Santiago de Cuba climate
Santiago de Cuba is warmest in July, with average highs of 32 °C, and coldest in February, when nights average 21 °C. May is the wettest month (123 mm) and January the driest (13 mm). Figures are 1991–2020 climate normals.
Across a full year Santiago de Cuba averages 789 mm of rain and 363 days above 25 °C.
Cuba · population 555,865 · 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 32 °C
- Coldest month February 21 °C
- Driest month January 13 mm
- Wettest month May 123 mm
- Least cloud February 23 % cloud
- Hottest on record July 36 °C
- Coldest on record January 15 °C
- Warmest sea September 30 °C
What to expectSantiago de Cuba through the year
Santiago de Cuba has a clear annual cycle: average daily highs run from 29 °C in February to 32 °C in July, a swing of 3.6 °C in mean temperature across the year.
Counted across a normal year, 363 days a year reach 25 °C, 191 of them reach 30 °C. The warmest reading in the 1991–2020 record is 36 °C, in July.
Rain is strongly seasonal. May averages 123 mm against 13 mm in January — 9.7 times as much. Planning around the dry months matters more here than planning around temperature.
The sea off Santiago de Cuba is warmest in September at 30 °C and coldest in February 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 | 28.7 °C | 13 mm | 27 % |
| February | 29.2 °C | 16 mm | 23 % |
| March | 29.4 °C | 29 mm | 29 % |
| April | 30.0 °C | 49 mm | 34 % |
| May | 30.2 °C | 123 mm | 52 % |
| June | 31.0 °C | 84 mm | 62 % |
| July | 32.0 °C | 63 mm | 50 % |
| August | 31.9 °C | 89 mm | 55 % |
| September | 30.9 °C | 121 mm | 60 % |
| October | 29.9 °C | 115 mm | 59 % |
| November | 29.3 °C | 63 mm | 44 % |
| December | 28.8 °C | 25 mm | 32 % |
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 | 28.7 °C | 21.0 °C | 24.3 °C | 31.9 °C | 15.2 °C | 30 | 4 | 0 |
| February | 29.2 °C | 20.9 °C | 24.5 °C | 32.5 °C | 17.2 °C | 28 | 8 | 0 |
| March | 29.4 °C | 21.3 °C | 24.9 °C | 32.5 °C | 17.3 °C | 31 | 11 | 0 |
| April | 30.0 °C | 22.2 °C | 25.7 °C | 33.0 °C | 19.1 °C | 30 | 15 | 0 |
| May | 30.2 °C | 23.3 °C | 26.3 °C | 34.2 °C | 19.4 °C | 31 | 18 | 0 |
| June | 31.0 °C | 24.3 °C | 27.3 °C | 34.9 °C | 21.8 °C | 30 | 24 | 0 |
| July | 32.0 °C | 24.7 °C | 27.9 °C | 35.6 °C | 22.4 °C | 31 | 29 | 0 |
| August | 31.9 °C | 24.8 °C | 27.8 °C | 35.1 °C | 23.1 °C | 31 | 28 | 0 |
| September | 30.9 °C | 24.4 °C | 27.1 °C | 35.0 °C | 22.6 °C | 30 | 23 | 0 |
| October | 29.9 °C | 23.9 °C | 26.3 °C | 33.4 °C | 20.9 °C | 31 | 16 | 0 |
| November | 29.3 °C | 22.9 °C | 25.5 °C | 32.8 °C | 18.8 °C | 30 | 9 | 0 |
| December | 28.8 °C | 21.8 °C | 24.7 °C | 32.1 °C | 15.9 °C | 31 | 5 | 0 |
Rain, sun and wind month by month
| Month | Rainfall | Wet days | Daylight | Cloud cover | Humidity | Wind | Sea temp |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 13 mm | 3 | 11 h/day | 27 % | 74 % | 16 km/h | 27.2 °C |
| February | 16 mm | 3 | 11 h/day | 23 % | 72 % | 16 km/h | 26.9 °C |
| March | 29 mm | 6 | 12 h/day | 29 % | 72 % | 16 km/h | 27.0 °C |
| April | 49 mm | 9 | 13 h/day | 34 % | 73 % | 15 km/h | 27.6 °C |
| May | 123 mm | 16 | 13 h/day | 52 % | 78 % | 14 km/h | 28.3 °C |
| June | 84 mm | 14 | 13 h/day | 62 % | 80 % | 13 km/h | 28.9 °C |
| July | 63 mm | 13 | 13 h/day | 50 % | 77 % | 14 km/h | 29.4 °C |
| August | 89 mm | 16 | 13 h/day | 55 % | 79 % | 14 km/h | 29.8 °C |
| September | 121 mm | 20 | 12 h/day | 60 % | 82 % | 12 km/h | 29.9 °C |
| October | 115 mm | 18 | 12 h/day | 59 % | 83 % | 12 km/h | 29.5 °C |
| November | 63 mm | 8 | 11 h/day | 44 % | 79 % | 14 km/h | 28.7 °C |
| December | 25 mm | 4 | 11 h/day | 32 % | 77 % | 15 km/h | 27.9 °C |
How Santiago de Cuba 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Santiago de Cuba | 32 °C | 21 °C | 789 mm | 363 |
| Guantánamo · Cuba | 34 °C | 20 °C | 847 mm | 364 |
| Bayamo · Cuba | 34 °C | 19 °C | 1,110 mm | 361 |
| Holguín · Cuba | 33 °C | 20 °C | 904 mm | 353 |
| Las Tunas · Cuba | 33 °C | 20 °C | 1,049 mm | 356 |
| Kingston · Jamaica | 31 °C | 21 °C | 895 mm | 364 |
| Camagüey · Cuba | 33 °C | 20 °C | 963 mm | 355 |
Where Santiago de Cuba ranks
| Ranking | Position | Value |
|---|---|---|
| The warmest places in North America in November | 19thof 50 | 29 °C |
| The warmest places in North America in December | 21stof 50 | 29 °C |
| The warmest places in North America in February | 21stof 50 | 29 °C |
| The warmest places in North America in January | 21stof 50 | 29 °C |
| The warmest places in North America year-round | 26thof 50 | 30 °C |
| The warmest places in North America in October | 33rdof 50 | 30 °C |
Planning a trip? See the best time to visit Santiago de Cuba.
QuestionsCommon questions about Santiago de Cuba’s climate
When is the best time to visit Santiago de Cuba?
That depends on what you want, so the honest answer is a comparison rather than a single month. January, February, December sit closest to 20 °C on average, July is the warmest month and January the driest. The month-by-month table above has the full picture.
How hot does Santiago de Cuba get?
In July, the warmest month, daily highs average 32 °C. About 191 days a year pass 30 °C. The highest value in the 1991–2020 record is 36 °C.
How cold does it get in winter?
Nights average 21 °C in February, the coldest month. Freezing nights are not part of a normal year here.
Which month is wettest in Santiago de Cuba?
May, averaging 123 mm over 16 days with rain. The driest month is January with 13 mm. The year as a whole averages 789 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 Santiago de Cuba 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
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.