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The driest places in South America in January: ranked by rainfall

Antofagasta tops the list at 0.2 mm in January. Ranked from 1991–2020 climate normals across 50 destinations in South America.

Top three in January: Antofagasta (0.2 mm) , Viña del Mar (0.3 mm) , La Serena (0.3 mm) . Between first and 50th place the rainfall differs by 15 mm.

# Destination Country Rainfall Avg high Avg low Rainfall Wet days Sunshine Sea temp
1 Antofagasta Chile 0.2 mm 24 °C 18 °C 0 mm 0 393 h 20 °C
2 Viña del Mar Chile 0.3 mm 24 °C 16 °C 0 mm 0 424 h 17 °C
3 La Serena Chile 0.3 mm 25 °C 18 °C 0 mm 0 406 h 17 °C
4 Coquimbo Chile 0.3 mm 24 °C 17 °C 0 mm 0 406 h 17 °C
5 Valparaíso Chile 0.3 mm 20 °C 15 °C 0 mm 0 424 h 17 °C
6 Iquique Chile 1.2 mm 27 °C 20 °C 1 mm 0 381 h 22 °C
7 Najrān Saudi Arabia 1.6 mm 26 °C 9.8 °C 2 mm 0 326 h –
8 Maipú Chile 2.7 mm 29 °C 16 °C 3 mm 1 424 h –
9 Santiago Chile 2.7 mm 28 °C 17 °C 3 mm 1 423 h –
10 Talca Chile 4.2 mm 30 °C 15 °C 4 mm 1 427 h –
11 Calabozo Venezuela 5.0 mm 34 °C 24 °C 5 mm 1 339 h –
12 Tabuk Saudi Arabia 5.1 mm 17 °C 3.2 °C 5 mm 1 303 h –
13 Valle de La Pascua Venezuela 5.6 mm 33 °C 23 °C 6 mm 1 334 h –
14 Chimbote Peru 5.9 mm 26 °C 20 °C 6 mm 2 345 h 21 °C
15 Talcahuano Chile 6.2 mm 22 °C 14 °C 6 mm 1 425 h 15 °C
16 Concepción Chile 6.3 mm 24 °C 14 °C 6 mm 1 425 h 14 °C
17 Calama Chile 7.0 mm 25 °C 9.4 °C 7 mm 2 385 h –
18 Rancagua Chile 7.2 mm 28 °C 16 °C 7 mm 1 424 h –
19 Maracaibo Venezuela 7.3 mm 32 °C 24 °C 7 mm 2 347 h 27 °C
20 Quilicura Chile 7.4 mm 29 °C 17 °C 7 mm 2 423 h –
21 San Fernando de Apure Venezuela 7.6 mm 33 °C 25 °C 8 mm 1 336 h –
22 Barquisimeto Venezuela 7.7 mm 30 °C 20 °C 8 mm 2 339 h –
23 Arica Chile 8.0 mm 27 °C 20 °C 8 mm 2 359 h 22 °C
24 Barranquilla Colombia 8.5 mm 28 °C 25 °C 9 mm 2 345 h 26 °C
25 Soledad Colombia 8.5 mm 29 °C 25 °C 9 mm 2 345 h 26 °C
26 Al Kharj Saudi Arabia 8.6 mm 21 °C 7.7 °C 9 mm 2 295 h –
27 Ha'il Saudi Arabia 8.7 mm 17 °C 4.2 °C 9 mm 2 302 h –
28 Yanbu Saudi Arabia 8.8 mm 25 °C 16 °C 9 mm 1 320 h 25 °C
29 Madinah Saudi Arabia 9.0 mm 24 °C 9.0 °C 9 mm 1 318 h –
30 El Tigre Venezuela 9.3 mm 32 °C 22 °C 9 mm 2 328 h –
31 Cartagena Colombia 9.4 mm 30 °C 25 °C 9 mm 2 344 h 28 °C
32 Chillán Chile 9.5 mm 28 °C 13 °C 9 mm 1 426 h –
33 Yopal Colombia 10.0 mm 31 °C 21 °C 10 mm 2 351 h –
34 Coro Venezuela 10 mm 31 °C 23 °C 10 mm 3 344 h 26 °C
35 Cumaná Venezuela 10 mm 29 °C 23 °C 10 mm 3 338 h 25 °C
36 Acarigua Venezuela 11 mm 32 °C 22 °C 11 mm 2 341 h –
37 Araure Venezuela 11 mm 32 °C 22 °C 11 mm 2 341 h –
38 San Juan de los Morros Venezuela 11 mm 31 °C 21 °C 11 mm 3 338 h –
39 Riyadh Saudi Arabia 11 mm 20 °C 7.2 °C 11 mm 2 294 h –
40 Neuquén Argentina 12 mm 32 °C 18 °C 12 mm 2 426 h –
41 Al Hufūf Saudi Arabia 13 mm 20 °C 8.7 °C 13 mm 3 294 h –
42 Maicao Colombia 13 mm 30 °C 24 °C 13 mm 4 344 h –
43 Chincha Alta Peru 14 mm 26 °C 20 °C 14 mm 4 344 h 21 °C
44 Puente Alto Chile 14 mm 28 °C 16 °C 14 mm 3 421 h –
45 Buraydah Saudi Arabia 14 mm 19 °C 6.1 °C 14 mm 3 294 h –
46 Unaizah Saudi Arabia 14 mm 19 °C 6.1 °C 14 mm 2 296 h –
47 Lima Peru 14 mm 25 °C 20 °C 14 mm 4 342 h 21 °C
48 Callao Peru 14 mm 26 °C 20 °C 14 mm 4 342 h 21 °C
49 Santa Anita - Los Ficus Peru 15 mm 24 °C 19 °C 15 mm 4 341 h 21 °C
50 Ciudad Bolívar Venezuela 15 mm 32 °C 23 °C 15 mm 3 327 h –

Monthly values for the month named in the ranking; only destinations with a published climate page are ranked. Download this ranking as CSV.

The same ranking one month earlier and later

December: top 5

  1. Najrān 0.2 mm
  2. Antofagasta 0.2 mm
  3. Coquimbo 0.5 mm
  4. Iquique 0.5 mm
  5. La Serena 0.6 mm

Full ranking for December

February: top 5

  1. Coquimbo 0.5 mm
  2. La Serena 0.5 mm
  3. Antofagasta 0.6 mm
  4. Viña del Mar 1.0 mm
  5. Valparaíso 1.0 mm

Full ranking for February

How this ranking is built

What is ranked
Total precipitation, in mm, in January, lowest first.
Period
1991–2020 climate normals: the same 30 years for every destination, so the list compares like with like.
Who is included
50 destinations in South America with a published climate page. Neighbouring places that share a climate series are shown once.
Ties
Equal values are ordered by fewest wet days.
Sources
ERA5 / ERA5-Land reanalysis via Open-Meteo; sea temperature from NOAA OISST v2.1. Measured values are reproduced unchanged; only the ordering is ours.

Data sources and method

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: ranking order, 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.