Weather and Time of Day in Costa Rica
What is the weather
like in Costa Rica?
Those who live in Costa Rica or who have traveled here are probably
rolling their eyes. The answer? Whatever you want it to be with
the exception of snow and frost. Costa Rica has so many climates
that a visitor can be surprised by the need for changes of clothing.
For instance, the beaches are tropical. By that, I mean hot. Daytime
temps in the high 80's to mid 90's are common. The humidity can
vary, but it is generally somewhat high.
The rainforests are hot and humid, but the cloud forests are cool
and moist.
On the other hand, you can visit the mountains where the temperatures
may not reach 65 degrees during the day and can be in the high 40's
to low 50's at night with plenty of fog. If you only brought shorts
and swim trunks, you can find yourself very chilly! Oh, and there
are no furnaces here, so if your trip included the mountain areas
ay night, bring your snuggies!
In the Central Valley, where the capital of San Jose is located,
temperatures average around 78-80 each day with low-moderate humidity.
The valley is several thousand feet above sea level which accounts
for the wonderfully moderate temps! The sun shines nearly every
day, even in the Green (rainy) Season. San Jose may well have the
best climate in the world.
With that much variance, you must truly plan your clothing as you
plan your trip.
I was recently visiting a friend whose home is in the mountainous
portion of Heredia, and I found myself in the odd position of telling
some US friends that even though I was over a thousand miles south
of Miami, it was colder than Chicago. This was in March!
The sun shines brightly here in CR and is VERY hot. CR is located
only ten degrees north of the equator, so we get a strong dose each
day. You can burn nicely in far less than 30 minutes, so travelers
here must come prepared and take it easy at first. Sadly,
one of the things most travel agents forget to tell you is to bring
sunscreen. Probably because they have only read about CR themselves!
A note about seasons.
Cost Rica has two seasons. Summer and Winter (Green
Season).
Summer starts in December and ends around May.
Summer is dry, and rain comes rarely. As I write this in February, San Jose has not had more than an hour or so of rain since
3 days before Christmas. Other parts of the country have had more
rain however... especially the mountain areas.
An interesting note: The kids in CR enjoy their Summer vacation
during December - February. Needless to say, this is also
called the High Season, and hotel rates and many other prices are
higher during this period.
Winter - called the "green season" by some very
imaginative marketing executive I am sure, runs from late May early June to late November. Where I live in San Jose, we expect clouds by Noon and rain
around 1 PM each day that can last from one or two hours to maybe five or six hours.. That still leaves maybe 7 hours of sun
each morning, so the rain is not unpleasant at all.
It is no accident,
therefore, that hotels rates rise in December and fall in June. However, even in the rainy season, there is almost
always six or seven hours each day of sun. Then, around Noon
or 1:00 PM, it begins to rain. This lasts from a couple of
hours to as late as early evening. It then clears, and the
whole process repeats. Rain here comes straight down and a
hard rain is drenching, dropping inches of rain in just a few hours.
Clearly, this mean you must plan you outdoor activities for the
morning, and inside stuff for the afternoon. One nice thing
is it really IS green. Everything blooms and the foliage is
most excellent.
Summary
CR is a land of contrasts! So many
folks come to visit for the beaches which ARE gorgeous, but they
forget the mountains, rain and cloud forests, and other splendid
areas such as the Arenal Volcano and Lake Arenal.
Come and enjoy this beautiful place, but remember to travel as much
of Costa Rica as you can. It WILL be worth your time!
Costa Rica Weather
Here is the current weather at many other popular
Costa Rica destinations. Click on city for report.
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San José
Weather
(Central Valley)
Liberia Weather
(NW Beaches)
Puerto Limón Weather
(Caribbean Beaches)
See lots more forecasts
here
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