Rio de Janeiro climate

Name: Rio de Janeiro
Address: BR

Rio de Janeiro is warmest in February, with average highs of 31 °C, and coldest in July, when nights average 17 °C. January is the wettest month (253 mm) and August the driest (43 mm). Figures are 1991–2020 climate normals.

Across a full year Rio de Janeiro averages 1,601 mm of rain and 265 days above 25 °C.

Brazil · population 6,747,815 · 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 February 31 °C
Coldest month July 17 °C
Driest month August 43 mm
Wettest month January 253 mm
Least cloud August 44 % cloud
Hottest on record October 40 °C
Coldest on record June 11 °C
Warmest sea March 25 °C

What to expectRio de Janeiro through the year

Rio de Janeiro has a clear annual cycle: average daily highs run from 25 °C in July to 31 °C in February, a swing of 6.4 °C in mean temperature across the year.

Counted across a normal year, 265 days a year reach 25 °C, 104 of them reach 30 °C. The warmest reading in the 1991–2020 record is 40 °C, in October.

Rain is strongly seasonal. January averages 253 mm against 43 mm in August — 5.8 times as much. Planning around the dry months matters more here than planning around temperature.

The sea off Rio de Janeiro is warmest in March at 25 °C and coldest in August at 21 °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	30.5 °C	253 mm	71 %
February	31.1 °C	187 mm	63 %
March	29.6 °C	210 mm	64 %
April	27.9 °C	103 mm	55 %
May	25.6 °C	76 mm	53 %
June	25.1 °C	47 mm	46 %
July	24.8 °C	49 mm	45 %
August	25.8 °C	43 mm	44 %
September	26.6 °C	88 mm	57 %
October	27.7 °C	115 mm	67 %
November	27.8 °C	204 mm	73 %
December	29.5 °C	226 mm	72 %

Temperature month by month

Month	Avg high	Avg low	Mean	Record high	Record low	Days above 25 °C	Days above 30 °C
January	30.5 °C	23.6 °C	26.6 °C	39.1 °C	18.7 °C	29	18
February	31.1 °C	23.7 °C	26.9 °C	37.8 °C	18.6 °C	28	18
March	29.6 °C	23.1 °C	25.9 °C	37.3 °C	18.1 °C	30	13
April	27.9 °C	21.6 °C	24.3 °C	34.8 °C	14.6 °C	25	7
May	25.6 °C	19.2 °C	21.9 °C	33.2 °C	14.1 °C	16	2
June	25.1 °C	18.0 °C	21.0 °C	32.4 °C	11.3 °C	16	1
July	24.8 °C	17.4 °C	20.5 °C	33.9 °C	11.3 °C	15	1
August	25.8 °C	17.6 °C	21.1 °C	35.4 °C	11.8 °C	18	4
September	26.6 °C	18.7 °C	22.1 °C	39.0 °C	11.4 °C	18	7
October	27.7 °C	20.1 °C	23.3 °C	39.8 °C	13.3 °C	22	10
November	27.8 °C	21.1 °C	24.0 °C	38.2 °C	15.0 °C	22	9
December	29.5 °C	22.7 °C	25.6 °C	38.3 °C	16.8 °C	28	14

Rain, sun and wind month by month

Month	Rainfall	Wet days	Daylight	Cloud cover	Humidity	Wind	Sea temp
January	253 mm	20	13 h/day	71 %	79 %	11 km/h	25.1 °C
February	187 mm	17	13 h/day	63 %	78 %	11 km/h	25.1 °C
March	210 mm	20	12 h/day	64 %	81 %	11 km/h	25.4 °C
April	103 mm	13	12 h/day	55 %	81 %	11 km/h	24.9 °C
May	76 mm	11	11 h/day	53 %	82 %	10 km/h	23.6 °C
June	47 mm	7	11 h/day	46 %	81 %	10.0 km/h	22.6 °C
July	49 mm	7	11 h/day	45 %	79 %	11 km/h	21.9 °C
August	43 mm	8	11 h/day	44 %	78 %	12 km/h	21.3 °C
September	88 mm	11	12 h/day	57 %	77 %	13 km/h	21.3 °C
October	115 mm	14	13 h/day	67 %	78 %	13 km/h	21.8 °C
November	204 mm	19	13 h/day	73 %	80 %	13 km/h	22.5 °C
December	226 mm	20	14 h/day	72 %	80 %	12 km/h	24.0 °C

How Rio de Janeiro 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
Rio de Janeiro	31 °C	17 °C	1,601 mm	265
Niterói · Brazil	31 °C	17 °C	1,550 mm	268
Duque de Caxias · Brazil	31 °C	16 °C	1,613 mm	271
Barra da Tijuca · Brazil	31 °C	17 °C	1,091 mm	277
São João de Meriti · Brazil	32 °C	16 °C	1,633 mm	279
Magé · Brazil	31 °C	16 °C	1,588 mm	260
Nova Iguaçu · Brazil	32 °C	16 °C	1,386 mm	277

Planning a trip? See the best time to visit Rio de Janeiro.

QuestionsCommon questions about Rio de Janeiro’s climate

When is the best time to visit Rio de Janeiro?

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

How hot does Rio de Janeiro get?

In February, the warmest month, daily highs average 31 °C. About 104 days a year pass 30 °C. The highest value in the 1991–2020 record is 40 °C.

How cold does it get in winter?

Nights average 17 °C in July, the coldest month. Freezing nights are not part of a normal year here.

Which month is wettest in Rio de Janeiro?

January, averaging 253 mm over 20 days with rain. The driest month is August with 43 mm. The year as a whole averages 1,601 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 Rio de Janeiro 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: -22.906°, -43.182° (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.