Pretoria, South Africa's administrative capital, sits in a warm, sheltered valley of the Magaliesberg hills in the north of the country at around 1,340 metres above sea level, at approximately -25.75°S, 28.19°E. Its altitude tempers the subtropical latitude to give a humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cwa) — warm, thundery summers and mild, dry winters.

Summer, from October to March — the austral summer — is warm to hot and the rainy season, with highs around 29–30°C, warmer than nearby Johannesburg thanks to Pretoria's lower, more sheltered valley. Dramatic afternoon and evening thunderstorms build in the heat, bringing nearly all of the year's rain along with spectacular lightning displays.

Winter, from June to August — the austral winter — is mild, dry and brilliantly sunny by day but cool at night, with highs around 20–22°C and nights near 4–6°C, occasionally dropping to frost. Rain is essentially absent, skies are deep blue, and this bright, dry stretch is comfortably the pleasantest time of year.

Pretoria receives on the order of 650–700 mm of rain a year, almost all of it in the summer wet season from October to March, when thunderstorms deliver the bulk, while the winter from May to August is essentially rainless. Live rainfall, humidity, and pressure readings for the city are shown in the panels above.

Pretoria's sheltered valley setting, several hundred metres lower than Johannesburg just 50 km to the south, makes it consistently a few degrees warmer — warm enough for the jacaranda trees whose purple bloom each October announces the start of the thunderstorm season on the Highveld.

To follow any single measurement in Pretoria more closely, use our live instruments: the online barometer for atmospheric pressure, the thermometer for temperature, the hygrometer for humidity, the anemometer for wind speed, the wind vane for wind direction, and the rain gauge for rainfall.