Caracas, the capital of Venezuela, sits in a narrow valley of the Cordillera de la Costa mountains in the north of the country, at around 900 metres above sea level and just a short distance inland from the Caribbean coast, at approximately 10.49°N, 66.90°W. Although it lies well within the tropics, its altitude gives it a mild tropical highland climate (Köppen Aw/Cwa) — spring-like and pleasant year-round — where the year is shaped not by hot and cold seasons but by a distinct dry and rainy season.

There is no summer in the temperate sense: temperatures vary little through the year, with daytime highs generally around 26–28°C and comfortable nights near 17–18°C, moderated by the valley's elevation. The warmest, driest weather comes in the dry months around March and April, before the rains build. The mountain setting keeps the tropical heat gentle, and the wide gap between warm days and cool nights is a hallmark of the highland climate.

Nor is there a true winter, but the dry season from December to March is the sunniest, most settled and most pleasant time, with warm days, cooler nights and clear skies. Nights in this season can feel quite cool in the valley thanks to the altitude, occasionally dropping into the low teens, but frost is unknown and days remain comfortably warm. This dry, bright stretch is comfortably the best time to visit.

Caracas receives around 800–900 mm of rain a year, concentrated in the wet season from May to November, when afternoon and evening thunderstorms are common and June to August are typically the wettest months; the December-to-March dry season sees much less. Heavy rain in the surrounding mountains can occasionally trigger dangerous flash floods and landslides on the steep slopes. Live rainfall, humidity, and pressure readings for the city are shown in the panels above.

Caracas's altitude is the key to its famously agreeable climate: sitting nearly a kilometre up in its mountain valley, it enjoys spring-like warmth all year, far milder than the hot Caribbean coast just over the coastal range to the north. The steep terrain that gives the city its pleasant temperatures also makes it vulnerable to landslides during exceptional rains, as in the catastrophic Vargas mudslides of December 1999 on the nearby coastal slopes.

To follow any single measurement in Caracas 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.