Weather and Climate in Colombia

The climate of Colombia ranges from the snow-capped peaks of the Andes to the desert climate on the Caribbean coast to the tropical climate of the rainforest on the Pacific Ocean and is strongly influenced by the respective altitude. In the Llanos there is a tropical climate above 24 ° C, between 1,000 and 2,000 m moderate climate (with 17 – 24 ° C), between 2,000 and 3,000 m cold (12 – 17 ° C) and in the mountain regions above 3,000 m (Páramos) high alpine climate (below 12 ° C during the rainy season). The largest part of Colombia is located in the tropical climate zone (only the north one finds subtropical climate before) with little seasonal temperature fluctuations due to the proximity to the equator and 2 seasons – dry and rainy season. The rain showers usually fall at noon or in the afternoon and usually last for a very short time.
The pattern of the seasons changes in the different parts of the country, for example in the Andes region there are two dry and rainy seasons each year. The main dry season is between December and March. A short, less dry period is between July and August. The rainy season is from March to May as well as October and November. However, this general pattern is not the same for the entire Andean region.

In the Orinoco Delta, on the other hand, there is a dry season between December and March, while the rest of the year is wet. The climate in Amazonia is not uniform, but generally relatively humid all year round.

The greatest amounts of rain fall on the western flank of the Andes towards the Pacific, especially in the hinterland of Buenaventura, which is one of the wettest areas on earth. The east of Colombia is drier. Also parts of the Caribbean coast have very little rain due to the trade winds – extreme dry seasons can be found especially on the Guajira peninsula.

The best time to visit Colombia is the dry season, between December and March or July and August, especially when hiking is on the program. Furthermore, visitors have a better chance of witnessing local cultural events as many festivals and celebrations take place during this time.

Aside from the weather, when planning your trip, you should also consider the Colombian vacation. You have to expect a high influx of visitors, more traffic, overcrowded hotels and very high prices at three times in particular: between the end of December and mid-January, during Semana Santa (Holy Week), and from mid-June to mid-July. In addition, when planning the long weekends when city dwellers storm rural recreational areas such as Villa de Leyva, as well as regional festivals such as the Barranquilla Carnival, one should consider.

Average daytime temperature

Region

Jan

Feb

March

Apr

May

June

July

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Barranquilla

31 ° C

31 ° C

32 ° C

33 ° C

34 ° C

33 ° C

33 ° C

33 ° C

33 ° C

32 ° C

32 ° C

30 ° C

Bogotá

21 ° C

21 ° C

21 ° C

20 ° C

20 ° C

19 ° C

19 ° C

19 ° C

20 ° C

20 ° C

20 ° C

21 ° C

Bucaramanga

30 ° C

30 ° C

30 ° C

31 ° C

31 ° C

31 ° C

31 ° C

31 ° C

31 ° C

29 ° C

29 ° C

30 ° C

Buenaventura

30 ° C

31 ° C

31 ° C

31 ° C

31 ° C

31 ° C

31 ° C

30 ° C

30 ° C

30 ° C

30 ° C

30 ° C

Cali

29 ° C

30 ° C

30 ° C

29 ° C

29 ° C

29 ° C

30 ° C

30 ° C

30 ° C

29 ° C

28 ° C

29 ° C

Cartagena

31 ° C

31 ° C

31 ° C

32 ° C

32 ° C

32 ° C

32 ° C

32 ° C

32 ° C

32 ° C

31 ° C

31 ° C

Cúcuta

31 ° C

31 ° C

32 ° C

32 ° C

33 ° C

33 ° C

33 ° C

34 ° C

34 ° C

33 ° C

32 ° C

31 ° C

Ibagué

29 ° C

29 ° C

29 ° C

28 ° C

28 ° C

28 ° C

30 ° C

30 ° C

29 ° C

27 ° C

27 ° C

28 ° C

Leticia

31 ° C

31 ° C

31 ° C

30 ° C

30 ° C

30 ° C

30 ° C

31 ° C

31 ° C

31 ° C

31 ° C

31 ° C

Manizales

22 ° C

22 ° C

22 ° C

21 ° C

21 ° C

21 ° C

22 ° C

22 ° C

21 ° C

21 ° C

21 ° C

21 ° C

Medellin

28 ° C

29 ° C

29 ° C

28 ° C

28 ° C

28 ° C

29 ° C

29 ° C

28 ° C

27 ° C

28 ° C

28 ° C

Pasto

24 ° C

24 ° C

24 ° C

24 ° C

24 ° C

25 ° C

25 ° C

25 ° C

25 ° C

24 ° C

23 ° C

23 ° C

Pereira

28 ° C

28 ° C

28 ° C

27 ° C

27 ° C

27 ° C

28 ° C

28 ° C

27 ° C

27 ° C

27 ° C

27 ° C

Pueblo Bello

28 ° C

28 ° C

28 ° C

28 ° C

27 ° C

26 ° C

27 ° C

27 ° C

27 ° C

26 ° C

26 ° C

27 ° C

Quibdó

30 ° C

30 ° C

31 ° C

31 ° C

31 ° C

31 ° C

31 ° C

31 ° C

31 ° C

31 ° C

31 ° C

30 ° C

Santa Marta

31 ° C

31 ° C

32 ° C

33 ° C

34 ° C

33 ° C

33 ° C

33 ° C

33 ° C

32 ° C

32 ° C

30 ° C

Villavicencio

31 ° C

32 ° C

31 ° C

30 ° C

30 ° C

29 ° C

28 ° C

29 ° C

30 ° C

31 ° C

30 ° C

31 ° C

Average night temperature

Region

Jan

Feb

March

Apr

May

June

July

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Barranquilla

22 ° C

22 ° C

23 ° C

24 ° C

25 ° C

25 ° C

25 ° C

25 ° C

25 ° C

24 ° C

24 ° C

23 ° C

Bogotá

7 ° C

7 ° C

9 ° C

10 ° C

10 ° C

9 ° C

8 ° C

8 ° C

8 ° C

9 ° C

8 ° C

7 ° C

Bucaramanga

18 ° C

18 ° C

18 ° C

17 ° C

18 ° C

18 ° C

18 ° C

17 ° C

18 ° C

17 ° C

17 ° C

17 ° C

Buenaventura

21 ° C

22 ° C

22 ° C

22 ° C

22 ° C

21 ° C

22 ° C

21 ° C

21 ° C

22 ° C

21 ° C

21 ° C

Cali

18 ° C

18 ° C

18 ° C

18 ° C

18 ° C

18 ° C

18 ° C

18 ° C

18 ° C

18 ° C

18 ° C

18 ° C

Cartagena

23 ° C

23 ° C

24 ° C

25 ° C

25 ° C

25 ° C

25 ° C

25 ° C

25 ° C

25 ° C

25 ° C

24 ° C

Cúcuta

21 ° C

21 ° C

22 ° C

22 ° C

23 ° C

23 ° C

23 ° C

23 ° C

23 ° C

22 ° C

22 ° C

21 ° C

Ibagué

19 ° C

19 ° C

19 ° C

19 ° C

19 ° C

19 ° C

19 ° C

19 ° C

19 ° C

19 ° C

19 ° C

19 ° C

Leticia

22 ° C

22 ° C

22 ° C

23 ° C

22 ° C

21 ° C

21 ° C

21 ° C

21 ° C

22 ° C

22 ° C

22 ° C

Manizales

13 ° C

13 ° C

13 ° C

13 ° C

13 ° C

13 ° C

13 ° C

13 ° C

13 ° C

13 ° C

13 ° C

12 ° C

Medellin

16 ° C

16 ° C

16 ° C

16 ° C

16 ° C

16 ° C

16 ° C

16 ° C

16 ° C

16 ° C

16 ° C

16 ° C

Pasto

13 ° C

13 ° C

14 ° C

14 ° C

13 ° C

13 ° C

13 ° C

13 ° C

13 ° C

13 ° C

14 ° C

13 ° C

Pereira

16 ° C

16 ° C

16 ° C

16 ° C

16 ° C

16 ° C

16 ° C

16 ° C

16 ° C

16 ° C

16 ° C

16 ° C

Pueblo Bello

13 ° C

14 ° C

15 ° C

16 ° C

17 ° C

17 ° C

16 ° C

16 ° C

16 ° C

16 ° C

15 ° C

14 ° C

Quibdó

23 ° C

23 ° C

23 ° C

23 ° C

23 ° C

23 ° C

23 ° C

23 ° C

23 ° C

23 ° C

23 ° C

23 ° C

Santa Marta

22 ° C

22 ° C

23 ° C

24 ° C

25 ° C

25 ° C

25 ° C

25 ° C

25 ° C

24 ° C

24 ° C

23 ° C

Villavicencio

21 ° C

22 ° C

22 ° C

21 ° C

21 ° C

20 ° C

20 ° C

20 ° C

20 ° C

21 ° C

21 ° C

21 ° C

Average water temperature

Region

Jan

Feb

March

Apr

May

June

July

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Barranquilla

26 ° C

26 ° C

27 ° C

27 ° C

27 ° C

27 ° C

27 ° C

27 ° C

28 ° C

28 ° C

27 ° C

27 ° C

Cartagena

27 ° C

27 ° C

26 ° C

27 ° C

27 ° C

27 ° C

27 ° C

28 ° C

28 ° C

29 ° C

27 ° C

27 ° C

Santa Marta

26 ° C

26 ° C

27 ° C

27 ° C

27 ° C

27 ° C

27 ° C

27 ° C

28 ° C

28 ° C

27 ° C

27 ° C

Average hours of sunshine / day

Region	Jan	Feb	March	Apr	May	June	July	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Barranquilla	6	5	4	3	3	4	4	4	4	4	4	6
Bogotá	6	5	4	3	3	4	4	4	4	3	4	5
Bucaramanga	6	6	5	4	5	5	5	4	5	4	4	6
Buenaventura	3	3	3	3	3	4	4	4	3	4	4	3
Cartagena	9	9	8	7	7	7	7	7	6	6	7	8
Cúcuta	7	6	5	5	6	6	7	7	7	6	6	6
Ibagué	6	5	5	4	5	6	6	6	6	5	5	5
Leticia	4	4	4	5	5	5	6	7	6	6	5	4
Manizales	6	5	4	4	3	4	5	5	4	4	4	5
Medellin	6	5	5	5	4	6	7	6	5	5	5	5
Pasto	5	5	5	5	5	6	7	7	6	5	5	5
Pereira	6	6	5	4	5	5	6	6	5	4	5	6
Pueblo Bello	9	9	8	6	6	6	7	7	6	6	7	8
Quibdó	3	3	3	3	4	4	5	4	4	4	4	3
Santa Marta	6	5	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	3	4	7
Villavicencio	5	4	3	4	4	3	4	4	5	5	5	5

Average rainy days / month

Region	Jan	Feb	March	Apr	May	June	July	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Barranquilla	0	0	0	1	4	8	5	6	8	11	6	4
Bogotá	9	7	10	18	16	10	16	10	13	18	16	13
Bucaramanga	5	6	10	12	13	11	11	13	12	15	10	6
Buenaventura	18	16	18	19	22	22	23	25	24	25	23	22
Cali	5	5	9	9	8	6	3	3	6	7	8	4
Cartagena	1	1	1	2	6	9	7	8	10	14	8	3
Cúcuta	4	5	6	9	9	8	8	7	8	11	8	6
Ibagué	9	9	11	15	14	10	7	8	11	16	14	10
Manizales	6	7	8	13	13	11	10	10	11	16	12	10
Medellin	8	9	12	18	21	16	15	18	19	22	19	13
Pasto	11	11	11	13	12	8	4	4	6	14	15	13
Pereira	12	12	15	18	19	18	16	15	17	22	21	15
Pueblo Bello	1	4	7	10	20	16	14	16	20	25	17	5
Quibdó	22	18	18	21	25	23	25	27	24	25	24	24
Santa Marta	0	0	0	1	4	8	5	6	8	11	6	4
Villavicencio	6	6	12	21	23	24	22	20	19	19	19	10