Similar Climates › City Pairings › San Jose ≈ Cape Town
City Pairings
fair match
San Jose, California and Cape Town, South Africa are a fair climate match — 16,434 km (10,212 mi) apart. San Jose is Köppen zone Csb; Cape Town is Csb.
See San Jose on the interactive map →San Jose and Cape Town both sit in the warm-summer Mediterranean (Csb) zone, so their seasonal arcs line up. Because one city is in the opposite hemisphere, the comparison flips seasons: San Jose’s January against Cape Town’s July. They are about 16,434 km (10,212 mi) apart, nearly opposite on the globe, yet Cape Town still tracks San Jose’s January and July.
It is a fair match — close on the main numbers, with a few seasonal quirks between San Jose and Cape Town. January means differ by 3°C (Cape Town warmer); July within half a degree. Rainfall shifts more: Cape Town is 18 mm wetter in January, and 15 mm wetter in July.
Sunshine stays close: Cape Town at 10.9 h/day on average versus 10.5 h/day in San Jose (January 8.4 h / 7.2 h, July 13.3 h / 13.8 h). Air quality: mean PM2.5 is 20 µg/m³ in Cape Town vs 8 in San Jose (higher by 12 µg/m³). Dew points differ modestly (January 9°C vs 6°C; July 15°C vs 12°C).
January & July · °C and mm
Cape Town is in the southern hemisphere, so its July lines up with San Jose's January — the bars above pair each city's summer and winter, not the calendar month.
Compare San Jose and Cape Town month by month on the interactive map →
See Cape Town's climate twin on its own page.
On Similar Climates, Cape Town, South Africa is the closest distant match for San Jose, California — scored fair, about 16,434 km (10,212 mi) away.
San Jose and Cape Town are separated by roughly 16,434 km (10,212 mi) on the great-circle route.
No — they sit in opposite hemispheres, so seasons run about six months apart: Cape Town’s July pairs with San Jose’s January in the comparison.
Yes — both are warm-summer Mediterranean (Csb).
San Jose has a warm-summer Mediterranean climate (Csb). January averages a high of 15°C and a low of 5°C with 75 mm of rain; July averages 28°C / 15°C and 0 mm.
San Jose averages about 7.2 hours of sunshine a day in January and 13.8 hours in July.
January PM2.5 averages about 7.2 µg/m³ (US AQI 40); July averages 8.2 µg/m³ (US AQI 45).
Other close climate matches for San Jose: Rome (fair), Amman (fair), Adelaide (loose).
All warm-summer Mediterranean (Csb) cities on Similar Climates →
Explore San Jose and Cape Town on the interactive map →