Summer Weather in Port Elizabeth South Africa

Daily high temperatures are around 77°F, rarely falling below 69°F or exceeding 86°F. The highest daily average high temperature is 80°F on January 27.

Daily low temperatures increase by 4°F, from 60°F to 64°F, rarely falling below 54°F or exceeding 69°F. The highest daily average low temperature is 64°F on February 11.

For reference, on January 27, the hottest day of the year, temperatures in Port Elizabeth typically range from 64°F to 80°F, while on July 9, the coldest day of the year, they range from 47°F to 68°F.

The figure below shows you a compact characterization of the hourly average summer temperatures. The horizontal axis is the day, the vertical axis is the hour of the day, and the color is the average temperature for that hour and day.

São José dos Pinhais, Brazil (4,432 miles away) is the far-away foreign place with temperatures most similar to Port Elizabeth (view comparison).

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The summer in Port Elizabeth experiences decreasing cloud cover, with the percentage of time that the sky is overcast or mostly cloudy decreasing from 31% to 20%. The lowest chance of overcast or mostly cloudy conditions is 16% on February 11.

The clearest day of the summer is February 11, with clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy conditions 84% of the time.

For reference, on May 10, the cloudiest day of the year, the chance of overcast or mostly cloudy conditions is 40%, while on February 11, the clearest day of the year, the chance of clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy skies is 84%.

A wet day is one with at least 0.04 inches of liquid or liquid-equivalent precipitation. In Port Elizabeth, the chance of a wet day over the course of the summer is essentially constant, remaining around 15% throughout.

For reference, the year's highest daily chance of a wet day is 19% on November 13, and its lowest chance is 7% on June 30.

Rainfall

To show variation within the season and not just the monthly totals, we show the rainfall accumulated over a sliding 31-day period centered around each day.

The average sliding 31-day rainfall during the summer in Port Elizabeth is essentially constant, remaining about 1.2 inches throughout, and rarely exceeding 3.6 inches or falling below 0.1 inches.

The lowest average 31-day accumulation is 1.0 inches on January 29.

Over the course of the summer in Port Elizabeth, the length of the day is rapidly decreasing. From the start to the end of the season, the length of the day decreases by 1 hour, 24 minutes, implying an average daily decrease of 57 seconds, and weekly decrease of 6 minutes, 39 seconds.

The shortest day of the summer is February 28, with 12 hours, 50 minutes of daylight and the longest day is December 21, with 14 hours, 25 minutes of daylight.

The earliest sunrise of the summer in Port Elizabeth is 4:59 AM on December 4 and the latest sunrise is 1 hour, 5 minutes later at 6:04 AM on February 28.

The latest sunset is 7:32 PM on January 7 and the earliest sunset is 38 minutes earlier at 6:55 PM on February 28.

Daylight saving time is not observed in Port Elizabeth during 2024.

For reference, on December 21, the longest day of the year, the Sun rises at 5:03 AM and sets 14 hours, 25 minutes later, at 7:28 PM, while on June 20, the shortest day of the year, it rises at 7:22 AM and sets 9 hours, 54 minutes later, at 5:16 PM.

The figure below presents a compact representation of the sun's elevation (the angle of the sun above the horizon) and azimuth (its compass bearing) for every hour of every day in the reporting period. The horizontal axis is the day of the year and the vertical axis is the hour of the day. For a given day and hour of that day, the background color indicates the azimuth of the sun at that moment. The black isolines are contours of constant solar elevation.

The figure below presents a compact representation of key lunar data for the summer of 2024. The horizontal axis is the day, the vertical axis is the hour of the day, and the colored areas indicate when the moon is above the horizon. The vertical gray bars (new Moons) and blue bars (full Moons) indicate key Moon phases. The label associated with each bar indicates the date and time that the phase is obtained, and the companion time labels indicate the rise and set times of the Moon for the nearest time interval in which the moon is above the horizon.

We base the humidity comfort level on the dew point, as it determines whether perspiration will evaporate from the skin, thereby cooling the body. Lower dew points feel drier and higher dew points feel more humid. Unlike temperature, which typically varies significantly between night and day, dew point tends to change more slowly, so while the temperature may drop at night, a muggy day is typically followed by a muggy night.

The chance that a given day will be muggy in Port Elizabeth is rapidly increasing during the summer, rising from 8% to 27% over the course of the season.

The highest chance of a muggy day during the summer is 33% on February 11.

For reference, on February 11, the muggiest day of the year, there are muggy conditions 33% of the time, while on May 31, the least muggy day of the year, there are muggy conditions 0% of the time.

This section discusses the wide-area hourly average wind vector (speed and direction) at 10 meters above the ground. The wind experienced at any given location is highly dependent on local topography and other factors, and instantaneous wind speed and direction vary more widely than hourly averages.

The average hourly wind speed in Port Elizabeth is decreasing during the summer, decreasing from 12.1 miles per hour to 11.1 miles per hour over the course of the season.

For reference, on October 19, the windiest day of the year, the daily average wind speed is 12.7 miles per hour, while on May 3, the calmest day of the year, the daily average wind speed is 10.5 miles per hour.

The hourly average wind direction in Port Elizabeth throughout the summer is predominantly from the east, with a peak proportion of 44% on February 20.

Port Elizabeth is located near a large body of water (e.g., ocean, sea, or large lake). This section reports on the wide-area average surface temperature of that water.

The average surface water temperature in Port Elizabeth is gradually increasing during the summer, rising by 3°F, from 67°F to 70°F, over the course of the season.

The highest average surface water temperature during the summer is 71°F on February 13.

Definitions of the growing season vary throughout the world, but for the purposes of this report, we define it as the longest continuous period of non-freezing temperatures (≥ 32°F) in the year (the calendar year in the Northern Hemisphere, or from July 1 until June 30 in the Southern Hemisphere).

Temperatures in Port Elizabeth are sufficiently warm year round that it is not entirely meaningful to discuss the growing season in these terms. We nevertheless include the chart below as an illustration of the distribution of temperatures experienced throughout the year.

Growing degree days are a measure of yearly heat accumulation used to predict plant and animal development, and defined as the integral of warmth above a base temperature, discarding any excess above a maximum temperature. In this report, we use a base of 50°F and a cap of 86°F.

The average accumulated growing degree days in Port Elizabeth are very rapidly increasing during the summer, increasing by 1,808°F, from 1,706°F to 3,514°F, over the course of the season.

This section discusses the total daily incident shortwave solar energy reaching the surface of the ground over a wide area, taking full account of seasonal variations in the length of the day, the elevation of the Sun above the horizon, and absorption by clouds and other atmospheric constituents. Shortwave radiation includes visible light and ultraviolet radiation.

The average daily incident shortwave solar energy in Port Elizabeth is decreasing during the summer, falling by 1.2 kWh, from 7.7 kWh to 6.5 kWh, over the course of the season.

The highest average daily incident shortwave solar energy during the summer is 8.1 kWh on January 1.

For the purposes of this report, the geographical coordinates of Port Elizabeth are -33.918 deg latitude, 25.570 deg longitude, and 121 ft elevation.

The topography within 2 miles of Port Elizabeth contains significant variations in elevation, with a maximum elevation change of 509 feet and an average elevation above sea level of 190 feet. Within 10 miles contains significant variations in elevation (968 feet). Within 50 miles contains very significant variations in elevation (4,573 feet).

The area within 2 miles of Port Elizabeth is covered by artificial surfaces (97%), within 10 miles by water (33%) and artificial surfaces (30%), and within 50 miles by water (60%) and shrubs (25%).