Managua, the capital of Nicaragua, sits on the southern shore of Lake Managua on a low plain in the west of the country, ringed by volcanic craters at approximately 12.11°N, 86.24°W. It has a tropical savanna climate (Köppen Aw) — hot year-round — with a sharply defined wet and dry season, and it is one of the hottest capital cities in Central America.

There is no summer in the temperate sense: temperatures stay hot all year, with daytime highs around 31–34°C. The hottest months come at the end of the dry season, in March and April, when highs can exceed 35°C. The wet season, from May to October, brings heavy afternoon downpours and thunderstorms, with a short dry break — the caniculo — around July.

There is no true winter, but the dry season from November to April brings hot, sunny, breezy days with almost no rain and slightly lower humidity, cooled by the northeasterly trade winds. Nights are warm, near 21–23°C. This bright, dry stretch is comfortably the most pleasant time of year in the sweltering lowland capital.

Managua receives on the order of 1,100–1,300 mm of rain a year, overwhelmingly concentrated in the wet season from May to October, with peaks in June and September, while December to April is markedly dry. Live rainfall, humidity, and pressure readings for the city are shown in the panels above.

Managua sits low on the shore of Lake Managua, in a volcanic basin that traps the heat, making it consistently among the hottest capitals in the Americas. Its position on the narrow Central American isthmus exposes it to hurricanes crossing from the Caribbean, whose torrential rain triggers deadly landslides on the surrounding volcanic slopes.

To follow any single measurement in Managua 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.