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The climate of Costa Rica
Costa Rica is located in Central America bordering the countries of Panama and Nicaragua. Costa Rica has tropical climate types. The eastern and northeastern part of the country have a tropical rainforest climate (type Af according to the Köppen climate classification). The rest of the country has a tropical monsoon climate (type Am) and a tropical savannah climate (type Af). Because of the many differences in altitude (the Central Cordilla mountain range runs east to west through the middle of the island) and the influences of the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean many micro climates can be found within Costa Rica. Within a radius of just a few kilometers there may be large differences in temperatures, precipitation figures and hours of sunshine. The highest peaks in Costa Rica (Mount Cerro Chirrpó at 3,819 meters and Mount Irazú at 3,431 meters) have a climate that cannot be classified as tropical because of lower temperatures. With temperatures between 2 and 20 degrees Celsius these regions have a moderate sea climate.

Climate information of places and areas in Costa Rica
The climate information on this page is only brief. Specific information about weather and climate can be found on the climate pages per area or town. As for Costa Rica the following climate information is available:

East of the Mountains
The northeastern part of Costa Rica bordering Nicaragua and the Caribbean Sea has a tropical rainforest climate. The highest humidity figures of Costa Rica can be recorded in this part of the country. Maximum temperatures are 26-31 degrees Celsius all year round. As opposed to the rest of the country this part has no dry season or rainy season but is rainy and hot all year round. The Limón province gets 3,000-3,500 millimeters of annual precipitation, all of which falls in the form of rain. Precipitation figures are slightly lower in February, March, September and October. However, these months still get 160-220 millimeters per month. Temperatures are also most constant in this region. The average maximum temperature in Limón is between 26-29 degrees Celsius, minimum temperatures are between 22-24 degrees Celsius. The Heredia province in the northeastern part of the country bordering Nicaragua has slightly higher temperatures on average.

Rainy season
The central part and the western part of Costa Rica have a distinct rainy season. From May precipitation figures start to rise and the rainy season starts. This monsoon period lasts to the end of October till the beginning of December, depending on the region you are in. From December precipitation figures start to decrease. The combination of dry and sunny weather and pleasant temperatures, especially in the Guanacaste province make this part of Costa Rica very popular as a winter sun destination among Americans.

Hurricanes
Because Costa Rica is located in the southern part of Central America the risk of hurricanes is almost nil. Most hurricanes pass by north of Costa Rica. The northeastern part of Costa Rica may experience indirect consequences of a hurricane because the neighboring country of Nicaragua may get hit by a hurricane. Within a radius of a few hundreds of kilometers of a hurricane large amounts of rain may fall. When a hurricane forms over sea, water is lifted into the air which may cause floods in surrounding areas.

Climate figures
Throughout Costa Rica several climate figures and temperatures can be recorded. The figures below are for the capital San José and cannot be seen as an average for the country. For climate figures for other places and regions in Costa Rica please, visit the individual climate pages.

	average  maximum temperature (°C)	average minimum temperature (°C)	average hours of sunshine per day	average days with precipitation per month	average mm precipitation per month	average sea temperature (°C)
January	25	15	7	8		n/a
February	26	15	7	4		n/a
March	28	17	7	5		n/a
April	30	19	7	7		n/a
May	30	19	7	18		n/a
June	28	18	7	21		n/a
July	28	18	6	22		n/a
August	28	17	6	23		n/a
September	27	17	6	21		n/a
October	26	17	6	22		n/a
November	26	16	6	18		n/a
December	25	15	6	14		n/a
= 0-5 mm ● = 6-30 mm ● = 31-60 mm ● = 61-100 mm ● = 101-200 mm ● = over 200 mm = 0-0.2 inches ● = 0.2-1.2 inches ● = 1.2-2.4 inches ● = 2.5-4 inches ● = 4.1-8 inches ● = over 8 inches

More climate information
Climate tables are useful but they don’t give an overall picture of the climate and possible weather conditions during a period of time. How high the chances are of hot or cold weather or hurricanes can often not be found in these tables. This is why we offer extra climate information per month. The figures below are for the capital San José. For climate figures for other places and regions in Costa Rica please, visit the individual climate pages.

	chance of (very) hot weather	chance of (very) cool weather	chance of long-term precipitation	chance of hurricanes (cyclones)	chance of sunny days	UV-index
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December
click here for the explanation of the symbols

Disclaimer
The information at this site was carefully composed from climate data collected by meteorological services, meteorological offices, climate experts and other sources. “More climate info” is based on statistics, climate data and personal experience. No rights can be derived from this site. Weather has no memory and gives no guaranties. Nothing is as changeable and unpredictable as the weather. The authors of this site feel in no way responsible for any damages caused by misinterpretation or other circumstances that may influence your holiday or trip to a certain destination. We provide information, it’s up to the reader to use it to it’s benefit.