Bogotá, the capital of Colombia, sits high on a plateau in the eastern Andes at around 2,640 metres above sea level — one of the highest capital cities in the world — at approximately 4.71°N, 74.07°W. Although it lies close to the equator, its great altitude gives it a cool, mild highland climate (tierra fría) with remarkably steady temperatures year-round; instead of hot and cold seasons, the year is divided into wetter and drier spells.

There is no summer in the temperate sense: temperatures barely change from month to month. Daytime highs hover around 19–20°C throughout the year, and because the sun is strong at altitude, it can feel pleasantly warm in direct sunlight even though the air is cool. The two drier, sunnier periods — roughly December to March and July to August — bring the clearest skies and the most agreeable weather, and July and August can be noticeably breezy.

Nor is there a true winter, but Bogotá's altitude makes the nights consistently cool, with lows around 7–10°C year-round and mornings that often start cold and foggy before the sky clears. On the clearest, calmest nights temperatures can dip close to freezing, and light frost is possible in outlying areas, though snow never falls in the city. Whatever the month, evenings call for a jacket.

Bogotá has a distinct twice-yearly rainfall pattern typical of the equatorial Andes: the wettest months come in April–May and again in October–November, when afternoon showers and thunderstorms are frequent, separated by the two drier seasons. The city receives on the order of 800–1,000 mm a year, and rain tends to concentrate in the afternoons and evenings while mornings are often bright. Live rainfall, humidity, and pressure readings for the city are shown in the panels above.

The dominant fact of Bogotá's weather is altitude rather than season: at 2,640 metres the air is thin, ultraviolet radiation is intense, and the temperature swings more between day and night than it does between 'summer' and 'winter'. This is the essence of the equatorial highland climate — an 'eternal spring' that is decidedly cooler than the warmer, lower Colombian cities, and visitors are routinely surprised by how chilly the capital can feel.

To follow any single measurement in Bogota 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.