The Free State – Climate
The Free State Province, with it’s vast beauty, endures a fair amount of hardship due to it’s hot, arid climate. Almost uniformly at about 1,300m above sea level, the Free State has weather typical of an interior plateau with summer rains, chilly winters and plenty of sunshine. To the north, the Vaal irrigation area nourishes the small assortment of farming towns below it, and the hue of the Free State countryside is often green.
The eastern Free State is entirely different with its winter blanketed by mountain snow and summers by the flourishing valleys it is characteristic of nature’s surprises. The west is warm and cold in equal measure, its inhabitants making use of the many man-made water recreation facilities to endure the heat as much as using heating facilities in winter’s low temperatures. The south brings hot, dry summer days and long, cold winter nights. This semi-desert area also brings fluctuations of temperature from day to night.
Bloemfontein is the capital city of the Free State. Its average summer temperature is +/- 23ºC and its average winter temperature is +/- 8ºC. January is the hottest month, with a temperature range of 15 – 32ºC, while June is the coldest, its range a cold 1ºC to a mild 17ºC. Bloemfontein receives an average rainfall of 500-600mm annually. The latitudes south of the city are even hotter, while in high-altitude north-east, temperatures are markedly lower.
