Our purpose
weather.capetown exists to give Capetonians and visitors the most useful, accurate and locally-grounded weather information available. Our editorial decisions are made independently of commercial relationships. Our goal is to be the source you trust before stepping out the door.
Accuracy
We're meticulous about facts.
- Weather data comes from established meteorological sources: Open-Meteo (which aggregates ECMWF, DWD and SAWS), the South African Weather Service for warnings, and surf-specific forecasting models for marine conditions.
- Local knowledge claims (microclimate behaviour, neighbourhood character, business hours) are written or reviewed by team members who personally know the location, and verified before publication.
- Numbers and figures (temperatures, wind speeds, climate averages) are sourced from SAWS climatological records and cross-checked.
- Time-sensitive information (opening hours, prices, regulations) is reviewed quarterly and dated on the page.
Authorship and expertise
Every article on weather.capetown has a named human author with relevant expertise. We do not publish anonymous content. Author bios are linked from each article. Where outside contributors write for us, they are credited and their qualifications are disclosed.
Our content team includes:
- An atmospheric scientist with eight years at the South African Weather Service.
- A surf and kite instructor with twenty years' experience on Cape Town's coast.
- A travel writer who has covered Cape Town for fifteen years for local and international publications.
- A software engineer responsible for our data pipeline and forecast integrations.
Full team bios are on our about page.
Sources
We disclose our data sources transparently:
- Live forecast data: Open-Meteo API (aggregating DWD, ECMWF, SAWS).
- Climate averages: SAWS climatological records.
- Sea temperature: NOAA satellite data and CSIR coastal monitoring.
- Wave and swell: NOAA wave models cross-referenced with local surf reports.
- Tide: South African Navy Hydrographic Office.
- Sunrise/sunset: Astronomical calculations from established libraries.
Where we make claims that aren't from these sources, we cite them in the text.
Corrections
When we get something wrong — and we do, weather is uncertain and so are humans — we correct it openly.
- Corrections are made in the affected article.
- A dated correction note is added at the foot of the article describing what was wrong.
- Significant corrections (factual errors that materially changed the article's claims) are flagged at the top of the article for at least 30 days after correction.
- If you spot an error, please email editorial@weather.capetown. We act on credible corrections within 48 hours.
Independence and conflicts of interest
weather.capetown is funded by display advertising (Google AdSense), affiliate links, and a small newsletter sponsorship programme.
What this means:
- We do not accept payment, gifts or hospitality in exchange for editorial coverage. Ever.
- Affiliate relationships (where we earn a commission if you book through us) are disclosed at the point of recommendation.
- Newsletter sponsors are clearly marked as sponsored content — they do not influence our editorial recommendations.
- Our authors do not personally invest in or hold financial relationships with any tour operator, hotel or activity provider we cover. If a conflict develops, we disclose it or recuse the writer.
- Display ads (Google AdSense) are programmatic — Google selects the ads, not us. We have no relationship with the advertisers shown.
How we handle commercial relationships
We may participate in:
- Affiliate referrals — earning a commission if you book through our links to operators we'd genuinely recommend. Always disclosed.
- Direct partnerships — working with reputable Cape Town operators on bookings or content. Always disclosed if it appears in editorial.
- Newsletter sponsorship — clearly labelled "Sponsored" content in our newsletter, with the sponsor named.
What we will not do:
- Accept payment to write a positive review.
- Hide a commercial relationship.
- Allow advertisers to influence our editorial verdicts.
- Publish content disguised as editorial that is, in fact, paid promotion.
AI use
We use AI tools to help with research, idea generation and copy editing — but every article on weather.capetown is written, reviewed and signed by a named human author who takes responsibility for its accuracy. We do not publish unedited AI-generated content. We do not publish content that has not been fact-checked by a human.
Privacy and ethics
We follow ethical standards in research and reporting:
- We do not photograph or identify private individuals without permission.
- We respect the privacy of sources and subjects.
- We follow our privacy policy for handling reader information.
Reader feedback
This is our policy, but our standards are also informed by you. If we fall short — too commercial, factually wrong, missing nuance, or just unhelpful — please tell us. Email editorial@weather.capetown.
This editorial policy was last updated on 26 April 2026.