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Cape Town, South Africa
CPT (Cape Town, South Africa) sits at 33.96°S, 18.60°E, 151 ft elevation — inland.
Major airport serving Cape Town, South Africa.
Computed from CPT's geography and climate
The jet stream meanders across this latitude seasonally — CPT sees its strongest CAT exposure in June–August, when the polar jet pushes equatorward and routes intersect it more often. December-onwards departures climb into cleaner upper-level flow. Warm-season convection (December–February) drives the dominant turbulence pattern from CPT — afternoon thunderstorm cells are routed around but their wake turbulence and gust fronts can still affect arrivals and departures.
Climbout is usually unremarkable — most turbulence on flights from Cape Town occurs at cruise rather than immediately after takeoff.
Southern Hemisphere winter (June–August) is when the subtropical jet strengthens, and that's when long-haul CAT is most likely. Southern summer (December–February) is the main convective window.
Get a real-time turbulence forecast for any scheduled flight out of Cape Town International Airport, with live wind, jet-stream analysis and pilot reports.
Cape Town International Airport is best described as a standard profile airport. The jet stream meanders across this latitude seasonally — CPT sees its strongest CAT exposure in June–August, when the polar jet pushes equatorward and routes intersect it more often. December-onwards departures climb into cleaner upper-level flow. Warm-season convection (December–February) drives the dominant turbulence pattern from CPT — afternoon thunderstorm cells are routed around but their wake turbulence and gust fronts can still affect arrivals and departures.
Southern Hemisphere winter (June–August) is when the subtropical jet strengthens, and that's when long-haul CAT is most likely. Southern summer (December–February) is the main convective window. Peak turbulence window: June–August (Southern Hemisphere winter jet). Typically calmest: November–February.
We combine live NOAA Aviation Weather Center data (PIREPs, SIGMETs, AIRMETs) with physics-based Ellrod and Richardson-number calculations derived from Open-Meteo pressure-level wind and temperature data. If a source is unavailable for a waypoint we show an em dash rather than invent a number.
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