Riohacha climate

Name: Riohacha
Address: CO

Riohacha is warmest in July, with average highs of 33 °C, and coldest in January, when nights average 24 °C. October is the wettest month (187 mm) and February the driest (12 mm). Figures are 1991–2020 climate normals.

Across a full year Riohacha averages 972 mm of rain and 365 days above 25 °C.

Colombia · population 188,014 · 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 July 33 °C
Coldest month January 24 °C
Driest month February 12 mm
Wettest month October 187 mm
Least cloud January 40 % cloud
Hottest on record May 39 °C
Coldest on record January 20 °C
Warmest sea September 29 °C

What to expectRiohacha through the year

Riohacha changes little through the year. Average daily highs stay between 30 and 33 °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, 257 of them reach 30 °C. The warmest reading in the 1991–2020 record is 39 °C, in May.

Rain is strongly seasonal. October averages 187 mm against 12 mm in February — 16 times as much. Planning around the dry months matters more here than planning around temperature.

The sea off Riohacha is warmest in September at 29 °C and coldest in February at 25 °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	30.3 °C	18 mm	40 %
February	31.0 °C	12 mm	44 %
March	31.5 °C	17 mm	56 %
April	31.7 °C	49 mm	78 %
May	31.5 °C	120 mm	85 %
June	32.2 °C	77 mm	76 %
July	33.1 °C	53 mm	72 %
August	32.8 °C	96 mm	75 %
September	31.3 °C	159 mm	81 %
October	30.0 °C	187 mm	79 %
November	29.5 °C	132 mm	71 %
December	29.8 °C	52 mm	54 %

Temperature month by month

Month	Avg high	Avg low	Mean	Record high	Record low	Days above 25 °C	Days above 30 °C
January	30.3 °C	23.6 °C	26.4 °C	35.1 °C	20.0 °C	31	18
February	31.0 °C	23.8 °C	26.8 °C	35.8 °C	20.7 °C	28	21
March	31.5 °C	24.2 °C	27.2 °C	37.1 °C	21.0 °C	31	26
April	31.7 °C	24.9 °C	27.7 °C	37.0 °C	22.4 °C	30	25
May	31.5 °C	25.2 °C	27.8 °C	39.2 °C	22.5 °C	31	24
June	32.2 °C	25.5 °C	28.3 °C	37.6 °C	22.8 °C	30	28
July	33.1 °C	25.6 °C	28.7 °C	38.5 °C	23.0 °C	31	30
August	32.8 °C	25.4 °C	28.4 °C	38.0 °C	22.6 °C	31	28
September	31.3 °C	24.8 °C	27.4 °C	38.8 °C	22.5 °C	30	22
October	30.0 °C	24.3 °C	26.6 °C	34.9 °C	22.4 °C	31	14
November	29.5 °C	24.1 °C	26.3 °C	35.3 °C	22.0 °C	30	10
December	29.8 °C	23.9 °C	26.4 °C	35.4 °C	20.5 °C	31	13

Rain, sun and wind month by month

Month	Rainfall	Wet days	Daylight	Cloud cover	Humidity	Wind	Sea temp
January	18 mm	5	12 h/day	40 %	73 %	23 km/h	25.1 °C
February	12 mm	3	12 h/day	44 %	69 %	24 km/h	24.8 °C
March	17 mm	4	12 h/day	56 %	70 %	23 km/h	25.0 °C
April	49 mm	9	12 h/day	78 %	73 %	21 km/h	25.9 °C
May	120 mm	16	13 h/day	85 %	77 %	19 km/h	27.1 °C
June	77 mm	12	13 h/day	76 %	75 %	22 km/h	27.5 °C
July	53 mm	9	13 h/day	72 %	70 %	23 km/h	26.8 °C
August	96 mm	15	13 h/day	75 %	74 %	20 km/h	27.8 °C
September	159 mm	22	12 h/day	81 %	82 %	16 km/h	28.8 °C
October	187 mm	26	12 h/day	79 %	85 %	15 km/h	28.8 °C
November	132 mm	21	12 h/day	71 %	84 %	17 km/h	28.1 °C
December	52 mm	12	11 h/day	54 %	78 %	21 km/h	26.5 °C

How Riohacha 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
Riohacha	33 °C	24 °C	972 mm	365
Maicao · Colombia	33 °C	24 °C	903 mm	365
Valledupar · Colombia	29 °C	20 °C	1,987 mm	346
Santa Marta · Colombia	29 °C	24 °C	2,149 mm	365
Maracaibo · Venezuela	33 °C	24 °C	1,069 mm	365
Cabimas · Venezuela	32 °C	24 °C	1,842 mm	365
Barranquilla · Colombia	30 °C	25 °C	1,803 mm	365

Where Riohacha ranks

Ranking	Position	Value
The warmest places in South America in July	21stof 50	33 °C
The warmest places in South America in June	22ndof 50	32 °C
The warmest places in South America in April	26thof 50	32 °C
The warmest places in South America in May	26thof 50	32 °C
The warmest places in South America in March	28thof 50	31 °C
The warmest places in South America year-round	29thof 50	31 °C

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

QuestionsCommon questions about Riohacha’s climate

When is the best time to visit Riohacha?

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

How hot does Riohacha get?

In July, the warmest month, daily highs average 33 °C. About 257 days a year pass 30 °C. The highest value in the 1991–2020 record is 39 °C.

How cold does it get in winter?

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

Which month is wettest in Riohacha?

October, averaging 187 mm over 26 days with rain. The driest month is February with 12 mm. The year as a whole averages 972 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 Riohacha 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
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.