Pietermaritzburg weather in August

In August, Pietermaritzburg sees average daytime highs of 23°C and overnight lows near 9°C, with 32 mm of rain across 5.9 wet days and about 10.9 hours of daylight. It is the 10th-warmest and 9th-wettest month of the year here.

Highs climb over the month, from about 22°C in the first days to 24°C by the end. The sky is clear or mostly clear about 62% of the time in August, and the air most often feels dry.

Daylight stretches from about 10 h 36 min at the start of August to 11 h 18 min by month's end. Set against the rest of the year, August is Pietermaritzburg's 4th-clearest and 4th-windiest month. For the whole year in context, see Pietermaritzburg's year-round climate.

Daytime high: 23°; 10th warmest
Overnight low: 9°; 3rd coldest
Rainfall: 32 mm; 5.9 wet days
Daylight: 10 h 54 min; 6:35 AM – 5:30 PM
Cloud cover: 35%; 4th clearest
Wind: 8 km/h; 4th windiest
Solar energy: 4.1 kWh/m²
Travel score: 7.9; out of 10

Pietermaritzburg is city in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

Density: 6,661/km²; people per km²
Founded: 1839

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

← July Pietermaritzburg year-round climate September →Best places to visit in August

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

Temperature in August

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

Highs climb over the month, from about 22°C in the first days to 24°C by the end.

A typical August day in Pietermaritzburg reaches about 23°C in the afternoon and slips back to 9°C overnight — a 14°C spread between the day's warmth and the night's chill. On most days the high lands between 16°C and 29°C. Set against its neighbours, August runs about 1°C warmer than July and about 1°C cooler than September.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Avg high (°C)	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	23	23	23	23	23	23	23	23	23	23	23	24	24	24	24
Avg low (°C)	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	11

	Avg high (°C)	Avg low (°C)
1	22	8
2	22	8
3	22	8
4	22	8
5	22	8
6	22	8
7	22	8
8	22	8
9	22	8
10	22	9
11	22	9
12	22	9
13	22	9
14	22	9
15	22	9
16	22	9
17	23	9
18	23	9
19	23	9
20	23	9
21	23	10
22	23	10
23	23	10
24	23	10
25	23	10
26	23	10
27	23	10
28	24	10
29	24	10
30	24	10
31	24	11

Pietermaritzburg weather by month

How August compares with the rest of the year at a glance. August is the 10th-warmest and 9th-wettest month here — the current month is highlighted below.

Month	High / Low (°C)	Rainfall (mm)	Wet days	Daylight (hours)	Travel score
Jan	27° / 17°	134	18	13.7	5.3
Feb	27° / 17°	113	14.9	13.1	5.5
Mar	26° / 16°	96	14.3	12.2	6.1
Apr	24° / 14°	58	9.7	11.3	7.1
May	23° / 10°	29	5.1	10.5	8.1
Jun	21° / 7°	20	3.4	10.1	8.2
Jul	21° / 7°	29	3.8	10.3	8.1
Aug	23° / 9°	32	5.9	10.9	7.9
Sep	24° / 12°	56	9.5	11.8	7.2
Oct	24° / 13°	92	15.4	12.7	6.1
Nov	25° / 14°	116	17.2	13.5	5.5
Dec	26° / 16°	129	19.2	13.9	5.2

Cloud cover in August

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

The sky is clear or mostly clear about 62% of the time in August.

Beyond those clear spells, partly cloudy skies cover about 12% of August, with mostly cloudy or overcast conditions the remaining 26%. Skies tend to cloud over as the month goes on.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Clearer (%)	81	81	80	79	79	79	79	77	77	75	75	75	74	73	73	73	72	72	71	71	71	71	71	71	71	70	70	70	69	69	68
Cloudier (%)	19	19	20	21	21	21	21	23	23	25	25	25	26	27	27	27	28	28	29	29	29	29	29	29	29	30	30	30	31	31	32

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	81	19
2	81	19
3	80	20
4	79	21
5	79	21
6	79	21
7	79	21
8	77	23
9	77	23
10	75	25
11	75	25
12	75	25
13	74	26
14	73	27
15	73	27
16	73	27
17	72	28
18	72	28
19	71	29
20	71	29
21	71	29
22	71	29
23	71	29
24	71	29
25	71	29
26	70	30
27	70	30
28	70	30
29	69	31
30	69	31
31	68	32

Chance of precipitation in August

Any precipitation

Pietermaritzburg gets around 32 mm of rain over 5.9 wet days in August. The line is the day-by-day chance of measurable precipitation.

Day to day, the chance of measurable rain averages around 19% and peaks near 23% on the wettest days. The odds climb toward the end of the month.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Rain chance (%)	15	15	15	15	15	15	16	16	17	17	18	18	18	19	19	19	19	20	20	20	20	21	21	21	21	21	22	22	23	23	23

	Rain chance (%)
1	15
2	15
3	15
4	15
5	15
6	15
7	16
8	16
9	17
10	17
11	18
12	18
13	18
14	19
15	19
16	19
17	19
18	20
19	20
20	20
21	20
22	21
23	21
24	21
25	21
26	21
27	22
28	22
29	23
30	23
31	23

Humidity in August

DryComfortableHumidMuggyOppressiveMiserable

Most of August feels dry — the stacked bands show each day's mix of comfort levels, read off the dew point.

By dew point, August lands in the dry band about 98% of days. It rarely turns muggy — the humid and sticky bands barely register.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Dry (%)	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	99	99	99	99	98	98	98	97	97	97	96	96	95	95	95	95	94
Comfortable (%)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	1	1	2	2	2	3	3	3	4	4	5	5	5	5	6

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)
1	100	0
2	100	0
3	100	0
4	100	0
5	100	0
6	100	0
7	100	0
8	100	0
9	100	0
10	100	0
11	100	0
12	100	0
13	100	0
14	100	0
15	99	1
16	99	1
17	99	1
18	99	1
19	98	2
20	98	2
21	98	2
22	97	3
23	97	3
24	97	3
25	96	4
26	96	4
27	95	5
28	95	5
29	95	5
30	95	5
31	94	6

Wind in August

Winds average 8 km/h in August.

Across August, daily wind ranges from about 8 km/h on the calmest days to 8 km/h at its breeziest. It stays fairly steady from day to day.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Wind speed (km/h)	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8
Feels	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm

	Wind speed (km/h)	Feels
1	8	calm
2	8	calm
3	8	calm
4	8	calm
5	8	calm
6	8	calm
7	8	calm
8	8	calm
9	8	calm
10	8	calm
11	8	calm
12	8	calm
13	8	calm
14	8	calm
15	8	calm
16	8	calm
17	8	calm
18	8	calm
19	8	calm
20	8	calm
21	8	calm
22	8	calm
23	8	calm
24	8	calm
25	8	calm
26	8	calm
27	8	calm
28	8	calm
29	8	calm
30	8	calm
31	8	calm

Sunrise & sunset in August

DaylightNight

Daylight runs from about 10 h 36 min at the start of August to 11 h 18 min by month's end. The lit band spans sunrise to sunset each day.

Days grow by about 42 minutes over August. Sunrise moves from 6:48 AM to 6:18 AM, and sunset from 5:21 PM to 5:39 PM.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Daylight (h)	10.6	10.6	10.6	10.6	10.7	10.7	10.7	10.7	10.7	10.8	10.8	10.8	10.8	10.9	10.9	10.9	11.0	11.0	11.0	11.0	11.1	11.1	11.1	11.1	11.2	11.2	11.2	11.3	11.3	11.3	11.3
Sunrise (AM)	6:48	6:47	6:46	6:45	6:45	6:44	6:43	6:42	6:41	6:40	6:40	6:39	6:38	6:37	6:36	6:35	6:34	6:33	6:32	6:31	6:30	6:28	6:27	6:26	6:25	6:24	6:23	6:22	6:21	6:19	6:18
Sunset (PM)	5:21	5:22	5:23	5:23	5:24	5:24	5:25	5:26	5:26	5:27	5:27	5:28	5:29	5:29	5:30	5:30	5:31	5:31	5:32	5:33	5:33	5:34	5:34	5:35	5:35	5:36	5:37	5:37	5:38	5:38	5:39

	Daylight (h)	Sunrise (AM)	Sunset (PM)
1	10.6	6:48	5:21
2	10.6	6:47	5:22
3	10.6	6:46	5:23
4	10.6	6:45	5:23
5	10.7	6:45	5:24
6	10.7	6:44	5:24
7	10.7	6:43	5:25
8	10.7	6:42	5:26
9	10.7	6:41	5:26
10	10.8	6:40	5:27
11	10.8	6:40	5:27
12	10.8	6:39	5:28
13	10.8	6:38	5:29
14	10.9	6:37	5:29
15	10.9	6:36	5:30
16	10.9	6:35	5:30
17	11.0	6:34	5:31
18	11.0	6:33	5:31
19	11.0	6:32	5:32
20	11.0	6:31	5:33
21	11.1	6:30	5:33
22	11.1	6:28	5:34
23	11.1	6:27	5:34
24	11.1	6:26	5:35
25	11.2	6:25	5:35
26	11.2	6:24	5:36
27	11.2	6:23	5:37
28	11.3	6:22	5:37
29	11.3	6:21	5:38
30	11.3	6:19	5:38
31	11.3	6:18	5:39

Solar energy in August

Daily solar energy (kWh/m²)

Average shortwave solar energy reaching the ground each day in August, about 4.1 kWh/m².

For context, solar energy here swings from a low near 3.29 kWh/m² to a high of 5.51 kWh/m² in January across the year — August's 4.1 kWh/m² falls in the middle.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Solar energy (kWh/m²)	3.8	3.8	3.8	3.8	3.8	3.9	3.9	3.9	3.9	4.0	4.0	4.0	4.0	4.0	4.1	4.1	4.1	4.1	4.2	4.2	4.2	4.3	4.3	4.3	4.3	4.4	4.4	4.4	4.4	4.5	4.5
Level	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright

	Solar energy (kWh/m²)	Level
1	3.8	Moderate
2	3.8	Moderate
3	3.8	Moderate
4	3.8	Moderate
5	3.8	Moderate
6	3.9	Moderate
7	3.9	Moderate
8	3.9	Moderate
9	3.9	Moderate
10	4.0	Moderate
11	4.0	Moderate
12	4.0	Bright
13	4.0	Bright
14	4.0	Bright
15	4.1	Bright
16	4.1	Bright
17	4.1	Bright
18	4.1	Bright
19	4.2	Bright
20	4.2	Bright
21	4.2	Bright
22	4.3	Bright
23	4.3	Bright
24	4.3	Bright
25	4.3	Bright
26	4.4	Bright
27	4.4	Bright
28	4.4	Bright
29	4.4	Bright
30	4.5	Bright
31	4.5	Bright

Planning a trip in August

Hazard calendar for Pietermaritzburg

In seasonPeak

None of Pietermaritzburg's seasonal hazards are active in August. The full-year calendar below shows when the rainy season, cyclone risk and dust haze do peak.

Pietermaritzburg'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

Is August a good time to visit Pietermaritzburg?

Our two travel scores rate August for general sightseeing and for beach or pool weather — 0 (poor) to 10 (ideal).

7.9

Sightseeing

4th-best month of the year

5.8

Beach & pool

5th-best month of the year

August is one of the better times to visit Pietermaritzburg for general sightseeing.

What to pack for Pietermaritzburg in August

From August's temperature range, rain chance, sun and wind — what's worth putting in the bag.

In August, Pietermaritzburg sees daytime highs around 23°C and nights near 9°C. Worth packing: light clothes. About 6 days see rain.

light clothes

UV index in Pietermaritzburg in August

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Clear-sky midday UV in August peaks around 6 — enough to warrant sun protection. The full-year curve, shaded by WHO exposure level, is below.

Under clear skies, the midday UV index in Pietermaritzburg peaks around January 16 at about 14 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near June 23 at about 4 (moderate).

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

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
UV index (midday)	14	13	11	6	5	4	4	6	7	11	11	13
Level	Extreme	Extreme	Extreme	High	High	Moderate	Moderate	High	High	Extreme	Extreme	Extreme

	UV index (midday)	Level
Jan	14	Extreme
Feb	13	Extreme
Mar	11	Extreme
Apr	6	High
May	5	High
Jun	4	Moderate
Jul	4	Moderate
Aug	6	High
Sep	7	High
Oct	11	Extreme
Nov	11	Extreme
Dec	13	Extreme

Air quality in Pietermaritzburg in August

GoodModeratePoorUnhealthyVery unhealthy

Average fine-particle pollution (PM2.5) through the year — so you can see where August falls, not just the annual average.

Air quality in Pietermaritzburg is worst in July — around 100 µg/m³ PM2.5 (unhealthy), about 4.5× the cleanest month (January, 22 µg/m³).

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

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
PM2.5 (µg/m³)	22	28	42	60	91	92	100	77	62	39	35	23
Level	Moderate	Moderate	Poor	Unhealthy	Unhealthy	Unhealthy	Unhealthy	Unhealthy	Unhealthy	Poor	Moderate	Moderate

	PM2.5 (µg/m³)	Level
Jan	22	Moderate
Feb	28	Moderate
Mar	42	Poor
Apr	60	Unhealthy
May	91	Unhealthy
Jun	92	Unhealthy
Jul	100	Unhealthy
Aug	77	Unhealthy
Sep	62	Unhealthy
Oct	39	Poor
Nov	35	Moderate
Dec	23	Moderate

Location & terrain

Where is Pietermaritzburg?

Pietermaritzburg sits at 29.6°S, 30.4°E, 636 m above sea level, in South Africa. The nearest listed city is Mpophomeni, 21 km away.

Topography around Pietermaritzburg

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Pietermaritzburg has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 130 m around an average of 653 m above sea level; within 16 km, large variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 1,026 m; within 80 km, very significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 2,321 m.

The land around Pietermaritzburg is covered by artificial surfaces (46%) and trees (33%) within 3 km, trees (43%) and grassland (34%) within 16 km, and grassland (40%) and trees (39%) within 80 km.

3 km

130 m

artificial surfaces 46%

16 km

1,026 m

trees 43%

80 km

2,321 m

grassland 40%

treesshrubsgrasslandcroplandartificial surfacesbare terrainwater

← July Pietermaritzburg year-round climate September →Best places to visit in August

August weather nearby: Mpophomeni 21 km · Howick 22 km · Richmond 31 km · Mpumalanga 32 km · Pinetown 53 km · Ntuzuma 55 km · Folweni 58 km · Mooi River 60 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

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 Pietermaritzburg (-29.6168°, 30.3928°, elevation 636 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).

	Avg high (°C)	Avg low (°C)
1	22	8
2	22	8
3	22	8
4	22	8
5	22	8
6	22	8
7	22	8
8	22	8
9	22	8
10	22	9
11	22	9
12	22	9
13	22	9
14	22	9
15	22	9
16	22	9
17	23	9
18	23	9
19	23	9
20	23	9
21	23	10
22	23	10
23	23	10
24	23	10
25	23	10
26	23	10
27	23	10
28	24	10
29	24	10
30	24	10
31	24	11

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	81	19
2	81	19
3	80	20
4	79	21
5	79	21
6	79	21
7	79	21
8	77	23
9	77	23
10	75	25
11	75	25
12	75	25
13	74	26
14	73	27
15	73	27
16	73	27
17	72	28
18	72	28
19	71	29
20	71	29
21	71	29
22	71	29
23	71	29
24	71	29
25	71	29
26	70	30
27	70	30
28	70	30
29	69	31
30	69	31
31	68	32

	Rain chance (%)
1	15
2	15
3	15
4	15
5	15
6	15
7	16
8	16
9	17
10	17
11	18
12	18
13	18
14	19
15	19
16	19
17	19
18	20
19	20
20	20
21	20
22	21
23	21
24	21
25	21
26	21
27	22
28	22
29	23
30	23
31	23

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)
1	100	0
2	100	0
3	100	0
4	100	0
5	100	0
6	100	0
7	100	0
8	100	0
9	100	0
10	100	0
11	100	0
12	100	0
13	100	0
14	100	0
15	99	1
16	99	1
17	99	1
18	99	1
19	98	2
20	98	2
21	98	2
22	97	3
23	97	3
24	97	3
25	96	4
26	96	4
27	95	5
28	95	5
29	95	5
30	95	5
31	94	6

	Avg high (°C)	Avg low (°C)
1	22	8
2	22	8
3	22	8
4	22	8
5	22	8
6	22	8
7	22	8
8	22	8
9	22	8
10	22	9
11	22	9
12	22	9
13	22	9
14	22	9
15	22	9
16	22	9
17	23	9
18	23	9
19	23	9
20	23	9
21	23	10
22	23	10
23	23	10
24	23	10
25	23	10
26	23	10
27	23	10
28	24	10
29	24	10
30	24	10
31	24	11

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	81	19
2	81	19
3	80	20
4	79	21
5	79	21
6	79	21
7	79	21
8	77	23
9	77	23
10	75	25
11	75	25
12	75	25
13	74	26
14	73	27
15	73	27
16	73	27
17	72	28
18	72	28
19	71	29
20	71	29
21	71	29
22	71	29
23	71	29
24	71	29
25	71	29
26	70	30
27	70	30
28	70	30
29	69	31
30	69	31
31	68	32

	Rain chance (%)
1	15
2	15
3	15
4	15
5	15
6	15
7	16
8	16
9	17
10	17
11	18
12	18
13	18
14	19
15	19
16	19
17	19
18	20
19	20
20	20
21	20
22	21
23	21
24	21
25	21
26	21
27	22
28	22
29	23
30	23
31	23

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)
1	100	0
2	100	0
3	100	0
4	100	0
5	100	0
6	100	0
7	100	0
8	100	0
9	100	0
10	100	0
11	100	0
12	100	0
13	100	0
14	100	0
15	99	1
16	99	1
17	99	1
18	99	1
19	98	2
20	98	2
21	98	2
22	97	3
23	97	3
24	97	3
25	96	4
26	96	4
27	95	5
28	95	5
29	95	5
30	95	5
31	94	6

	Avg high (°C)	Avg low (°C)
1	22	8
2	22	8
3	22	8
4	22	8
5	22	8
6	22	8
7	22	8
8	22	8
9	22	8
10	22	9
11	22	9
12	22	9
13	22	9
14	22	9
15	22	9
16	22	9
17	23	9
18	23	9
19	23	9
20	23	9
21	23	10
22	23	10
23	23	10
24	23	10
25	23	10
26	23	10
27	23	10
28	24	10
29	24	10
30	24	10
31	24	11

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	81	19
2	81	19
3	80	20
4	79	21
5	79	21
6	79	21
7	79	21
8	77	23
9	77	23
10	75	25
11	75	25
12	75	25
13	74	26
14	73	27
15	73	27
16	73	27
17	72	28
18	72	28
19	71	29
20	71	29
21	71	29
22	71	29
23	71	29
24	71	29
25	71	29
26	70	30
27	70	30
28	70	30
29	69	31
30	69	31
31	68	32

	Rain chance (%)
1	15
2	15
3	15
4	15
5	15
6	15
7	16
8	16
9	17
10	17
11	18
12	18
13	18
14	19
15	19
16	19
17	19
18	20
19	20
20	20
21	20
22	21
23	21
24	21
25	21
26	21
27	22
28	22
29	23
30	23
31	23

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)
1	100	0
2	100	0
3	100	0
4	100	0
5	100	0
6	100	0
7	100	0
8	100	0
9	100	0
10	100	0
11	100	0
12	100	0
13	100	0
14	100	0
15	99	1
16	99	1
17	99	1
18	99	1
19	98	2
20	98	2
21	98	2
22	97	3
23	97	3
24	97	3
25	96	4
26	96	4
27	95	5
28	95	5
29	95	5
30	95	5
31	94	6