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Cartagena de Indias, a historic port and one of Colombia's top destinations, sits on the Caribbean coast in the north of the country, on a low, walled peninsula and islands at approximately 10.42°N, 75.55°W. It has a hot tropical climate (Köppen Aw) — hot and humid year-round, cooled by trade winds — with a long dry season and a wetter season, and only minimal changes in temperature through the year.
There is no summer in the temperate sense: temperatures stay hot and remarkably steady, with daytime highs around 31–32°C all year and warm, humid nights near 25°C, tempered by the Caribbean breeze. The wet season, from May to November, is more humid and overcast, with heavy afternoon downpours and thunderstorms, peaking around October, when intense rains can flood the low-lying old city.
There is no true winter, but the dry season from December to April is the most pleasant time, when steady trade winds sweep the coast, humidity eases, rain is scarce and skies are bright and windy — the peak tourist season. Temperatures stay hot and steady throughout, so the difference between seasons is one of rain and wind rather than heat.
Cartagena receives on the order of 1,000 mm of rain a year, concentrated in the wet season from May to November, with a strong peak in October, while December to April is very dry; the rain tends to fall in heavy, short-lived tropical downpours. Live rainfall, humidity, and pressure readings for the city are shown in the panels above.
Cartagena is hot and oppressive year-round, its heat and humidity tempered mainly by the Caribbean trade winds that make the dry season breezy and comfortable. Sitting at the edge of the Atlantic hurricane belt, it is only rarely struck directly, but the low-lying colonial city is prone to flooding during the intense downpours of the September–October wet-season peak.
To follow any single measurement in Cartagena 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.