Climate and average weather in Zastron

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

Best: late July to late November

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Zastron typically varies from 0°C to 29°C, and is rarely below -4°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 times of year to visit Zastron for warm-weather activities are from late March to early June and late July to late November.

Hottest
Jan
29°
Coldest
Jun
Wettest
Jan
147 mm
Driest
Jul
13 mm
Rain / yr
865 mm
98 wet days
Daylight
10.0–14.0 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
1,668 m
30.3°S
Clearest
Jul
20% cloud

Zastron is small agricultural town in the Free State province of South Africa.

Founded
1875

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

Zastron 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 July to late November.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

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

The hot season lasts 4.7 months, from October 23 to March 15, with daily high temperatures above 26°C. The hottest month of the year in Zastron is January, with an average high of 29°C and low of 15°C.

The cool season lasts 2.6 months, from May 24 to August 11, with daily high temperatures below 18°C. The coldest month of the year in Zastron is June, with an average low of 1°C and high of 16°C.

Days typically run about 15°C warmer than nights, with the widest day–night swing (around 17°C) in September.

10°20°30°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan2915
Feb2815
Mar2612
Apr228
May194
Jun161
Jul160
Aug193
Sep237
Oct2510
Nov2712
Dec2814

How hot and cold Zastron 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 -4°C (around July 10), with roughly 85 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)
Jan29291515
Feb27281515
Mar25261212
Apr222278
May191924
Jun1616-31
Jul1616-30
Aug191903
Sep232347
Oct2525910
Nov27271212
Dec28281414

Average hourly temperature in Zastron

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

Zastron 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° / 15°14714.513.75.4
Feb28° / 15°13213.813.15.8
Mar26° / 12°1151312.26.7
Apr22° / 728.611.37.2
May19° / 284.410.57.4
Jun16° / 173.110.16.5
Jul16° / 132.510.26.7
Aug19° / 233.610.97.7
Sep23° / 233.811.88.3
Oct25° / 10°728.812.77.4
Nov27° / 12°979.813.56.8
Dec28° / 14°1271213.96.0

Chance of rain

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

Zastron gets about 865 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 13 to Apr 23, peaking in February at about 52% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Jul 7.

January is the wettest month by volume, with 147 mm over about 15 wet days; July is the driest, with 13 mm.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwetterdrierwettermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetFeb 16 · 52%Jul 7 · 7%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan4615
Feb5014
Mar4213
Apr299
May154
Jun103
Jul93
Aug114
Sep144
Oct279
Nov3310
Dec3912

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Zastron collects about 865 mm of rain across 98 wet days — roughly 72 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. January is the wettest month with 147 mm, while July is the driest at just 13 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 47% of the year’s total.

0255075100125150175JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec1471321157228171323237297127
Rainfall (mm)Rain days
Jan14715
Feb13214
Mar11513
Apr729
May284
Jun173
Jul133
Aug234
Sep234
Oct729
Nov9710
Dec12712

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Zastron, 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 May 16 and lasts for 4.0 months, ending around September 14. The clearest month is July, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 88% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around September 15 and lasts for 5.4 months, ending around February 24. The cloudiest month is October, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 30% 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 13 · 89%Oct 28 · 69%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastcloudierclearercloudier
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan7426
Feb7525
Mar7624
Apr7327
May7822
Jun8416
Jul8812
Aug8614
Sep7723
Oct7030
Nov7129
Dec7327

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 18, brings about 14 hours of light; the shortest, around June 18, only 10 hours — a swing of roughly 4 hours.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan13.75:287:14
Feb13.15:546:59
Mar12.26:146:28
Apr11.36:345:50
May10.56:545:22
Jun10.17:105:14
Jul10.27:115:24
Aug10.96:495:43
Sep11.86:116:01
Oct12.75:346:19
Nov13.55:106:44
Dec13.95:097:06

Sunny days

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

Zastron averages about 18 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 14 and 24 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 5.0 months, from around Apr 25 to Sep 23. The sunniest month is July, with roughly 24 sunny days (brilliant).

The greyest month is February, down near 15 sunny days — about 38% fewer than the July peak.

051015202530JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgreyersunniergreyergloomymixedbrightbrilliantJul 1324 daysFeb 1414 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan15Mixed
Feb13Mixed
Mar16Bright
Apr17Bright
May20Bright
Jun22Bright
Jul24Brilliant
Aug23Bright
Sep19Bright
Oct16Bright
Nov15Bright
Dec15Mixed

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 Zastron, the air stays dry or comfortable essentially all year. Even in January, the muggiest month, it feels humid or worse only about 10% of the time — humidity is not something you need to plan around here.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecApr 9 · 100%Jan 26 · 86%humidcomfortabledryhumidcomfortable
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)Humid (%)
Jan573310
Feb484012
Mar72262
Apr9730
May10000
Jun10000
Jul10000
Aug10000
Sep10000
Oct9820
Nov9280
Dec78203

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

The windier part of the year lasts 5.5 months, from around Jul 29 to Jan 10. The windiest month is November, averaging about 13 km/h (light breeze).

The calmer part of the year runs from around Jan 11 to Jul 28, with February the calmest month at about 9 km/h.

05101520JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDeccalmerwindiercalmlight breezeNov 12 · 13 km/hFeb 25 · 9 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan11calm
Feb9calm
Mar9calm
Apr9calm
May9calm
Jun10calm
Jul10calm
Aug11calm
Sep12light breeze
Oct12light breeze
Nov13light breeze
Dec12calm

Hazard calendar for Zastron

In seasonPeak

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

Zastron's rainy season runs October–April, 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 Zastron

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

Around mid November, Zastron 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 times of year to visit Zastron for general outdoor tourist activities run from late March to early June and again from mid July to late November, with a peak score in the second week of September.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationSep 11 · 8.4

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
Jan5.4fair
Feb5.9good
Mar6.7good
Apr7.2good
May7.4good
Jun6.5good
Jul6.7good
Aug7.7ideal
Sep8.3ideal
Oct7.4good
Nov6.8good
Dec6.0good

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 Zastron for hot-weather activities is from early September to early April, with a peak score in the last week of December.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationDec 25 · 7.0

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 Zastron, 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 16°C), pack a warm layer.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In January, Zastron sees daytime highs around 29°C and nights near 15°C. Pack light clothes, rain gear and sun protection. About 15 days see rain.

UV index (midday) in Zastron 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 Zastron peaks around January 13 at about 15 (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.

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecExtremeVery highHighModerateHighVery highExtremeJan 13UV 15Jun 23UV 4
UV index (midday)Level
Jan15Extreme
Feb13Extreme
Mar11Extreme
Apr7Very high
May6High
Jun4Moderate
Jul4Moderate
Aug6High
Sep8Very high
Oct11Extreme
Nov12Extreme
Dec14Extreme

Average hourly UV index in Zastron

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
Apr63
May50
Jun3.50
Jul40
Aug5.51.5
Sep6.53.5
Oct86
Nov8.56.5
Dec97

Air quality in Zastron 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 Zastron is worst in June — around 19 µg/m³ PM2.5 (moderate), about 3.2× the cleanest month (December, 6 µg/m³).

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

0102030JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecGoodModerateGoodJun 2218 µg/m³Dec 216 µg/m³
PM2.5 (µg/m³)Level
Jan6Good
Feb8Good
Mar10Good
Apr13Moderate
May16Moderate
Jun19Moderate
Jul18Moderate
Aug17Moderate
Sep16Moderate
Oct12Good
Nov7Good
Dec6Good
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free dayTypical season (≥50%)

The growing season in Zastron typically lasts about 347 days, from around July 16 to June 27 — the span where a frost-free day is more likely than not. It is reliably frost-free from September 3 to May 16.

0%25%50%75%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgrowing seasongrowing seasonJul 1650%Sep 390%May 1690%Jun 2750%
Frost-free chance (%)Frost nights
Jan1000
Feb1000
Mar1000
Apr990
May8814
Jun5730
Jul5231
Aug7531
Sep951
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. Zastron banks about 2,178 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around January.

05001,0001,5002,000JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°C·days)
Jan364
Feb308
Mar276
Apr154
May50
Jun0
Jul0
Aug31
Sep148
Oct232
Nov274
Dec339

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.

Zastron receives about 5.7 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — bright — with a clear seasonal swing between 3.4 and 7.8 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 6.2 months, from around Sep 10 to Mar 17. The brightest month is December, averaging about 7.7 kWh/m² (intense).

The dimmest month is June, down near 3.4 kWh/m² — roughly 56% less than the December peak.

0123456789JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbrighterdimmerbrighterdimmoderatebrightintenseDec 217.8 kWhJun 193.4 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan7.4Intense
Feb6.8Intense
Mar5.8Bright
Apr4.7Bright
May3.9Moderate
Jun3.4Moderate
Jul3.7Moderate
Aug4.6Bright
Sep5.9Bright
Oct6.8Intense
Nov7.5Intense
Dec7.8Intense

Where is Zastron?

Zastron sits at 30.3°S, 27.1°E, 1,668 m above sea level, in South Africa. The nearest listed city is Mohale's Hoek, 41 km away.

Topography around Zastron

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Zastron has significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 579 m around an average of 1,723 m above sea level; within 16 km, large variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 718 m; within 80 km, very significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 1,658 m.

The land around Zastron is covered by grassland (73%) within 3 km, grassland (87%) within 16 km, and grassland (86%) within 80 km.

3 km
579 m
16 km
718 m
80 km
1,658 m
treesshrubsgrasslandcroplandartificial surfaceswater
Nearby: Mohale's Hoek 41 km · Mafeteng 55 km · Aliwal North 56 km · Quthing 60 km · Burgersdorp 106 km · Maseru 116 km · Botshabelo 120 km · Mabote 121 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 Zastron (-30.3023°, 27.084°, elevation 1,668 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).