Fire danger hour by hour in Johannesburg
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 | 7 | low |
| 14:00 | 7 | low |
| 15:00 | 7 | low |
| 16:00 | 7 | low |
| 17:00 | 5 | low |
| 18:00 | 3 | low |
| 19:00 | 3 | low |
| 20:00 | 4 | low |
| 21:00 | 3 | low |
| 22:00 | 3 | low |
| 23:00 | 3 | 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 | 1 | low |
| 07:00 | 1 | low |
| 08:00 | 2 | low |
| 09:00 | 3 | low |
| 10:00 | 4 | low |
| 11:00 | 5 | low |
| 12:00 | 6 | 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 Johannesburg with the humidity around 34% and the wind at 4 km/h. Only about 2.8 mm has fallen in the last three days, so the grass and leaf litter are close to as dry as the air will let them be. Gusts stay under 17 km/h in the next twelve hours, which keeps the ceiling on how fast anything could run.
Active fires near Johannesburg
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.
- 69 km north-west of town 11 hours agoDetected by Suomi-NPP, nominal confidence, radiative power about 2.8 MW, on a night overpass.
- 69 km north-west of town 11 hours agoDetected by Suomi-NPP, nominal confidence, radiative power about 1.5 MW, on a night overpass.
- 72 km south of town 11 hours agoDetected by Suomi-NPP, nominal confidence, radiative power about 1.7 MW, on a night overpass.
- 114 km east of town 5 hours agoDetected by MODIS (Terra/Aqua), nominal confidence, radiative power about 5.9 MW, on a daytime overpass.
- 117 km east of town 5 hours agoDetected by MODIS (Terra/Aqua), nominal confidence, radiative power about 9.7 MW, on a daytime overpass.
- 119 km east of town 5 hours agoDetected by MODIS (Terra/Aqua), nominal confidence, radiative power about 7.1 MW, on a daytime overpass.
Nothing is close enough to threaten the town itself, but smoke travels much further than fire does — a haze on the horizon usually comes from one of these.
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 Johannesburg’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 Highveld's fire season is the mirror image of its rain: the grass grows through the summer wet season, cures to tinder over the dry winter, and burns from about May until the first storms arrive in October, with the worst days usually in August and September. It is grass, not forest, so a fire here moves fast and low rather than crowning — which is also why a ploughed or burnt firebreak works, and why the National Veld and Forest Fire Act puts the duty to prepare one on the landowner every year before the season starts.
More for Johannesburg
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.