 28 to August 3, with daily high temperatures below 20°C. The coldest month of the year in Parys is June, with an average low of 3°C and high of 19°C.

Days typically run about 13°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)
Jan2817
Feb2717
Mar2615
Apr2411
May227
Jun193
Jul193
Aug226
Sep2611
Oct2713
Nov2715
Dec2816

How hot and cold Parys 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 -0°C (around July 10), with roughly 22 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)
Jan28281717
Feb27271717
Mar26261515
Apr24241111
May212257
Jun191913
Jul191903
Aug222246
Sep26261011
Oct27271313
Nov27271515
Dec28281616

Average hourly temperature in Parys

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

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

Parys 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
Jan28° / 17°12015.613.55.5
Feb27° / 17°9512.9136.1
Mar26° / 15°8011.512.26.7
Apr24° / 11°416.911.47.8
May22° / 203.310.78.3
Jun19° / 101.610.38.1
Jul19° / 50.910.58.3
Aug22° / 142.211.18.7
Sep26° / 11°193.411.88.4
Oct27° / 13°7310.212.66.9
Nov27° / 15°9412.713.36.2
Dec28° / 16°12916.613.75.4

Chance of rain

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

Parys gets about 697 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 8 to Apr 4, peaking in December at about 54% 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 129 mm over about 17 wet days; July is the driest, with 5 mm.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwetterdrierwettermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetDec 10 · 54%Jul 10 · 2%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan5016
Feb4613
Mar3812
Apr237
May103
Jun52
Jul31
Aug72
Sep123
Oct3210
Nov4313
Dec5217

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Parys collects about 697 mm of rain across 98 wet days — roughly 58 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. December is the wettest month with 129 mm, while July is the driest at just 5 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 49% of the year’s total.

0255075100125150JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec1209580412010514197394129
Rainfall (mm)Rain days
Jan12016
Feb9513
Mar8012
Apr417
May203
Jun102
Jul51
Aug142
Sep193
Oct7310
Nov9413
Dec12917

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Parys, 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 18 and lasts for 5.6 months, ending around October 4. 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 5 and lasts for 6.4 months, ending around April 17. The cloudiest month is November, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 37% 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 · 95%Nov 19 · 60%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastcloudierclearercloudier
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan6535
Feb6931
Mar7327
Apr7723
May8614
Jun919
Jul937
Aug919
Sep8515
Oct7327
Nov6337
Dec6436

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 42 min of light; the shortest, around June 10, only 10 h 18 min — a swing of roughly 3 h 24 min.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan13.55:347:05
Feb13.05:566:53
Mar12.26:146:26
Apr11.46:295:51
May10.76:465:27
Jun10.37:015:20
Jul10.57:025:30
Aug11.16:435:45
Sep11.86:096:00
Oct12.65:366:15
Nov13.35:156:36
Dec13.75:166:57

Sunny days

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

Parys averages about 18 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 12 and 26 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 5.5 months, from around Apr 17 to Oct 1. The sunniest month is July, with roughly 26 sunny days (brilliant).

The greyest month is December, down near 12 sunny days — about 55% fewer than the July peak.

051015202530JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgreyersunniergreyergloomymixedbrightbrilliantJul 2126 daysDec 2512 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan12Mixed
Feb12Mixed
Mar15Mixed
Apr18Bright
May23Bright
Jun25Brilliant
Jul26Brilliant
Aug26Brilliant
Sep22Bright
Oct16Bright
Nov13Mixed
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 Parys, how humid it feels changes dramatically over the year.

The more humid part of the year lasts 3.4 months, from around December 11 to March 22. The muggiest month is January, when the air feels humid, muggy or worse about 34% of the time.

The most comfortable stretch runs from around March 23 to December 10, and April is the most comfortable month — the air is dry or comfortable 99% of the time.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecApr 20 · 100%Jan 25 · 61%humidcomfortabledryhumidcomfortable
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)Humid (%)
Jan254134
Feb244333
Mar444412
Apr88121
May10000
Jun10000
Jul10000
Aug10000
Sep10000
Oct89110
Nov68292
Dec394713

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

The windier part of the year lasts 5.2 months, from around Aug 5 to Jan 8. The windiest month is September, averaging about 12 km/h (light breeze).

The calmer part of the year runs from around Jan 9 to Aug 4, with May the calmest month at about 9 km/h.

05101520JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDeccalmerwindiercalmlight breezeSep 24 · 13 km/hMay 15 · 9 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan11calm
Feb10calm
Mar10calm
Apr9calm
May9calm
Jun10calm
Jul10calm
Aug11calm
Sep12light breeze
Oct13light breeze
Nov12light breeze
Dec12calm

Hazard calendar for Parys

In seasonPeak

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

Parys'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 Parys

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

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

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationAug 31 · 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
Jan5.5good
Feb6.0good
Mar6.7good
Apr7.8ideal
May8.3ideal
Jun8.1ideal
Jul8.3ideal
Aug8.7ideal
Sep8.4ideal
Oct6.9good
Nov6.1good
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 times of year to visit Parys for hot-weather activities run from late February to late April and again from late August to late November, with a peak score in the second week of September.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationSep 14 · 7.8

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 Parys, 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 28°C), the essentials are light clothes, rain gear and sun protection. In the cold season around June (highs near 19°C), pack a warm layer.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In January, Parys sees daytime highs around 28°C and nights near 17°C. Pack light clothes, rain gear and sun protection. About 16 days see rain.

UV index (midday) in Parys 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 Parys peaks around January 13 at about 15 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near June 20 at about 5 (high).

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

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecExtremeVery highHighVery highExtremeJan 13UV 15Jun 20UV 5
UV index (midday)Level
Jan15Extreme
Feb13Extreme
Mar12Extreme
Apr8Very high
May6High
Jun5Moderate
Jul5High
Aug7Very high
Sep9Very high
Oct10Very high
Nov12Extreme
Dec14Extreme

Average hourly UV index in Parys

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
Mar86
Apr6.54
May5.51.5
Jun4.50
Jul50
Aug63
Sep74.5
Oct7.55
Nov8.56.5
Dec97

Air quality in Parys 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 Parys is worst in July — around 103 µg/m³ PM2.5 (unhealthy), about 4.4× the cleanest month (January, 24 µg/m³).

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

0306090120JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecModeratePoorUnhealthyPoorModerateJul 11103 µg/m³Jan 1124 µg/m³
PM2.5 (µg/m³)Level
Jan24Moderate
Feb32Moderate
Mar48Poor
Apr64Unhealthy
May88Unhealthy
Jun100Unhealthy
Jul103Unhealthy
Aug83Unhealthy
Sep65Unhealthy
Oct44Poor
Nov31Moderate
Dec25Moderate
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

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

Parys is mild enough that a frost-free day stays more likely than not even in midwinter. Nights are reliably above freezing from about July 27 to June 7 (316 days); outside that window a hard frost is an occasional risk.

0%25%50%75%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecreliably frost-freereliably frost-freeJul 2790%Jun 790%
Frost-free chance (%)Frost nights
Jan1000
Feb1000
Mar1000
Apr1000
May990
Jun8723
Jul8425
Aug960
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. Parys banks about 2,835 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)
Jan384
Feb335
Mar325
Apr226
May126
Jun30
Jul28
Aug122
Sep242
Oct315
Nov331
Dec372

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.

Parys receives about 5.6 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — bright — with a clear seasonal swing between 3.8 and 7.1 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 6.4 months, from around Sep 3 to Mar 16. The brightest month is December, averaging about 7.1 kWh/m² (intense).

The dimmest month is June, down near 3.9 kWh/m² — roughly 46% less than the December peak.

012345678JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbrighterdimmerbrighterdimmoderatebrightintenseDec 187.1 kWhJun 213.8 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan6.8Intense
Feb6.4Intense
Mar5.7Bright
Apr4.8Bright
May4.3Bright
Jun3.8Moderate
Jul4.1Bright
Aug5.0Bright
Sep6.1Intense
Oct6.7Intense
Nov7.0Intense
Dec7.1Intense

Where is Parys?

Parys sits at 26.9°S, 27.5°E, 1,398 m above sea level, in South Africa. The nearest listed city is Vredefort, 15 km away.

Topography around Parys

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Parys has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 100 m around an average of 1,396 m above sea level; within 16 km, significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 366 m; within 80 km, significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 559 m.

The land around Parys is covered by grassland (38%) and artificial surfaces (25%) within 3 km, grassland (57%) and cropland (21%) within 16 km, and grassland (57%) and cropland (36%) within 80 km.

3 km
100 m
16 km
366 m
80 km
559 m
treesshrubsgrasslandcroplandartificial surfaceswater
Nearby: Vredefort 15 km · Sasolburg 37 km · Koppies 39 km · Potchefstroom 41 km · Vanderbijlpark 43 km · Fochville 46 km · Vereeniging 53 km · Evaton 57 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 Parys (-26.9033°, 27.4573°, elevation 1,398 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).