Hail Season, Frost Pockets and the Midstream Year at the Window
Forty-seven degrees separate the midsummer and midwinter noon sun over Midstream. Add a hail season with a favourite hour and cold that pools on low stands, and it becomes clear why a blind should be chosen for the whole year and not for the week you happened to notice the problem.
Summer: four o'clock and the hail hour
At noon in December the sun is at 87.7 degrees and the roof carries the load. From three o'clock it is low, close to horizontal, and aimed at the west glass that faces most gardens and parks. Nearly all of Centurion's rain arrives in summer, and the Gauteng hail season peaks in the first half of November, with the peak hour falling between four and five in the afternoon.
So the hour that needs shade most is also the hour most likely to bring a storm. Indoors, a sunscreen roller on a schedule that drops the west wall at 15:00 handles the sun whether or not anyone is home.
Winter: free heat on the north side
By June the noon sun has dropped to about 40 degrees and comes straight through north-facing glass. On a cold Highveld morning that is free heat. Hang a plain blockout roller on a north living room and you spend the winter choosing between glare and warmth. A fabric that can be tuned, such as a day/night blind or a sunscreen mesh, lets the warmth in and takes the edge off the brightness.
Cold runs downhill and stops
Winter nights up here are dry and clear. On a still one, cold air drains to the lowest ground and settles, so a stand beside a park detention area, in a dip or near the spruit carries a frost that a neighbour a few metres higher never sees. On those stands, and in south rooms everywhere, closing a cellular blind at dusk keeps noticeably more warmth in the room.
Sunsets that will not stay put
December's sun sets well to the south of due west and June's well to the north of it, raking a 52-degree arc along the horizon over the year. A fixed overhang is built for one point on that arc and misses the months either side. Blinds on a sun sensor or a seasonal schedule follow the sun instead, which is the quiet argument for motorising the west wall.
Motorised blinds and automation →
Reviewed November 2026 for Midstream.
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