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La Paz, the administrative capital of Bolivia, sits high in the Andes of western Bolivia, in a dramatic canyon on the edge of the Altiplano plateau at around 3,600–4,000 metres above sea level — among the highest cities in the world — at approximately 16.50°S, 68.15°W. Its extreme altitude, not its tropical latitude, dictates its climate: a cold alpine highland climate (Köppen ET/Cwc) with cool days, cold nights, thin air and a single summer rainy season.
There is no hot summer: the altitude keeps temperatures cool year-round, with daytime highs generally around 14–17°C even at the warmest. The wet season, roughly November to March (the local summer), is the mildest and cloudiest time, when frequent afternoon rain, hail and thunderstorms build over the high city and daytime warmth is tempered by cloud. Nights stay cold throughout the year.
The dry season, from May to August (the local winter), brings bright, sunny days but bitterly cold nights, with temperatures regularly falling below freezing and hard frost almost nightly, while thin, dry air and strong high-altitude sun make the days feel warmer than the readings suggest. This cold, dry, clear season has the largest day-to-night temperature swings of the year.
La Paz is relatively dry, receiving on the order of 550–600 mm of precipitation a year, concentrated in the wet season from December to March, when afternoon thunderstorms and hail are common; the winter from May to August is very dry and sunny. Snow can fall in the high city during cold-season storms. Live rainfall, humidity, and pressure readings for the city are shown in the panels above.
Altitude is everything in La Paz: at over 3,600 metres the air is thin and cold, the sun fierce, and the day-to-night temperature swing large, with frost possible on clear nights even in the 'warm' season. Temperatures also vary dramatically across the city itself, from the higher, colder rim of El Alto down into the lower, milder southern neighbourhoods hundreds of metres below — a vertical climate gradient within a single city.
To follow any single measurement in La Paz more closely, use our live instruments: the online barometer for atmospheric pressure, the thermometer for temperature, the hygrometer for humidity, the anemometer for wind speed, the wind vane for wind direction, and the rain gauge for rainfall.