Climate of Brazil

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Although 90% of the country is within the tropical zone, the climate of Brazil varies considerably from the mostly tropical North (the equator traverses the mouth of the Amazon) to temperate zones below the Tropic of Capricorn (23°27' S latitude), which crosses the country at the latitude of the city of São Paulo. Brazil has six climatic regions: equatorial, tropical, semiarid, highland tropical,temperate , and subtropical.

Temperatures along the equator are high, averaging above 25 °C, but not reaching the summer extremes of up to 40 °C in the temperate zones. There is little seasonal variation near the equator, although at times it can get cool enough for wearing a jacket, especially in the rain.

At the country's other extreme, there are frosts south of the Tropic of Capricorn during the winter (June-August), and in some years there are snowfalls on the high plateau and mountainous areas of some states. Snow falls more frequently in the states of Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina and Paraná, and less frequently in the states of São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais and Espírito Santo. Temperatures in the cities of Belo Horizonte and Brasília are moderate (usually between 15 and 30 °C) because of their elevation of approximately 1,000 meters. Rio de Janeiro, Recife, and Salvador on the coast have warm climates, with average temperatures ranging from 23 to 27 °C, but enjoy constant trade winds. The cities of São Paulo, Curitiba and Porto Alegre have a subtropical climate similar to that of southern United States and Europe, and temperatures can fall below freezing in winter.

Precipitation levels vary widely. Most of Brazil has moderate rainfall of between 1,000 and 1,500 mm a year, with most of the rain falling in the summer (between December and April) south of the Equator. The Amazon region is notoriously humid, with rainfall generally more than 2,000 mm per year and reaching as high as 3,000 mm in parts of the western Amazon and near Belém. It is less widely known that, despite high annual precipitation, the Amazon rain forest has a three- to five-month dry season, the timing of which varies according to location north or south of the equator.

High and relatively regular levels of precipitation in the Amazon contrast sharply with the dryness of the semiarid Northeast, where rainfall is scarce and there are severe droughts in cycles averaging seven years. The Northeast is the driest part of the country. The region also constitutes the hottest part of Brazil, where during the dry season between May and November, temperatures of more than 38 °C have been recorded. However, the sertão, a region of semidesert vegetation used primarily for low-density ranching, turns green when there is rain. Most of the Center-West has 1,500 to 2,000 mm of rain per year, with a pronounced dry season in the middle of the year, while the South and most of the a without a distinct dry season.

Contents 1 Climate charts 1.1 Average 1.2 Record 2 See also

[edit] Climate charts

[edit] Average

Climate chart for Rio de Janeiro
J	F	M	A	M	J	J	A	S	O	N	D
125   29 23	122   29 23	130   28 22	107   27 21	79   25 19	53   24 18	41   24 17	43   24 18	66   24 18	79   25 19	104   26 20	137   28 22
temperatures in °C • precipitation totals in mm source: BBC Weather
Imperial conversion J F M A M J J A S O N D     4.9   84 73     4.8   84 73     5.1   82 72     4.2   81 70     3.1   77 66     2.1   75 64     1.6   75 63     1.7   75 64     2.6   75 64     3.1   77 66     4.1   79 68     5.4   82 72 temperatures in °F • precipitation totals in inches

Climate chart for Recife
J	F	M	A	M	J	J	A	S	O	N	D
53   30 25	84   30 25	160   30 24	221   29 24	267   28 23	277   28 23	254   27 22	152   27 22	64   28 23	25   29 24	25   29 24	28   29 25
temperatures in °C • precipitation totals in mm source: BBC Weather
Imperial conversion J F M A M J J A S O N D     2.1   86 77     3.3   86 77     6.3   86 75     8.7   84 75     10.5   82 73     10.9   82 73     10   81 72     6   81 72     2.5   82 73     1   84 75     1   84 75     1.1   84 77 temperatures in °F • precipitation totals in inches

Climate chart for Porto Alegre
J	F	M	A	M	J	J	A	S	O	N	D
89   31 19	81   31 20	99   28 18	104   26 16	114   22 12	130   19 9	114   19 9	127   20 10	132   21 12	86   23 14	79   27 16	89   29 18
temperatures in °C • precipitation totals in mm source: BBC Weather
Imperial conversion J F M A M J J A S O N D     3.5   88 66     3.2   88 68     3.9   82 64     4.1   79 61     4.5   72 54     5.1   66 48     4.5   66 48     5   68 50     5.2   70 54     3.4   73 57     3.1   81 61     3.5   84 64 temperatures in °F • precipitation totals in inches

[edit] Record

Climate chart for Rio de Janeiro
J	F	M	A	M	J	J	A	S	O	N	D
125   39 16	122   37 17	130   36 18	107   34 16	79   35 13	53   32 11	41   33 11	43   34 12	66   38 10	79   39 14	104   38 15	137   39 13
temperatures in °C • precipitation totals in mm source: BBC Weather
Imperial conversion J F M A M J J A S O N D     4.9   102 61     4.8   99 63     5.1   97 64     4.2   93 61     3.1   95 55     2.1   90 52     1.6   91 52     1.7   93 54     2.6   100 50     3.1   102 57     4.1   100 59     5.4   102 55 temperatures in °F • precipitation totals in inches

Climate chart for Recife
J	F	M	A	M	J	J	A	S	O	N	D
53   34 22	84   34 21	160   34 21	221   34 21	267   32 21	277   32 19	254   31 18	152   31 18	64   32 19	25   33 20	25   33 21	28   33 21
temperatures in °C • precipitation totals in mm source: BBC Weather
Imperial conversion J F M A M J J A S O N D     2.1   93 72     3.3   93 70     6.3   93 70     8.7   93 70     10.5   90 70     10.9   90 66     10   88 64     6   88 64     2.5   90 66     1   91 68     1   91 70     1.1   91 70 temperatures in °F • precipitation totals in inches

Climate chart for Porto Alegre
J	F	M	A	M	J	J	A	S	O	N	D
89   39 11	81   41 11	99   39 9	104   36 5	114   33 -1	130   32 -2	114   32 -4	127   33 -1	132   36 0	86   38 4	79   38 6	89   39 8
temperatures in °C • precipitation totals in mm source: BBC Weather
Imperial conversion J F M A M J J A S O N D     3.5   102 52     3.2   106 52     3.9   102 48     4.1   97 41     4.5   91 30     5.1   90 28     4.5   90 25     5   91 30     5.2   97 32     3.4   100 39     3.1   100 43     3.5   102 46 temperatures in °F • precipitation totals in inches

[edit] See also

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