La Rioja climate

Name: La Rioja
Address: AR

La Rioja is warmest in December, with average highs of 30 °C, and coldest in July, when nights average 6.1 °C. January is the wettest month (111 mm) and July the driest (10 mm). Figures are 1991–2020 climate normals.

Across a full year La Rioja averages 598 mm of rain, 158 days above 25 °C and 2 days below freezing.

Argentina · population 178,872 · 1991–2020 normals

Temperature below 0 °C to above 30 °C Rain band height is that month’s share of the wettest month

Warmest month December 30 °C
Coldest month July 6.1 °C
Driest month July 10 mm
Wettest month January 111 mm
Least cloud August 25 % cloud
Hottest on record December 43 °C
Coldest on record July -6.7 °C

What to expectLa Rioja through the year

La Rioja has a clear annual cycle: average daily highs run from 15 °C in July to 30 °C in December, a swing of 15 °C in mean temperature across the year.

Counted across a normal year, 158 days a year reach 25 °C, 68 of them reach 30 °C, 2 nights drop below freezing. The warmest reading in the 1991–2020 record is 43 °C, in December.

Rain is strongly seasonal. January averages 111 mm against 10 mm in July — 11 times as much. Planning around the dry months matters more here than planning around temperature.

Month by month

Month	Avg high	Rainfall	Cloud
January	30.0 °C	111 mm	49 %
February	28.6 °C	80 mm	47 %
March	26.0 °C	78 mm	47 %
April	21.9 °C	49 mm	45 %
May	17.9 °C	29 mm	48 %
June	15.1 °C	14 mm	42 %
July	15.0 °C	10 mm	30 %
August	19.2 °C	10 mm	25 %
September	22.8 °C	23 mm	30 %
October	26.2 °C	48 mm	36 %
November	28.4 °C	62 mm	39 %
December	30.0 °C	83 mm	42 %

Temperature month by month

Month	Avg high	Avg low	Mean	Record high	Record low	Days above 25 °C	Days above 30 °C	Days below 0 °C
January	30.0 °C	20.6 °C	25.2 °C	41.5 °C	12.7 °C	28	15	0
February	28.6 °C	19.7 °C	24.0 °C	40.4 °C	11.6 °C	22	10	0
March	26.0 °C	17.8 °C	21.8 °C	37.0 °C	8.5 °C	18	5	0
April	21.9 °C	14.3 °C	17.9 °C	34.4 °C	3.4 °C	7	1	0
May	17.9 °C	10.5 °C	13.9 °C	31.0 °C	-1.4 °C	1	0	0
June	15.1 °C	7.3 °C	10.9 °C	25.0 °C	-2.5 °C	0	0	0
July	15.0 °C	6.1 °C	10.3 °C	28.1 °C	-6.7 °C	0	0	1
August	19.2 °C	8.4 °C	13.5 °C	35.4 °C	-2.8 °C	4	1	1
September	22.8 °C	11.3 °C	16.9 °C	37.3 °C	1.7 °C	11	3	0
October	26.2 °C	14.8 °C	20.5 °C	40.9 °C	4.8 °C	19	7	0
November	28.4 °C	17.7 °C	23.0 °C	41.2 °C	8.4 °C	22	12	0
December	30.0 °C	19.8 °C	24.8 °C	42.9 °C	11.3 °C	27	15	0

Rain, sun and wind month by month

Month	Rainfall	Wet days	Daylight	Cloud cover	Humidity	Wind
January	111 mm	10	14 h/day	49 %	65 %	13 km/h
February	80 mm	9	13 h/day	47 %	67 %	12 km/h
March	78 mm	9	12 h/day	47 %	71 %	12 km/h
April	49 mm	8	11 h/day	45 %	73 %	11 km/h
May	29 mm	5	11 h/day	48 %	74 %	10 km/h
June	14 mm	3	10 h/day	42 %	71 %	10 km/h
July	10 mm	2	10 h/day	30 %	62 %	11 km/h
August	10 mm	2	11 h/day	25 %	52 %	12 km/h
September	23 mm	3	12 h/day	30 %	49 %	13 km/h
October	48 mm	5	13 h/day	36 %	54 %	14 km/h
November	62 mm	7	14 h/day	39 %	56 %	14 km/h
December	83 mm	9	14 h/day	42 %	60 %	14 km/h

How La Rioja compares

The same four figures for nearby destinations, so the numbers above have something to be read against. Summer high is the warmest month's average high; winter low is the coldest month's average low.

Destination	Summer high	Winter low	Rain per year	Days above 25 °C
La Rioja	30 °C	6.1 °C	598 mm	158
Catamarca · Argentina	30 °C	6.0 °C	886 mm	178
Santiago del Estero · Argentina	32 °C	9.9 °C	828 mm	230
San Miguel de Tucumán · Argentina	28 °C	7.1 °C	1,986 mm	154
Córdoba · Argentina	29 °C	5.0 °C	888 mm	145
La Serena · Chile	25 °C	10 °C	105 mm	74
San Luis · Argentina	30 °C	5.1 °C	667 mm	152

Where La Rioja ranks

Ranking	Position	Value
Places with the best weather in South America in September	1st of 50	98/100
Places with the best weather in the world in September	3rd of 50	98/100
Places with the best weather in South America in October	9th of 50	93/100
Places with the best weather in South America in April	15th of 50	92/100
Places with the best weather in South America year-round	24th of 50	83/100
The coolest places in South America in June	24th of 50	15 °C

Planning a trip? See the best time to visit La Rioja.

QuestionsCommon questions about La Rioja’s climate

When is the best time to visit La Rioja?

That depends on what you want, so the honest answer is a comparison rather than a single month. March, April, October sit closest to 20 °C on average, December is the warmest month and July the driest. The month-by-month table above has the full picture.

How hot does La Rioja get?

In December, the warmest month, daily highs average 30 °C. About 68 days a year pass 30 °C. The highest value in the 1991–2020 record is 43 °C.

How cold does it get in winter?

Nights average 6.1 °C in July, the coldest month. A normal year has 2 nights below freezing.

Which month is wettest in La Rioja?

January, averaging 111 mm over 10 days with rain. The driest month is July with 10 mm. The year as a whole averages 598 mm.

Are these figures a forecast?

No. They are 1991–2020 climate normals: the average of thirty years, which describes what a month is usually like in La Rioja rather than what any particular week will bring. Individual years can differ substantially from the normal.

Data sources and method

ERA5 / ERA5-Land reanalysis — Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), ECMWF. Copernicus Licence
Open-Meteo — Open-Meteo.com. CC BY 4.0
NOAA OISST v2.1 — NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory. Public domain
GeoNames — GeoNames.org. CC BY 4.0

Normal period: 1991–2020
Data point: -29.413°, -66.856° (the coordinates the reanalysis values are taken for)
Dataset version: era5-1991-2020-scores1.1
Last processed: 1 August 2026

Measured values come from ERA5 reanalysis and are reproduced unchanged. Calculated by us: monthly rankings, daylight hours, beach and comfort scores. Full formulas are on the methodology page.

Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026. Neither the European Commission nor ECMWF is responsible for any use that may be made of the Copernicus information or data it contains.