How warm is it in Cape Town in December?

Daytime highs averaged 20.3 °C, night-time lows 17.1 °C. The highest value of the past 10 years was 27.1 °C (7 Dec 2017), the lowest 14.4 °C (16 Dec 2021).

How often does it rain in Cape Town in December?

On average there were 4.1 rain days (at least 1 mm) with 15.6 mm of precipitation in total.

🇿🇦 Weather in Cape Town in December

This is what the weather in Cape Town (South Africa) was like in December in 2016–2025.

Key facts at a glance

Prevailing weather: Sunny

Avg. daytime high

20.3 °C

19.3 °C – 20.8 °C

Avg. night-time low

17.1 °C

15.9 °C – 17.7 °C

Avg. rain days in period

4.1

13 % of days · ≥ 1.0 mm

Avg. precipitation in period

15.6 mm

6.0 mm – 35.5 mm

Avg. cloud cover

23 %

This data source has no sunshine hours – average cloud cover shown instead.

Avg. sea temperature

–

Sea temperature unavailable for today (daily limit).

Extremes: Highest temperature 27.1 °C (7 Dec 2017) · Lowest temperature 14.4 °C (16 Dec 2021) · Avg. daily peak wind 31 km/h

Weather mix of all days

211Sunny
54Partly cloudy
4Cloudy
31Light rain
10Rain

Summary

On average 20.3 °C during the day and 17.1 °C at night.
On average 4.1 rain days (Rain day = at least 1.0 mm of precipitation) with 15.6 mm of precipitation in total.
Prevailing: Sunny.
Warmest year: 2016 (avg. 20.8 °C), coolest: 2021 (avg. 19.3 °C).
Wettest year: 2022 (35.5 mm), driest: 2025 (6.0 mm).
Extremes: 27.1 °C on 7 Dec 2017 and 14.4 °C on 16 Dec 2021.

Overall values from all 10 years. How is this calculated?

Temperatures per year

Average over your travel period

Precipitation & rain days

Year by year

2025
Avg. max20.6°Avg. min17.2°
Rain days
2 Rain days
Precipitation
6.0 mm
Avg. cloud cover
16 % cloudy
Sea temperature
–
Max 24.1 °C · Min 15.8 °C
2024
Avg. max20.7°Avg. min17.5°
Rain days
3 Rain days
Precipitation
9.9 mm
Avg. cloud cover
21 % cloudy
Sea temperature
–
Max 24.8 °C · Min 15.7 °C
2023
Avg. max20.2°Avg. min16.9°
Rain days
5 Rain days
Precipitation
18.2 mm
Avg. cloud cover
16 % cloudy
Sea temperature
–
Max 24.4 °C · Min 15.8 °C
2022
Avg. max20.4°Avg. min17.2°
Rain days
7 Rain days
Precipitation
35.5 mm
Avg. cloud cover
28 % cloudy
Sea temperature
–
Max 24.2 °C · Min 15.6 °C
2021
Avg. max19.3°Avg. min15.9°
Rain days
3 Rain days
Precipitation
14.2 mm
Avg. cloud cover
33 % cloudy
Sea temperature
–
Max 22.8 °C · Min 14.4 °C
2020
Avg. max19.9°Avg. min17.0°
Rain days
2 Rain days
Precipitation
7.9 mm
Avg. cloud cover
22 % cloudy
Sea temperature
–
Max 22.1 °C · Min 15.1 °C
2019
Avg. max20.2°Avg. min16.9°
Rain days
6 Rain days
Precipitation
15.2 mm
Avg. cloud cover
24 % cloudy
Sea temperature
–
Max 24.1 °C · Min 14.6 °C
2018
Avg. max20.5°Avg. min17.7°
Rain days
8 Rain days
Precipitation
28.4 mm
Avg. cloud cover
28 % cloudy
Sea temperature
–
Max 23.0 °C · Min 15.5 °C
2017
Avg. max20.2°Avg. min16.8°
Rain days
2 Rain days
Precipitation
7.2 mm
Avg. cloud cover
22 % cloudy
Sea temperature
–
Max 27.1 °C · Min 15.4 °C
2016
Avg. max20.8°Avg. min17.6°
Rain days
3 Rain days
Precipitation
13.8 mm
Avg. cloud cover
18 % cloudy
Sea temperature
–
Max 23.1 °C · Min 16.0 °C

Frequently asked questions

How warm is it in Cape Town in December?: Daytime highs averaged 20.3 °C, night-time lows 17.1 °C. The highest value of the past 10 years was 27.1 °C (7 Dec 2017), the lowest 14.4 °C (16 Dec 2021).
How often does it rain in Cape Town in December?: On average there were 4.1 rain days (at least 1 mm) with 15.6 mm of precipitation in total.

Check your exact travel dates

Choose your travel period – we show the weather for exactly those days.

Data sources

Weather data: Data obtained from the NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC) POWER Project funded through the NASA Earth Science/Applied Science Program
Reanalysis (weather model constrained by observations) on a coarse grid of about 50 km. Values represent a large area and can differ from local conditions, especially on islands, coasts and in mountains. No sunshine duration.
Reanalysis (weather model constrained by observations)
Reanalysis values represent a grid cell (approx. 25–50 km) and may differ from local measurements on coasts, islands and in mountains.
Sea temperature: MUR SST data were provided by JPL under support by NASA MEaSUREs program; accessed via NOAA CoastWatch ERDDAP
Daily multi-scale ultra-high resolution (≈ 1 km) analysis of satellite measurements (infrared, microwave) and in-situ data. Represents the foundation temperature below the daily warm surface layer. (Satellite and in-situ analysis)
Place search: Natural Earth (public domain) · GeoNames (CC BY 4.0) / OpenStreetMap (ODbL)