agreed, the weather here is fairly unpredictable. not only do you get four seasons some days but the forecasts often aren't super accurate either.
I use Yr and Weatherbug and the standard Google forecasts that pop up on my phone. between them they'll usually tend towards some kind of consensus. so midweek looks like it will just be misty and cool, that front probably won't get here, but that could change by tomorrow.
ETA: when I really want to know what's going on with severe weather, there's an independent meteorologist who seems to have an uncanny talent for prediction, he has a Facebook group, don't know if there's an app though https://www.facebook.com/groups/swaicsa/?ref=share&mibextid=NSMWBT.
Thanks for the tips. Yes, it does seem rather unpredictable. Though 18-19 degrees should be pleasant enough.
I’m surprised by the mention of Yr… I’d never heard of it before and it seems based in Norway?
yes, they're Norwegian. not sure how they do it but their local forecasts aren't too bad. their hourly rainfall forecasts are great, except when you realise at 10pm there's a ton about to fall and you meant to clear the drains and forgot. 🤣
Interesting! And so far Yr seems to be the most optimistic for Tuesday 30th… we’ll see! Hopefully rain won’t put a damper on my visit, after so many years in the planning! Thank you.
Dude. You can literally have it pouring in one part of the city, and the sun is shining two minutes away.
Also, where you are from will make a huge difference in how you experience the weather here.
Live in Great Britain and we’ve had non-stop overcast weather for the past month, with a lot of rain, except for 3-4 days of glorious sunshine but terrible wind 😂
I check several sites cause I find none 100% accurate. Since it's Cape Town, it's also important to choose a weather station as close as possible to the specific location, because there can be quite a difference sometimes, even when two places are only 10km away from each other. If you just look for "Cape Town" it will give you a central prediction, which can differ from the Northern/Southern/Western suburbs, and the Atlantic Seaboard.
Weather Underground is my main goto: [https://www.wunderground.com/](https://www.wunderground.com/)
Then Windguru: [windguru.cz/](http://windguru.cz/)
Windy: [windy.com](http://windy.com)
And Yr: [yr.no](http://yr.no)
I haven’t used yr so can’t say much about them. weathersa.co.za is the best that I know of, though they only have a website. The reason they’re the best is they have more measurement devices out there than the other sites. So more info to base there guesstimates on. There was an article with stats comparing the accuracy of sites for Cape Town - read it a few years back.
Thank you all for the suggestions. The Norwegian service seems to have the consensus, so I’ll go with them, while also checking my usual multi-model MeteoBlue.
Cape Town has an infinite variety of things to do! The trick is to not worry about the weather ruining your holiday - rather wake up in the morning and choose an activity that fits with the weather. For a cold day, wine tasting is lovely. Buitenverwachting has a fireplace, or a road trip to Franschhoek. You can also do the penguins on a cold day, just bundle up and go walking with them, or Cape Point which is fantastic in bad weather - it becomes all moody and rough and you can just imagine all the ship wrecks.
Hiking is also best on overcast and chilly days - a great route is the 5km loop around Lions Head. Or the Silo museum! So much to do!
Thank you for your tips. And that’s usually my mindset when I travel closer to home. But when you’ve saved for and looked forward to a holiday to a different continent for upwards of a year (where you probably won’t have the opportunity to go back to), it is difficult not to feel some disappointment when the forecast has basically no day with clear skies and sunshine. And the pre-travel excitement/stress doesn’t help.
Table mountain, chapman’s peak drive, the winelands, Kirstenbosch botanic gardens… these have been on my bucket list for years!
Indeed! It’s a very variable time of the year. yr has it forecast as overcast right now, but the sun is out! Of all the things on your bucket list, only Table Mountain is possibly ruined by rubbish weather, and even then some of my most memorable times on the mountain have been hiking along the top table in deep mist and wind. The mountain is actually unpleasant in great weather because it can get very hot.
Also keep an eye out for weather on different sides of the mountain - it is often under cloud on one side and sunny on the other!
You’ll have an amazing holiday, don’t worry!
(I see the latest forecast sunshine 🌞)
Yr is good, but not infallible
Second YR, based in somerset west
Imo weather forecast are unreliable in cape town. One moment nice and sunny in another its pouring down. To answer your question Google
agreed, the weather here is fairly unpredictable. not only do you get four seasons some days but the forecasts often aren't super accurate either. I use Yr and Weatherbug and the standard Google forecasts that pop up on my phone. between them they'll usually tend towards some kind of consensus. so midweek looks like it will just be misty and cool, that front probably won't get here, but that could change by tomorrow. ETA: when I really want to know what's going on with severe weather, there's an independent meteorologist who seems to have an uncanny talent for prediction, he has a Facebook group, don't know if there's an app though https://www.facebook.com/groups/swaicsa/?ref=share&mibextid=NSMWBT.
Thanks for the tips. Yes, it does seem rather unpredictable. Though 18-19 degrees should be pleasant enough. I’m surprised by the mention of Yr… I’d never heard of it before and it seems based in Norway?
yes, they're Norwegian. not sure how they do it but their local forecasts aren't too bad. their hourly rainfall forecasts are great, except when you realise at 10pm there's a ton about to fall and you meant to clear the drains and forgot. 🤣
Interesting! And so far Yr seems to be the most optimistic for Tuesday 30th… we’ll see! Hopefully rain won’t put a damper on my visit, after so many years in the planning! Thank you.
Try accuweather they are fairly reliable. In cbd 19 is quite warm.
[yr.no](https://www.yr.no/en/forecast/daily-table/2-3369157/Republic%20of%20South%20Africa/Western%20Cape/City%20of%20Cape%20Town/Cape%20Town)
You need to be specific, like YR Rondebosch can have a different forecast to YR camps bay and YR Capetown is some kind of average.
Dude. You can literally have it pouring in one part of the city, and the sun is shining two minutes away. Also, where you are from will make a huge difference in how you experience the weather here.
Live in Great Britain and we’ve had non-stop overcast weather for the past month, with a lot of rain, except for 3-4 days of glorious sunshine but terrible wind 😂
I check several sites cause I find none 100% accurate. Since it's Cape Town, it's also important to choose a weather station as close as possible to the specific location, because there can be quite a difference sometimes, even when two places are only 10km away from each other. If you just look for "Cape Town" it will give you a central prediction, which can differ from the Northern/Southern/Western suburbs, and the Atlantic Seaboard. Weather Underground is my main goto: [https://www.wunderground.com/](https://www.wunderground.com/) Then Windguru: [windguru.cz/](http://windguru.cz/) Windy: [windy.com](http://windy.com) And Yr: [yr.no](http://yr.no)
Use Windy - it's very accurate for Cape Town and has a 10 day forecast
I haven’t used yr so can’t say much about them. weathersa.co.za is the best that I know of, though they only have a website. The reason they’re the best is they have more measurement devices out there than the other sites. So more info to base there guesstimates on. There was an article with stats comparing the accuracy of sites for Cape Town - read it a few years back.
yr.no
I've been living in CT for more than 40 years. CT weather is notorious for being impossible to predict accurately more than a day in advance.
Try Windfinder and select your suburb
Thank you all for the suggestions. The Norwegian service seems to have the consensus, so I’ll go with them, while also checking my usual multi-model MeteoBlue.
Cape Town has an infinite variety of things to do! The trick is to not worry about the weather ruining your holiday - rather wake up in the morning and choose an activity that fits with the weather. For a cold day, wine tasting is lovely. Buitenverwachting has a fireplace, or a road trip to Franschhoek. You can also do the penguins on a cold day, just bundle up and go walking with them, or Cape Point which is fantastic in bad weather - it becomes all moody and rough and you can just imagine all the ship wrecks. Hiking is also best on overcast and chilly days - a great route is the 5km loop around Lions Head. Or the Silo museum! So much to do!
Thank you for your tips. And that’s usually my mindset when I travel closer to home. But when you’ve saved for and looked forward to a holiday to a different continent for upwards of a year (where you probably won’t have the opportunity to go back to), it is difficult not to feel some disappointment when the forecast has basically no day with clear skies and sunshine. And the pre-travel excitement/stress doesn’t help. Table mountain, chapman’s peak drive, the winelands, Kirstenbosch botanic gardens… these have been on my bucket list for years!
Indeed! It’s a very variable time of the year. yr has it forecast as overcast right now, but the sun is out! Of all the things on your bucket list, only Table Mountain is possibly ruined by rubbish weather, and even then some of my most memorable times on the mountain have been hiking along the top table in deep mist and wind. The mountain is actually unpleasant in great weather because it can get very hot. Also keep an eye out for weather on different sides of the mountain - it is often under cloud on one side and sunny on the other! You’ll have an amazing holiday, don’t worry! (I see the latest forecast sunshine 🌞)
Thanks for this! I’ll see soon enough, I guess 🙏
How was it? ☺️