Curitiba, the capital of Paraná state, sits inland on a plateau in southern Brazil at around 935 metres above sea level, well south of the Tropic of Capricorn, at approximately 25.43°S, 49.27°W. Its elevation and southerly latitude give it a subtropical highland climate (Köppen Cfb) — mild, changeable and one of the coolest of Brazil's major cities — with warm summers, cool winters and rain spread through the year. Being in the Southern Hemisphere, its seasons are reversed relative to the Northern.

Summer, from December to February, is warm rather than hot, with highs around 26–27°C — kept mild by the altitude — and comfortable nights. It is among the wetter times of year, with frequent afternoon thunderstorms, and the weather is notably changeable, able to shift from warm sunshine to cool, showery spells within a day as fronts move through.

Winter, from June to August, is cool and damp, with highs around 18–19°C and cold nights that regularly fall near or below freezing, bringing frost — among the coldest of any Brazilian capital. Snow is very rare but has occurred, and grey, chilly, foggy spells are common. The changeable weather can swing between mild sunshine and raw, cold, wet conditions.

Curitiba is fairly wet, receiving on the order of 1,400–1,500 mm of rain a year, spread through every month with no true dry season, though summer is somewhat wetter from thunderstorms; winter is cooler and a little drier but still damp. Live rainfall, humidity, and pressure readings for the city are shown in the panels above.

Curitiba's altitude and southerly position make it one of Brazil's coolest, most changeable major cities, with genuine frost in winter — a rarity in Brazil — and even the occasional dusting of snow. Its weather is famously variable, capable of swinging between warm and cold within a single day as Antarctic-origin cold fronts sweep up from the south, giving it a temperate character quite unlike tropical Brazil.

To follow any single measurement in Curitiba 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.