The climate in Colombia

Climate zone: tropics

High humidity and hot temperatures make the weather in Colombia pleasant at times but also tropical humid. It is warm to hot all year round, inviting bathing at average water temperatures of 28 degrees. The warmest and also rainiest greaster region is Caribbean Coast. The coldest is Pacific Coast. Due to less rain, the best time for traveling is from January to February. Most precipitation falls from May to October.

Temperature records of the last 54 years

The hottest temperature measured from 1969 to January 2023 was reported by the Valledupar weather station. In March 2016, the record temperature of 41.6 °C was reported here. The hottest summer from July to September, based on all 31 weather stations in Colombia below 1,800 meters altitude, was recorded in 2015 with an average temperature of 27.5 °C. This average temperature will normally be measured every four to six hours, thus also including the nights. Normally, this value is 26.4 degrees Celsius. The average maximum daily temperature at that time was 31.8 °C.

The coldest day in these 54 years was reported by the Villavicencio weather station. Here the temperature dropped to zero °C in April 2018. Villavicencio lies at an altitude of 431 meters above sea level. The coldest winter (January to March) was in 1969 with an average temperature of 24.4 °C. In Colombia, it is usual to have about 2.0 degrees more at 26.4 °C for this three-month period.

The most precipitation fell in July 2017. With 48.1 mm per day, the Quibdo weather station recorded the highest monthly average of the last 54 years. Incidentally, the region with the most rainfall for the whole year is around Quibdo. The driest region is near Santa Marta.

Long-term development of temperatures from 1999 - 2022

In contrast to single record values, long-term development cannot simply be brought about by all weather stations in the country. Both the number and the locations are constantly changing. An average value would give a distorted result. If several measuring stations in particularly cold mountain or coastal regions are added in one year, the average would decrease as a result of this alone. If a station fails during the summer or winter months, it does not provide any values and distorts the average again. The subsequent long-term development was therefore reduced to only 3 measuring points in order to have comparable data over as long a period as possible.

In the years 1999 to 2022, there were only these 3 weather stations in the whole country, which reported continuous temperature values (Cali, Cartagena, Barranquilla). From these weather reports, we have created a long-term development that shows the monthly average temperatures. The hottest month in this entire period was September 2015 at 28.1 °C. February 1999 was the coldest month with an average temperature of 24.9 °C.

The average annual temperature was about 26.2 °C in the years after 1999 and about 26.5 °C in the last years before 2022. So over the past 24 years, it has only increased by a minimal 0.3 °C. This trend only applies to the selected 3 weather stations in Colombia. A considerably more comprehensive evaluation of global warming has been provided separately.

Data basis and methodology

The data from the individual measuring stations are based on the archives of the German Weather Service, individual values averaged and supplemented by own elements. In order to determine a representative national average, average values were first calculated for each part of the country, which were then summarized at the national level. Thus, if a disproportionate number of weather stations are located in a small area, their number does not affect the national average. There are 32 stations in Colombia itself. In 13 cases, neighboring but nearby weather stations were also used to obtain more accurate values.