The climate in Paraguay

Climate zone: The northern part of Paraguay is located in the equatorial tropics, while the southern parts of the country belong geographically to the subtropics.

It is warm or hot yearlong. The warmest and rainiest part of the country is Alto Paraguay. The coldest is Itapúa.

Temperature records of the last 68 years

The hottest temperature measured from 1955 to January 2023 was reported by the Prats Gil weather station. In November 2009, the record temperature of 45.0 °C was reported here. The hottest summer from July to September, based on all 33 weather stations in Paraguay below 650 meters altitude, was recorded in 1963 with an average temperature of 22.2 °C. This average temperature will normally be measured every four to six hours, thus also including the nights. Normally, this value is 19.4 degrees Celsius.

The coldest day in these 68 years was reported by the General Bruguez weather station. Here the temperature dropped to -6.0 °C in October 2008. General Bruguez lies at an altitude of 89 meters above sea level. The coldest winter (January to March) was in 1976 with an average temperature of 25.0 °C. In Paraguay, it is usual to have about 1.5 degrees more at 26.5 °C for this three-month period.

The most precipitation fell in December 1971. With 31.6 mm per day, the San Juan Bautista weather station recorded the highest monthly average of the last 68 years. Incidentally, the region with the most rainfall for the whole year is around Capitan Meza. The driest region is near Mariscal Estigarribia.

Long-term development of temperatures from 2002 - 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 2002 to 2022, there were only these 3 weather stations in the whole country, which reported continuous temperature values (Guarani, Concepcion, Asuncionort). 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 January 2022 at 30.6 °C. June 2016 was the coldest month with an average temperature of 14.3 °C.

The average annual temperature was about 23.1 °C in the years after 2002 and about 23.1 °C in the last years before 2022. So it has hardly changed at all in the past 21 years. This trend only applies to the selected 3 weather stations in Paraguay. 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.