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The climate of French Guiana
French Guiana is officially an overseas department of France, through
which it is the largest territory of the European Union outside
Europe. French Guiana therefore has the French president for head of
state and the official monetary unit in French Guyana is the euro.
French Guiana has a tropical climate, with which the north-west has a
tropical rainforest climate (type Af) with much precipitation
throughout the year and the rest of the country has a tropical monsoon
climate (type Am) because there is a distinct drier period and a long
rainy season. The Marowijne river (called Maroni by the French) for
the greater part forms the physical border between French Guiana and
Suriname which is situated to the west. This river not only forms the
border between both countries, but is also, due to the bad
controllability, an important smuggling route from Suriname to French
Guiana. Marowijne lies in an area where, on an average, falls an
amount of thousands of millimeters of precipitation a year, through
which the river regularly overflows its banks with all the misery in
consequence of that. The region around Marowijne is on an average
wetter than most parts of the Amazone region.
Climate information of places and areas in French Guiana
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 French Guiana the following climate
information is available:
Tropical heat
The temperature in French Guiana is around the tropical value of
thirty degrees practically throughout the year. In the dry season it
is mostly somewhat warmer because the sun shines much more abundantly
then and the air temperature can rise further than in the rainy
season. At night the temperature does not drop until far after
midnight to a minimum value of about 23-24 degrees Centigrade. In the
highlands of the Toemoek-Hoemak mountains, in the extreme south of
French Guiana, it can be somewhat cooler. Because the large amounts of
precipitation and the high temperatures cause a very high relative
air humidity it can feel very damp and sultry in French Guiana. This
tropical dampness is present throughout the year.
Rainy season and hurricanes
In French Guiana ther is no immediate danger of hurricanes. These
enormous tropical depressions develop between latitude 5 and 20 over
the Atlantic and then travel on in western, north-western and later on
often north or north-east direction. Due to the fact that French
Guiana lies between latitude 2 and 6 it is just outside the route
followed by the hurricanes. The rainy season in French Guiana is from
December up to and including June. In July the average amount of
precipitation fairly diminishes, just like the frequency of the
showers. Large parts of French Guiana can be called relatively dry in
the months of September and October.
Climate figures
Scattered over French Guiana you find different climate data and
temperatures. The information in the table below applies to the
capital of Cayenne and cannot be considered an average of the country.
Visit the individual climate information pages for the climate data of
other places in French Guiana.
More climate information
Climate figures come in handy, but they do not offer an over-all view
of the climate and the possible weather circumstances in a particular
period. How big the chance is of wintry weather, (extreme) heat or
hurricanes cannot often be found again in figures. Therefore we offer
monthly handy climate information. The information below applies to
the capital of Cayenne. For information about specific areas and
places in French Guiana you best visit the specific climate pages of
those places and/or areas .
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.
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= 0-5 mm ●
= 6-30 mm ●
= 31-60 mm ●
= 61-100 mm ●
= 101-200 mm ●
=
over 200 mm
