PARAGUAY
Climate and Weather
Climate and Weather
Climate and Weather
Paraguay has a subtropical to tropical continental climate. Paraguay therefore belongs to the warmest regions of South America. The period September/October to March/April, the summer season, is the period with the most rain. May to September is the drier period. From west to east, the amount of precipitation gradually increases. In the Alto Paraná department, there is an average of 2000 mm per year. Around the capital Asunción there is an average of 1200-1300 mm of precipitation while in the western Gran Chaco no more than 500 mm falls per year.
The average annual temperature varies from north to south from about 26°C to about 21°C. The coldest months are June to August and the warmest months are December to February. The average temperature in Asunción, for example, is 27.2°C in January and 14.3°C in July. Maximum temperatures can reach around 40°C in the capital. In the winter period, average temperatures are between 15°C and 20°C. In the summer period, average temperatures are above 20°C and temperatures regularly exceed 30°C. Paraguay is not protected by mountain ranges running from east to west. As a result, both cold and tropical air masses can reach the country quickly. The winds in particular, including the stormy pampero from the Argentine pampa, have a great influence on the temperature; their rapid arrival, especially in summer, often causes large fluctuations in the temperature, which at night, despite the country's proximity to the tropics and its low altitude above sea level, can drop to freezing.
From south-eastern Paraguay to north-western Paraguay, the differences become greater. The Chaco, for example, experiences temperatures above 40°C in the summer and can drop below freezing in the winter. Frost days only occur in the south and some parts of the Chaco during May-September. On average, the sun shines 310 days a year.
Sources
Bernhardson, W. / Argentina, Uruguay & Paraguay
Lonely Planet
Kleinpenning, J. / Paraguay
Koninklijk Instituut voor de Tropen
CIA - World Factbook
BBC - Country Profiles
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