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Maceió, the capital of Alagoas state, sits on the northeastern Atlantic coast of Brazil, on a strip between the ocean and lagoons, at approximately 9.67°S, 35.74°W. It has a tropical climate (Köppen As) — hot and humid year-round, cooled by steady sea breezes — with the wettest months falling in the middle of the year, an unusual pattern shared by much of Brazil's northeastern coast. Its beaches are famed for calm, warm, clear water.
There is no summer in the temperate sense: temperatures stay warm and steady, with daytime highs around 30–31°C and warm, humid nights, tempered by constant ocean breezes. The early part of the year, from around November to February, is the drier, sunniest and hottest-feeling season, when the coast is bright and the beaches at their best — the most popular time to visit.
Nor is there a true winter, but the middle months from around April to July are the rainy season — the opposite of most tropical places — when moist onshore trade winds bring the heaviest rain, more cloud and higher humidity. Temperatures barely fall, staying warm and pleasant, but the weather is greyer and wetter than the sunny start of the year.
Maceió receives on the order of 1,600–2,000 mm of rain a year, concentrated in the mid-year wet season from April to July, when June is typically the wettest month, while the November-to-February period is markedly drier and sunnier. Live rainfall, humidity, and pressure readings for the city are shown in the panels above.
Like much of Brazil's northeastern coast, Maceió's rainy season falls in the middle of the year rather than in summer, driven by moist onshore trade winds. The same steady breezes keep the year-round heat comfortable and, together with offshore reefs that create calm, clear lagoon-like waters, have made the city's beaches among the most celebrated in Brazil.
To follow any single measurement in Maceio 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.