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

Iquique tops the list at 0.4 mm in March. Ranked from 1991–2020 climate normals across 50 destinations in South America.

Top three in March: Iquique (0.4 mm) , Antofagasta (0.9 mm) , Yanbu (1.5 mm) . Between first and 50th place the rainfall differs by 19 mm.

# Destination Country Rainfall Avg high Avg low Rainfall Wet days Sunshine Sea temp
1 Iquique Chile 0.4 mm 27 °C 20 °C 0 mm 0 365 h 21 °C
2 Antofagasta Chile 0.9 mm 24 °C 18 °C 1 mm 0 364 h 19 °C
3 Yanbu Saudi Arabia 1.5 mm 28 °C 19 °C 1 mm 0 340 h 25 °C
4 Tabuk Saudi Arabia 2.8 mm 24 °C 8.4 °C 3 mm 0 348 h –
5 Viña del Mar Chile 3.0 mm 23 °C 14 °C 3 mm 1 362 h 17 °C
6 Valparaíso Chile 3.0 mm 19 °C 15 °C 3 mm 1 362 h 17 °C
7 Arica Chile 3.7 mm 27 °C 20 °C 4 mm 1 358 h 22 °C
8 Madinah Saudi Arabia 4.3 mm 30 °C 14 °C 4 mm 1 338 h –
9 Coquimbo Chile 4.4 mm 23 °C 16 °C 4 mm 0 347 h 17 °C
10 La Serena Chile 4.4 mm 24 °C 17 °C 4 mm 0 347 h 17 °C
11 Jeddah Saudi Arabia 4.6 mm 29 °C 21 °C 5 mm 1 339 h 26 °C
12 Calama Chile 5.4 mm 24 °C 7.7 °C 5 mm 1 362 h –
13 Maipú Chile 8.6 mm 27 °C 14 °C 9 mm 1 360 h –
14 Al Kharj Saudi Arabia 8.6 mm 29 °C 14 °C 9 mm 2 347 h –
15 Santiago Chile 8.6 mm 26 °C 15 °C 9 mm 1 360 h –
16 Najrān Saudi Arabia 9.4 mm 30 °C 15 °C 9 mm 2 351 h –
17 Coro Venezuela 9.8 mm 32 °C 24 °C 10 mm 2 354 h 26 °C
18 Makkah Saudi Arabia 11 mm 32 °C 19 °C 11 mm 2 337 h –
19 Ciudad Guayana Venezuela 11 mm 32 °C 23 °C 11 mm 2 336 h –
20 Rancagua Chile 11 mm 26 °C 13 °C 11 mm 2 359 h –
21 Ha'il Saudi Arabia 12 mm 24 °C 9.6 °C 12 mm 2 337 h –
22 Riyadh Saudi Arabia 12 mm 27 °C 14 °C 12 mm 2 345 h –
23 Chincha Alta Peru 12 mm 26 °C 21 °C 12 mm 3 331 h 21 °C
24 Ciudad Bolívar Venezuela 12 mm 34 °C 24 °C 12 mm 2 333 h –
25 Dammam Saudi Arabia 12 mm 25 °C 16 °C 12 mm 2 333 h 20 °C
26 Buraydah Saudi Arabia 13 mm 27 °C 12 °C 13 mm 2 338 h –
27 Valle de La Pascua Venezuela 13 mm 34 °C 24 °C 13 mm 2 339 h –
28 Tacna Peru 13 mm 27 °C 18 °C 13 mm 4 345 h –
29 Al Jubayl Saudi Arabia 13 mm 26 °C 15 °C 13 mm 2 334 h 20 °C
30 Al Hufūf Saudi Arabia 13 mm 28 °C 14 °C 13 mm 2 339 h –
31 Talca Chile 14 mm 27 °C 13 °C 14 mm 1 357 h –
32 Maicao Colombia 14 mm 32 °C 24 °C 14 mm 3 356 h –
33 Quilicura Chile 14 mm 27 °C 15 °C 14 mm 2 360 h –
34 Chimbote Peru 14 mm 27 °C 21 °C 14 mm 4 311 h 22 °C
35 Puente Alto Chile 15 mm 26 °C 14 °C 15 mm 2 359 h –
36 Unaizah Saudi Arabia 15 mm 26 °C 12 °C 15 mm 2 340 h –
37 El Tigre Venezuela 15 mm 33 °C 22 °C 15 mm 2 333 h –
38 Cumaná Venezuela 15 mm 30 °C 23 °C 15 mm 2 345 h 24 °C
39 Porlamar Venezuela 16 mm 26 °C 24 °C 16 mm 4 347 h 24 °C
40 Calabozo Venezuela 17 mm 35 °C 25 °C 17 mm 3 344 h –
41 Riohacha Colombia 17 mm 31 °C 24 °C 17 mm 4 351 h 25 °C
42 Barcelona Venezuela 18 mm 31 °C 23 °C 18 mm 3 343 h 25 °C
43 Hafar Al-Batin Saudi Arabia 18 mm 26 °C 12 °C 18 mm 3 338 h –
44 Maracaibo Venezuela 18 mm 33 °C 25 °C 18 mm 3 353 h 27 °C
45 Şabyā Saudi Arabia 18 mm 31 °C 24 °C 18 mm 2 344 h 28 °C
46 Neuquén Argentina 19 mm 27 °C 15 °C 19 mm 3 338 h –
47 Cartagena Colombia 19 mm 31 °C 25 °C 19 mm 4 356 h 27 °C
48 Ta’if Saudi Arabia 19 mm 25 °C 14 °C 19 mm 4 341 h –
49 Talcahuano Chile 19 mm 21 °C 12 °C 19 mm 3 352 h 14 °C
50 Ica Peru 20 mm 30 °C 21 °C 20 mm 6 329 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

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

April: top 5

  1. Yanbu 1.0 mm
  2. Tabuk 1.4 mm
  3. Iquique 1.4 mm
  4. Calama 1.6 mm
  5. Antofagasta 1.8 mm

Full ranking for April

How this ranking is built

What is ranked
Total precipitation, in mm, in March, 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.