The climate in Paraguay

Climate zone: The northern part of Paraguay is located in the equatorial tropics, while the southern parts of the country belong geographically to the subtropics.

It is warm or hot yearlong. The warmest and rainiest part of the country is Alto Paraguay. The coldest is Itapúa. Because of the lower temperatures, the best time for traveling is from May to July. Try to avoid the rainy season from January to October.

Temperature records of the last 69 years

The hottest temperature measured from 1955 to February 2024 was reported by the Prats Gil weather station. In November 2009, the record temperature of 45.0 °C was reported here. The hottest meteorological summer from December to February, based on all 33 weather stations in Paraguay below 650 meters altitude, was recorded in 1958 with an average temperature of 28.3 °C. This average temperature will normally be measured every four to six hours, thus also including the nights. Normally, this value is 26.5 degrees Celsius.

The coldest day in these 69 years was reported by the General Bruguez weather station. Here the temperature dropped to -6.0 °C in October 2008. General Bruguez lies at an altitude of 89 meters above sea level. The coldest winter (June to August) was in 1990 with an average temperature of 16.8 °C. In Paraguay, it is usual to have about 2.7 degrees more at 19.5 °C for this three-month period.

The most precipitation fell in December 1971. With 31.6 mm per day, the San Juan Bautista weather station recorded the highest monthly average of the last 69 years. Incidentally, the region with the most rainfall for the whole year is around Capitan Meza. The driest region is near Mariscal Estigarribia.

Record months last year

We compared the record values of the past months with those of the same months in previous years. We used the same criteria to examine the respective maximum and minimum values in the categories of average temperature, precipitation, hours of sunshine and the maximum and minimum temperatures measured throughout the country. We have listed all measured values that have not been reached in Paraguay for 10 or more years.

• At 28.08°C, February 2024 was the warmest February in 55 years (28.58°C in 1969).
• With 8.82 liters of precipitation in 2023, November was the wettest in 26 years (10.48 l/m² in 1997).
• The highest temperature of 44.50°C reached in November 2023 was last seen in the same month 14 years ago (45.00°C in 2009).
• At 24.03°C, September 2023 was the warmest September in 29 years (25.00°C in 1994).
• With 6.21 hours of sunshine per day in June 2023, there was more sunshine than in any June in the last 22 years (6.90 hours in 2001).

The most recent months after February 2024 are not yet available here. We only calculate climatic comparisons after a large number of weather stations on a continent have checked and published their data.

Long-term development of temperatures from 2002 - 2023

In contrast to single record values, long-term development cannot simply be brought about by all weather stations in the country. Both the number and the locations are constantly changing. An average value would give a distorted result. If several measuring stations in particularly cold mountain or coastal regions are added in one year, the average would decrease as a result of this alone. If a station fails during the summer or winter months, it does not provide any values and distorts the average again. The subsequent long-term development was therefore reduced to only 3 measuring points in order to have comparable data over as long a period as possible.

In the years 2002 to 2023, there were only these 3 weather stations in the whole country, which reported continuous temperature values (Concepcion, Asuncionort, Guarani). From these weather reports, we have created a long-term development that shows the monthly average temperatures. The hottest month in this entire period was January 2022 at 30.6 °C. June 2016 was the coldest month with an average temperature of 14.3 °C.

The average annual temperature was about 23.1 °C in the years after 2002 and about 23.4 °C in the last years before 2023. So over the past 22 years, it has only increased by a minimal 0.3 °C. This trend only applies to the selected 3 weather stations in Paraguay. A considerably more comprehensive evaluation of global warming has been provided separately.

Data basis and methodology

The data from the individual measuring stations are based on the archives of the German Weather Service, individual values averaged and supplemented by own elements. In order to determine a representative national average, average values were first calculated for each part of the country, which were then summarized at the national level. Thus, if a disproportionate number of weather stations are located in a small area, their number does not affect the national average.