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Manaus, the largest city of the Brazilian Amazon and capital of Amazonas state, sits deep in the rainforest at the meeting of the Negro and Solimões rivers, just south of the equator at approximately 3.12°S, 60.02°W. It has an equatorial monsoon climate (Köppen Am) — hot and humid year-round — with a marked wet season and a relatively drier season, though the heat and humidity of the surrounding rainforest never really let up.
There is no summer in the temperate sense: temperatures stay high and steady, with daytime highs around 31–33°C and warm, humid nights, and rarely rising above the mid-30s thanks to the moist rainforest air. The wet season, from November to May, brings very heavy, frequent rain and near-constant high humidity, peaking around March, when afternoon thunderstorms drench the forest and the great rivers rise dramatically.
Nor is there a true winter, but the drier season from June to October brings noticeably less rain, more sunshine and the same steady warmth. This is when the rivers fall and the weather is most settled, making it the favoured time to explore the Amazon's smaller waterways — comfortably the best time to visit, though it remains hot and humid throughout.
Manaus is very wet, receiving on the order of 2,300–2,600 mm of rain a year, heavily concentrated in the wet season from November to May — March is the wettest month, with over 300 mm — while August and September are much drier, sometimes under 60 mm. The seasonal swing drives the great annual rise and fall of the Amazon's rivers. Live rainfall, humidity, and pressure readings for the city are shown in the panels above.
Manaus's weather is inseparable from the Amazon that surrounds it: the seasonal rhythm of wet and dry drives the enormous annual rise and fall of the Negro and Solimões rivers, which can vary by ten metres or more between the flood and the low-water season. The heat and humidity are relentless year-round, and the rainforest generates much of its own rainfall through constant evaporation and towering afternoon storms.
To follow any single measurement in Manaus 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.