Geography and Climate
| Bloemfontein | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Climate chart (explanation) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Bloemfontein is located in central South Africa on the southern edge of the Highveld at an elevation of 1,400 metres (4,600 ft), bordering on the semi-arid region of the Karoo. The area is generally flat with occasional hills (koppies in Afrikaans) and the general vegetation is Highveld grassland. Bloemfontein experiences a semi-arid climate, with hot summer days (Jan: max:32 °C (90 °F) min:19 °C (66 °F); frequent afternoon thunderstorms) and cooler, dry winters, often with frosts (July: max:14 °C (57 °F) min:−3 °C (27 °F)). Snow is uncommon but as recently as August 2006 it snowed in the city, with snowfalls occurring again at the airport on 26 July 2007.
| Climate data for Bloemfontein | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 39 (102) |
39 (102) |
35 (95) |
33 (91) |
30 (86) |
25 (77) |
24 (75) |
29 (84) |
34 (93) |
35 (95) |
37 (99) |
38 (100) |
39 (102) |
| Average high °C (°F) | 31 (88) |
29 (84) |
27 (81) |
23 (73) |
20 (68) |
17 (63) |
17 (63) |
20 (68) |
24 (75) |
26 (79) |
28 (82) |
30 (86) |
24 (75) |
| Average low °C (°F) | 15 (59) |
15 (59) |
12 (54) |
8 (46) |
3 (37) |
−2 (28) |
−2 (28) |
1 (34) |
5 (41) |
9 (48) |
12 (54) |
14 (57) |
8 (46) |
| Record low °C (°F) | 6 (43) |
4 (39) |
1 (34) |
−3 (27) |
−9 (16) |
−9 (16) |
−10 (14) |
−10 (14) |
−7 (19) |
−3 (27) |
0 (32) |
3 (37) |
−10 (14) |
| Precipitation mm (inches) | 83 (3.27) |
111 (4.37) |
72 (2.83) |
56 (2.2) |
17 (0.67) |
12 (0.47) |
8 (0.31) |
15 (0.59) |
24 (0.94) |
43 (1.69) |
58 (2.28) |
60 (2.36) |
559 (22.01) |
| Avg. precipitation days | 11 | 11 | 11 | 9 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 9 | 10 | 84 |
| Mean monthly sunshine hours | 297.6 | 251.4 | 257.3 | 249.0 | 266.6 | 249.0 | 272.8 | 285.2 | 279.0 | 291.4 | 297.0 | 319.3 | 3,315.6 |
| Source #1: South African Weather Service | |||||||||||||
| Source #2: Hong Kong Observatory (sun only 1961-1990). | |||||||||||||
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