Quito climate
Quito is warmest in August, with average highs of 18 °C, and coldest in August, when nights average 8.7 °C. March is the wettest month (329 mm) and July the driest (99 mm). Figures are 1991–2020 climate normals.
Ecuador · population 2,781,641 · 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 August 18 °C
- Coldest month August 8.7 °C
- Driest month July 99 mm
- Wettest month March 329 mm
- Least cloud August 67 % cloud
- Hottest on record September 23 °C
- Coldest on record November 2.7 °C
What to expectQuito through the year
Quito changes little through the year. Average daily highs stay between 18 and 18 °C, so no month stands out as a season in the way it would further from the equator.
Rain is strongly seasonal. March averages 329 mm against 99 mm in July — 3.3 times as much. Planning around the dry months matters more here than planning around temperature.
Month by month
| Month | Avg high | Rainfall | Cloud |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 15.8 °C | 287 mm | 80 % |
| February | 15.9 °C | 279 mm | 85 % |
| March | 16.0 °C | 329 mm | 89 % |
| April | 16.1 °C | 327 mm | 87 % |
| May | 16.3 °C | 254 mm | 82 % |
| June | 16.6 °C | 144 mm | 74 % |
| July | 16.9 °C | 99 mm | 68 % |
| August | 17.7 °C | 102 mm | 67 % |
| September | 17.4 °C | 189 mm | 74 % |
| October | 16.6 °C | 259 mm | 81 % |
| November | 16.0 °C | 309 mm | 86 % |
| December | 15.9 °C | 297 mm | 81 % |
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 | 15.8 °C | 9.4 °C | 11.9 °C | 20.4 °C | 4.6 °C | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| February | 15.9 °C | 9.5 °C | 12.0 °C | 21.6 °C | 4.5 °C | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| March | 16.0 °C | 9.5 °C | 12.1 °C | 20.1 °C | 4.4 °C | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| April | 16.1 °C | 9.5 °C | 12.2 °C | 20.2 °C | 5.5 °C | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| May | 16.3 °C | 9.5 °C | 12.3 °C | 20.7 °C | 5.2 °C | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| June | 16.6 °C | 9.1 °C | 12.2 °C | 20.6 °C | 4.9 °C | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| July | 16.9 °C | 8.8 °C | 12.2 °C | 20.8 °C | 4.8 °C | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| August | 17.7 °C | 8.7 °C | 12.5 °C | 22.5 °C | 4.2 °C | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| September | 17.4 °C | 8.9 °C | 12.4 °C | 23.0 °C | 5.2 °C | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| October | 16.6 °C | 9.1 °C | 12.1 °C | 22.2 °C | 5.3 °C | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| November | 16.0 °C | 9.2 °C | 11.9 °C | 21.4 °C | 2.7 °C | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| December | 15.9 °C | 9.4 °C | 11.9 °C | 21.8 °C | 4.2 °C | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Rain, sun and wind month by month
| Month | Rainfall | Wet days | Daylight | Cloud cover | Humidity | Wind |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 287 mm | 29 | 12 h/day | 80 % | 86 % | 8.7 km/h |
| February | 279 mm | 27 | 12 h/day | 85 % | 86 % | 8.5 km/h |
| March | 329 mm | 30 | 12 h/day | 89 % | 86 % | 8.5 km/h |
| April | 327 mm | 29 | 12 h/day | 87 % | 85 % | 8.3 km/h |
| May | 254 mm | 29 | 12 h/day | 82 % | 83 % | 8.1 km/h |
| June | 144 mm | 24 | 12 h/day | 74 % | 78 % | 8.0 km/h |
| July | 99 mm | 22 | 12 h/day | 68 % | 73 % | 8.5 km/h |
| August | 102 mm | 22 | 12 h/day | 67 % | 71 % | 9.0 km/h |
| September | 189 mm | 26 | 12 h/day | 74 % | 77 % | 8.8 km/h |
| October | 259 mm | 29 | 12 h/day | 81 % | 83 % | 8.9 km/h |
| November | 309 mm | 28 | 12 h/day | 86 % | 87 % | 9.0 km/h |
| December | 297 mm | 29 | 12 h/day | 81 % | 87 % | 8.7 km/h |
How Quito 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quito | 18 °C | 8.7 °C | 2,876 mm | 0 |
| Santo Domingo de los Colorados · Ecuador | 25 °C | 19 °C | 2,720 mm | 105 |
| Ibarra · Ecuador | 22 °C | 10.0 °C | 1,609 mm | 2 |
| Latacunga · Ecuador | 18 °C | 8.0 °C | 1,831 mm | 0 |
| Ambato · Ecuador | 18 °C | 7.9 °C | 2,004 mm | 0 |
| Quevedo · Ecuador | 27 °C | 20 °C | 5,786 mm | 234 |
| Riobamba · Ecuador | 19 °C | 8.1 °C | 1,297 mm | 0 |
Where Quito ranks
| Ranking | Position | Value |
|---|---|---|
| The coolest places in South America in December | 4thof 50 | 16 °C |
| The coolest places in South America in November | 4thof 50 | 16 °C |
| The coolest places in South America in February | 6thof 50 | 16 °C |
| The coolest places in South America in January | 6thof 50 | 16 °C |
| The coolest places in South America in April | 7thof 50 | 16 °C |
| The coolest places in South America in March | 7thof 50 | 16 °C |
Planning a trip? See the best time to visit Quito.
QuestionsCommon questions about Quito’s climate
When is the best time to visit Quito?
That depends on what you want, so the honest answer is a comparison rather than a single month. May, August, September sit closest to 20 °C on average, August is the warmest month and July the driest. The month-by-month table above has the full picture.
How hot does Quito get?
In August, the warmest month, daily highs average 18 °C. The highest value in the 1991–2020 record is 23 °C.
How cold does it get in winter?
Nights average 8.7 °C in August, the coldest month. Freezing nights are not part of a normal year here.
Which month is wettest in Quito?
March, averaging 329 mm over 30 days with rain. The driest month is July with 99 mm. The year as a whole averages 2,876 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 Quito 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.