Fire danger hour by hour in Cape Town
The fire-danger index combines temperature, how dry the air is, how hard the wind is blowing and how long it has been since meaningful rain. It is not a chance of fire — it is how fast and how fiercely one would run if it started.
| Hour | Index | Level |
|---|---|---|
| Today | ||
| 13:00 | 5 | low |
| 14:00 | 5 | low |
| 15:00 | 5 | low |
| 16:00 | 4 | low |
| 17:00 | 3 | low |
| 18:00 | 3 | low |
| 19:00 | 3 | low |
| 20:00 | 3 | low |
| 21:00 | 3 | low |
| 22:00 | 2 | low |
| 23:00 | 2 | low |
| Tomorrow | ||
| 00:00 | 2 | low |
| 01:00 | 2 | low |
| 02:00 | 2 | low |
| 03:00 | 2 | low |
| 04:00 | 2 | low |
| 05:00 | 2 | low |
| 06:00 | 2 | low |
| 07:00 | 2 | low |
| 08:00 | 2 | low |
| 09:00 | 2 | low |
| 10:00 | 2 | low |
| 11:00 | 3 | low |
| 12:00 | 3 | low |
Under 12 is low, 12 to 24 high, 25 to 49 very high, 50 to 74 severe, and 75 and above extreme. The number climbs through the middle of the day because the air dries out as it warms, and it drops back after sunset when the humidity comes up again.
Why the number is where it is today
It is about 21° in Cape Town with the humidity around 62% and the wind at 26 km/h. No meaningful rain has fallen in the last three days, so the veld is carrying dry fuel. Wind is the part to watch: gusts to 81 km/h are expected in the next twelve hours, and wind is what turns a small fire into a fast one.
Active fires near Cape Town
Satellites passing over southern Africa pick up the heat of a burning fire directly. These are detections from the last twelve hours within 150 km, newest first — a detection is a hot spot seen from orbit, which is usually a veld or land-clearing fire and is sometimes a sugar-cane burn or a large industrial flare.
No active fire detections within 150 km of Cape Town in the last twelve hours. That is not the same as no fire: satellites see the ground a few times a day, thick cloud hides a fire completely, and a small fire under trees may never be hot enough to register.
Braai, burning and the rules today
Yes — conditions are mild enough that a normal, contained braai carries little risk. Put the coals out properly anyway.
Two things are true every day of the year, not only the bad ones. Under the National Veld and Forest Fire Act you are liable for a fire that starts on your property and spreads, and that liability does not depend on the weather. And a discarded cigarette, a grinder throwing sparks, or a braai left with coals still alive is the start of most of the fires anyone can put a cause to.
When Cape Town’s fire season is
South Africa has two fire seasons, in opposite halves of the year, because it has two rainfall regimes. The summer-rainfall interior and east burn in the dry, windy months from about May to October, when last summer's grass has cured and nothing has fallen on it for months. The winter-rainfall southwestern Cape burns in the opposite half, roughly December to March, when the fynbos is at its driest and the berg wind blows. That is why a national fire map is never quiet: something in the country is always in season.
The southwestern Cape's fire season is the opposite half of the year from most of South Africa: it runs through the hot, dry summer from about December to March. Fynbos is a fire-adapted vegetation that burns naturally every ten to twenty years and needs to, so fire here is part of the landscape rather than an aberration — but the days that turn a fire into a disaster are the hot berg-wind days, when a north-westerly brings temperatures near forty and single-figure humidity to the mountains above the towns.
More for Cape Town
Fire danger nearby
Overhead is a free guide built on live open weather data from Open-Meteo (CC BY 4.0). It is advisory only — for official warnings and emergencies, follow the South African Weather Service.