Fortaleza climate

Name: Fortaleza
Address: BR

Fortaleza is warmest in November, with average highs of 30 °C, and coldest in July, when nights average 24 °C. April is the wettest month (251 mm) and September the driest (4.8 mm). Figures are 1991–2020 climate normals.

Across a full year Fortaleza averages 1,007 mm of rain and 365 days above 25 °C.

Brazil · population 2,400,000 · 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 November 30 °C
Coldest month July 24 °C
Driest month September 5 mm
Wettest month April 251 mm
Least cloud August 24 % cloud
Hottest on record July 33 °C
Coldest on record July 22 °C
Warmest sea April 29 °C

What to expectFortaleza through the year

Fortaleza changes little through the year. Average daily highs stay between 29 and 30 °C, so no month stands out as a season in the way it would further from the equator.

Counted across a normal year, 365 days a year reach 25 °C, 121 of them reach 30 °C. The warmest reading in the 1991–2020 record is 33 °C, in July.

Rain is strongly seasonal. April averages 251 mm against 5 mm in September — 52 times as much. Planning around the dry months matters more here than planning around temperature.

The sea off Fortaleza is warmest in April at 29 °C and coldest in August at 27 °C. Sea temperature lags the air by a month or two, which is why late summer swims warmer than early summer at the same air temperature.

Month by month

Month	Avg high	Rainfall	Cloud
January	29.3 °C	101 mm	63 %
February	29.0 °C	142 mm	68 %
March	28.7 °C	209 mm	71 %
April	28.6 °C	251 mm	73 %
May	28.9 °C	131 mm	56 %
June	28.8 °C	74 mm	41 %
July	29.2 °C	40 mm	33 %
August	30.0 °C	9 mm	24 %
September	30.2 °C	5 mm	24 %
October	30.2 °C	6 mm	34 %
November	30.2 °C	9 mm	44 %
December	30.0 °C	30 mm	50 %

Temperature month by month

Month	Avg high	Avg low	Mean	Record high	Record low	Days above 25 °C	Days above 30 °C
January	29.3 °C	24.9 °C	26.7 °C	32.6 °C	22.8 °C	31	8
February	29.0 °C	24.7 °C	26.5 °C	32.5 °C	22.4 °C	28	5
March	28.7 °C	24.5 °C	26.4 °C	32.3 °C	22.7 °C	31	4
April	28.6 °C	24.5 °C	26.3 °C	31.9 °C	22.4 °C	30	2
May	28.9 °C	24.7 °C	26.5 °C	32.6 °C	22.7 °C	31	4
June	28.8 °C	24.3 °C	26.2 °C	32.4 °C	22.1 °C	30	4
July	29.2 °C	24.0 °C	26.1 °C	32.8 °C	21.5 °C	31	8
August	30.0 °C	24.1 °C	26.4 °C	32.2 °C	22.5 °C	31	16
September	30.2 °C	24.5 °C	26.6 °C	32.4 °C	22.1 °C	30	17
October	30.2 °C	24.9 °C	26.9 °C	32.5 °C	23.4 °C	31	19
November	30.2 °C	25.2 °C	27.2 °C	32.1 °C	23.4 °C	30	19
December	30.0 °C	25.3 °C	27.2 °C	32.0 °C	22.8 °C	31	16

Rain, sun and wind month by month

Month	Rainfall	Wet days	Daylight	Cloud cover	Humidity	Wind	Sea temp
January	101 mm	17	12 h/day	63 %	80 %	21 km/h	28.1 °C
February	142 mm	20	12 h/day	68 %	82 %	20 km/h	28.3 °C
March	209 mm	25	12 h/day	71 %	84 %	18 km/h	28.6 °C
April	251 mm	25	12 h/day	73 %	85 %	18 km/h	28.7 °C
May	131 mm	20	12 h/day	56 %	82 %	20 km/h	28.5 °C
June	74 mm	14	12 h/day	41 %	79 %	23 km/h	27.9 °C
July	40 mm	7	12 h/day	33 %	74 %	25 km/h	27.1 °C
August	9 mm	2	12 h/day	24 %	70 %	27 km/h	26.6 °C
September	5 mm	1	12 h/day	24 %	71 %	28 km/h	26.6 °C
October	6 mm	2	12 h/day	34 %	72 %	27 km/h	26.9 °C
November	9 mm	3	12 h/day	44 %	73 %	26 km/h	27.4 °C
December	30 mm	9	12 h/day	50 %	75 %	24 km/h	27.8 °C

How Fortaleza 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
Fortaleza	30 °C	24 °C	1,007 mm	365
Caucaia · Brazil	31 °C	24 °C	832 mm	365
Maracanaú · Brazil	32 °C	23 °C	901 mm	365
Sobral · Brazil	36 °C	23 °C	789 mm	365

Where Fortaleza ranks

Ranking	Position	Value
Best beach destinations in the world in September	25th of 50	96/100
The driest places in South America in November	29th of 50	8.8 mm
Best beach destinations in the world in August	34th of 50	96/100
Best beach destinations in the world in November	34th of 50	95/100
The driest places in South America in October	36th of 50	6.1 mm
Best beach destinations in the world in October	39th of 50	96/100

Planning a trip? See the best time to visit Fortaleza.

QuestionsCommon questions about Fortaleza’s climate

When is the best time to visit Fortaleza?

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

How hot does Fortaleza get?

In November, the warmest month, daily highs average 30 °C. About 121 days a year pass 30 °C. The highest value in the 1991–2020 record is 33 °C.

How cold does it get in winter?

Nights average 24 °C in July, the coldest month. Freezing nights are not part of a normal year here.

Which month is wettest in Fortaleza?

April, averaging 251 mm over 25 days with rain. The driest month is September with 5 mm. The year as a whole averages 1,007 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 Fortaleza 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: -3.717°, -38.543° (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.