Climate

Despite the relatively dry climate, Johannesburg has over ten million trees, and it is now lays claim to being the world’s biggest man-made forest - followed by Graskop in Mpumalanga which is the second biggest. Many trees were originally planted in the northern areas of the city at the end of the 19th century, to provide wood for the mining industry. The areas were developed by the Randlord, Hermann Eckstein, a German immigrant, who called the forest estates Sachsenwald. During the First World War,  this name was changed to Saxonwold – which is now the name of the suburb where the forests once grew. Early (white) residents who moved into the neighbouring areas now known as the Northern Suburbs (including Parkhurst, Parktown, Parkview, Westcliff, Saxonwold, Houghton Estate, Illovo, Hyde Park, Dunkeld, Melrose, Inanda, Sandhurst),  retained many of the original trees.  Encouraged by of successive city councils tree planting has been sustained to the present day, with City Parks undertaking extensive programmes on an ongoing basis to plant indigenous and fruit trees throughout the developing and expanding City.Johannesburg’s  Subtropical highland climate means the city enjoys dry, sunny weather with late afternoon thundershowers in the summer months of October to April. Temperatures in Johannesburg are usually fairly mild due to the city's high altitude, with the average maximum daytime temperature in January of 25.6 °C (78.1 °F), dropping to an average maximum of around 16 °C (61 °F) in June. Winter is the sunniest time of the year, with mild days and cool nights, dropping to 4.1 °C (39.4 °F) in June and July. The temperature occasionally drops to below freezing at night, causing frost. Snow is a rare occurrence, with snowfall having been experienced in May 1956, August 1962, June 1964, September 1981 and August 2006 (light). Snow fell again on 27 June 2007, accumulating up to 10 centimetres (3.9 in) in the southern suburbs. Regular cold fronts pass over in winter bringing very cold southerly winds, but usually clear skies. The annual average rainfall is 713 millimetres (28.1 in), which is mostly concentrated in the summer months. Infrequent showers occur throughout the winter months.