Maracaibo climate
Maracaibo is warmest in March, with average highs of 33 °C, and coldest in January, when nights average 24 °C. October is the wettest month (203 mm) and February the driest (3.4 mm). Figures are 1991–2020 climate normals.
Across a full year Maracaibo averages 1,069 mm of rain and 365 days above 25 °C.
Venezuela · population 1,752,602 · 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 March 33 °C
- Coldest month January 24 °C
- Driest month February 3 mm
- Wettest month October 203 mm
- Least cloud January 35 % cloud
- Hottest on record May 38 °C
- Coldest on record January 21 °C
- Warmest sea September 30 °C
What to expectMaracaibo through the year
Maracaibo changes little through the year. Average daily highs stay between 32 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, 303 of them reach 30 °C. The warmest reading in the 1991–2020 record is 38 °C, in May.
Rain is strongly seasonal. October averages 203 mm against 3 mm in February — 60 times as much. Planning around the dry months matters more here than planning around temperature.
The sea off Maracaibo is warmest in September at 30 °C and coldest in February at 26 °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 | 31.9 °C | 7 mm | 35 % |
| February | 32.6 °C | 3 mm | 39 % |
| March | 32.8 °C | 18 mm | 54 % |
| April | 32.2 °C | 61 mm | 80 % |
| May | 31.4 °C | 151 mm | 88 % |
| June | 31.7 °C | 100 mm | 82 % |
| July | 32.2 °C | 68 mm | 79 % |
| August | 32.0 °C | 119 mm | 80 % |
| September | 31.4 °C | 166 mm | 84 % |
| October | 30.4 °C | 203 mm | 83 % |
| November | 29.9 °C | 140 mm | 75 % |
| December | 30.7 °C | 32 mm | 53 % |
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 | 31.9 °C | 24.3 °C | 27.5 °C | 35.7 °C | 21.1 °C | 31 | 28 | 0 |
| February | 32.6 °C | 24.7 °C | 27.9 °C | 36.4 °C | 22.1 °C | 28 | 27 | 0 |
| March | 32.8 °C | 25.1 °C | 28.2 °C | 36.6 °C | 22.5 °C | 31 | 29 | 0 |
| April | 32.2 °C | 25.7 °C | 28.4 °C | 37.4 °C | 22.4 °C | 30 | 27 | 0 |
| May | 31.4 °C | 25.9 °C | 28.2 °C | 38.3 °C | 24.0 °C | 31 | 26 | 0 |
| June | 31.7 °C | 25.9 °C | 28.4 °C | 37.1 °C | 23.9 °C | 30 | 28 | 0 |
| July | 32.2 °C | 25.9 °C | 28.7 °C | 37.2 °C | 23.6 °C | 31 | 30 | 0 |
| August | 32.0 °C | 25.9 °C | 28.6 °C | 36.7 °C | 23.6 °C | 31 | 30 | 0 |
| September | 31.4 °C | 25.7 °C | 28.1 °C | 36.1 °C | 23.8 °C | 30 | 26 | 0 |
| October | 30.4 °C | 25.2 °C | 27.4 °C | 35.8 °C | 22.9 °C | 31 | 20 | 0 |
| November | 29.9 °C | 24.8 °C | 27.0 °C | 33.4 °C | 22.2 °C | 30 | 13 | 0 |
| December | 30.7 °C | 24.5 °C | 27.2 °C | 35.3 °C | 21.6 °C | 31 | 20 | 0 |
Rain, sun and wind month by month
| Month | Rainfall | Wet days | Daylight | Cloud cover | Humidity | Wind | Sea temp |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 7 mm | 2 | 12 h/day | 35 % | 68 % | 24 km/h | 26.7 °C |
| February | 3 mm | 1 | 12 h/day | 39 % | 65 % | 25 km/h | 26.3 °C |
| March | 18 mm | 3 | 12 h/day | 54 % | 67 % | 24 km/h | 26.5 °C |
| April | 61 mm | 10 | 12 h/day | 80 % | 73 % | 20 km/h | 27.1 °C |
| May | 151 mm | 19 | 13 h/day | 88 % | 80 % | 15 km/h | 28.1 °C |
| June | 100 mm | 14 | 13 h/day | 82 % | 79 % | 16 km/h | 28.7 °C |
| July | 68 mm | 12 | 13 h/day | 79 % | 75 % | 17 km/h | 28.3 °C |
| August | 119 mm | 17 | 12 h/day | 80 % | 78 % | 15 km/h | 28.9 °C |
| September | 166 mm | 21 | 12 h/day | 84 % | 82 % | 13 km/h | 29.6 °C |
| October | 203 mm | 26 | 12 h/day | 83 % | 84 % | 12 km/h | 29.6 °C |
| November | 140 mm | 19 | 12 h/day | 75 % | 84 % | 14 km/h | 28.9 °C |
| December | 32 mm | 6 | 12 h/day | 53 % | 76 % | 19 km/h | 27.7 °C |
How Maracaibo 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maracaibo | 33 °C | 24 °C | 1,069 mm | 365 |
| Cabimas · Venezuela | 32 °C | 24 °C | 1,842 mm | 365 |
| Ciudad Ojeda · Venezuela | 32 °C | 24 °C | 1,857 mm | 365 |
| Maicao · Colombia | 33 °C | 24 °C | 903 mm | 365 |
| Riohacha · Colombia | 33 °C | 24 °C | 972 mm | 365 |
| Valledupar · Colombia | 29 °C | 20 °C | 1,987 mm | 346 |
| Valera · Venezuela | 28 °C | 18 °C | 2,982 mm | 341 |
Where Maracaibo ranks
| Ranking | Position | Value |
|---|---|---|
| The warmest places in South America in February | 10thof 50 | 33 °C |
| The driest places in South America in February | 11thof 50 | 3.4 mm |
| The warmest places in South America in March | 12thof 50 | 33 °C |
| The warmest places in South America in January | 16thof 50 | 32 °C |
| The driest places in South America in January | 19thof 50 | 7.3 mm |
| The warmest places in South America in April | 19thof 50 | 32 °C |
Planning a trip? See the best time to visit Maracaibo.
QuestionsCommon questions about Maracaibo’s climate
When is the best time to visit Maracaibo?
That depends on what you want, so the honest answer is a comparison rather than a single month. October, November, December sit closest to 20 °C on average, March is the warmest month and February the driest. The month-by-month table above has the full picture.
How hot does Maracaibo get?
In March, the warmest month, daily highs average 33 °C. About 303 days a year pass 30 °C. The highest value in the 1991–2020 record is 38 °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 Maracaibo?
October, averaging 203 mm over 26 days with rain. The driest month is February with 3 mm. The year as a whole averages 1,069 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 Maracaibo 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.