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The climate of Peru
Peru is a country located in the western part of the South American continent. The western and south western parts of the country mainly consist of mountainous regions (The Andes) with a relatively narrow and lower situated coastline west of the Andes. The eastern and northern parts of the country mainly consist of lower plains which are separated from the Pacific by the Andes. Because of the interaction between the Pacific Ocean and the Andes the coastline of Peru has a unique climate type. These areas only get a few tens of millimeters to 200 millimeters of annual precipitation. The total amount of hours of sunshine is also limited by fog and clouds coming from the ocean, especially in the north western part of Peru, further south this doesn’t occur that often. Directly along the coast this phenomenon is very persistent and is known as Garua. This type of fog is characteristic for the lower areas west of the Andes and is caused by relatively cold sea water pushing the fog onto land. In the colder period from May till October this phenomenon causes fog to remain stationary almost permanently. This is why the traditional Indians preferred to live in the higher regions where it is sunny and dry.

Climate information of places and areas in Peru
The climate information given on this page is only brief. Specific information on weather and climate can be found on the pages per region or city. The following climate information is available for Peru:

Climate types
Because it is very dry west of the Andes this area has a combination of a warm desert climate (type Bwh) which changes into a cold desert climate (type Bwk) when you travel further south. In order to be classified as a warm desert climate the region has to have a minimum annual temperature of 18 degrees Celsius on average which cannot be recorded in the southern areas. The Andes Mountain Range has climate types that vary from desert and steppe climates to warm and moderate maritime climates. The north eastern part of Peru is part of the Amazon which has tropical climates such as a tropical rainforest climate (type Af according to the Köppen climate classification), some areas have a tropical savannah or a tropical monsoon climate. This region gets much more rain than other regions in Peru. The city Iquitos gets 2,800 millimeters of annual rain on average. This region has its dry season from June till September. However, the term dry may be a misnomer because the region still gets reasonable amounts of precipitation during this period.

Temperatures
In the Peruvian Amazon, or the lower situated areas east of the Andes temperatures are 30-33 degrees Celsius all year round. Because of high humidity figures it feels hot and muggy. During the ‘dry’ months maximum temperatures may even be higher. In July and August temperatures of 35 degrees Celsius or even higher can be recorded on a regular basis. In the Andes temperatures are determined by the altitude you are at. In the valleys the annual average temperature is between 15 and 20 degrees Celsius. On the mountain peaks temperatures may be below freezing point. Temperatures are lower on the western side of the Andes than on the eastern side of the Andes. This is mainly caused by the Peru current or Humboldt current that supplies relatively cold sea water from the south. Temperatures during the afternoon are 21-26 degrees Celsius in the southerly located coastal places. In the northerly located coastal places temperatures are 23-28 degrees Celsius.

Climate figures
Throughout Peru several climate figures and temperatures can be recorded. The figures below are for the capital Lima and cannot be seen as an average for the country. Please, visit the individual climate pages for climate records on other places in Peru.

	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	26	19	6	4		22
February	27	19	7	4		23
March	26	19	7	3		22
April	24	18	7	2		21
May	22	16	5	2		19
June	20	15	2	2		19
July	19	15	1	2		18
August	18	15	1	2		17
September	19	15	2	3		17
October	20	15	3	4		17
November	22	16	4	4		19
December	24	18	5	5		21
= 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 information below is an average for the capital Lima. Please, visit the individual climate pages for climate records on other places in Peru.

	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.