Weather in Johannesburg in November

A good month. November is a solid month to be in Johannesburg. You should expect rain on 16 days of the month, which is more days wet than dry.

November ranks 10 of 12 — near the bottom of Johannesburg's year. August is the month that works, and the swing between the two is 33 points, which is a different holiday rather than a slightly better one. Worth keeping in perspective: November is the weakest month of Johannesburg's year and it is still a perfectly good one. The downside here is small.

This is persistent light rain rather than storms: 16 wet days but only 2 heavy ones. It rarely cancels anything outright, and it rarely fully clears either. A jacket beats an umbrella. Nothing specialised needed — this is the month you pack for the trip rather than for the weather.

What the averages hide

Averages flatten a month, and this one hides a few things: 7 days top 30 °C — hot spells arrive, but they break; the day swings 15 °C from low to high, which means one bag has to cover both. Across the twenty years measured, the hottest November day reached 35.4 °C and the coldest night fell to 3.5 °C, and the wettest single day dropped 43 mm — roughly 48% of the month's rain in one day.

November is statistically steady but not small: the year-to-year variation is modest in relative terms, yet the wettest November on record still delivered 176 mm against 13 mm in the driest. In a month this wet, even a tame spread is a lot of rain in absolute terms — the 89 mm average is a reasonable planning figure, not a promise.

Wind is light at 9.7 km/h, so the temperature on the page is close to the temperature on your skin, and humidity is unremarkable at 57%.

How November sits in the year

Temperatures hold steady either side: 27 °C in October, 27 here, 26.8 in December. Nothing about the timing within the month matters much. Rain has already shifted: 6 days more than October had.

Daylight in November

November is at or near the longest days of Johannesburg's year: 13.4 hours of daylight, gaining 0.6 hours across the month. Evenings are the real gain — dinner outdoors still happens in full light.

An inland climate

With no coast nearby, the year swings a fair way — 25.6 °C between the warmest afternoons and the coldest nights, wider than any coastal city at this latitude would manage. At 1767 m, altitude is doing as much work here as latitude: thinner air means fierce sun by day and heat that leaves the moment it sets. Within November itself the daily swing is 15 °C, so mornings and afternoons need different clothes.

How busy it gets

Off season. The genuine off season: cheapest by a distance, with the caveat that some tours and restaurants close entirely.

Crowd levels are estimated from climate desirability and school-holiday calendars, not from visitor numbers.

November in Johannesburg versus nearby

If Johannesburg is one option among several, the nearby comparison is worth making. Pretoria is the weaker option in November — 3.5 °C warmer, 1 day less rain. Pietermaritzburg is close enough to be a coin toss — within a degree on temperature, 6 days more rain.

So: November is a compromise. August is 26 points better and is what Johannesburg is actually like at its best — worth moving the trip for if that is possible, and worth adjusting expectations for if it is not.

Every month in Johannesburg

See all twelve months in Johannesburg, or where else to go in November.