Climate and average weather in El Bolsón

In El Bolsón, the summers are mild, fairly dry, and mostly clear and the winters are cold, snowy, and mostly cloudy.

Best: early January to mid March

Over the course of the year, the temperature in El Bolsón typically varies from -3°C to 19°C, and is rarely below -9°C or above 27°C. February is the hottest month of the year, while July is the coldest.

Based on the travel score, the best time of year to visit El Bolsón for warm-weather activities is from early January to mid March.

Hottest
Feb
19°
Coldest
Jul
-3°
Wettest
Jun
218 mm
Driest
Feb
51 mm
Rain / yr
1425 mm
147 wet days
Daylight
8.9–15.1 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
320 m
42.0°S
Clearest
Feb
46% cloud

El Bolsón is human settlement.

Founded
1926

Air quality: WHO Ambient Air Quality Database. Density & description: Wikidata (CC0), GeoNames.

El Bolsón weather by month, at a glance

The whole year in one picture — sky, rain, humidity, temperature and travel score. Click any band to jump to its full chart.

Each stripe is one measure across the whole year, stacked so a single day reads top to bottom. The sky band runs overcast grey on top down to clear blue at the base — more blue means sunnier — followed by the rainfall curve, the humidity band, a temperature strip that tints each stretch of the year by how warm its average high is, and the travel-score line at the foot. Scan straight down any date to read that day across every measure at once; the score climbs highest around early January to mid March.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

Daily average highs and lows in El Bolsón, from 1991–2020 of climate data. The shaded bands show the range most days fall in — 10th to 90th percentile.

The hot season lasts 3.7 months, from December 2 to March 24, with daily high temperatures above 16°C. The hottest month of the year in El Bolsón is February, with an average high of 19°C and low of 7°C.

The cool season lasts 3.5 months, from May 24 to September 7, with daily high temperatures below 7°C. The coldest month of the year in El Bolsón is July, with an average low of -3°C and high of 4°C.

Days typically run about 9°C warmer than nights, with the widest day–night swing (around 12°C) in February.

-10°10°20°30°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan197
Feb197
Mar176
Apr123
May80
Jun4-2
Jul4-3
Aug5-2
Sep8-1
Oct111
Nov144
Dec176

How hot and cold El Bolsón really feels

Feels-like highFeels-like lowactual air temp

The felt-temperature range through the year — heat index on the day's high (summer humidity), wind chill on the night's low (winter wind). The dashed lines are the plain thermometer; the gap is how much hotter or colder it really feels.

On the coldest nights, wind chill pulls the feels-like down to about -6°C (around July 10), with roughly 182 freezing days a year (feels-like at or below 0°C), worst in July.

-10°-5°10°15°20°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Feels-like high (°C)Air high (°C)Feels-like low (°C)Air low (°C)
Jan191967
Feb191967
Mar171746
Apr121213
May88-10
Jun44-4-2
Jul44-5-3
Aug55-5-2
Sep88-3-1
Oct1111-11
Nov141424
Dec171746

Average hourly temperature in El Bolsón

A compact picture of the whole year, hour by hour: each column is a day, each row an hour, and the color is the modeled average temperature. Darker overlays mark night, lighter ones the civil-twilight hours around sunrise and sunset.

Read left to right for the day of the year and top to bottom for the hour of the day; the color is the modeled temperature, cool blues through to hot reds on the same scale as the other charts. A vertical slice is a single day's swing — coolest just before dawn, warmest in the mid-afternoon — while a horizontal slice follows one hour across the seasons. The darker overlay marks night and the lighter one the twilight around sunrise and sunset. Colors run warmest on February afternoons, near 19°C, and coldest before dawn in July, near -3°C.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec12 AM2 AM4 AM6 AM8 AM10 AM12 PM2 PM4 PM6 PM8 PM10 PM12 AM

El Bolsón weather by month

Every month at a glance. Click a month for its detailed page.

MonthHigh / Low (°C)Rainfall (mm)Wet daysSnow daysDaylight (hours)Travel score
Jan19° / 5670.214.76.8
Feb19° / 516.40.213.76.9
Mar17° / 6890.312.35.5
Apr12° / 11311.62.510.93.0
May / 15914.75.29.71.1
Jun / -2°21817.71390.0
Jul / -3°18916.413.49.30.0
Aug / -2°18317.113.810.30.1
Sep / -1°10112.68.211.71.1
Oct11° / 11213.56.413.12.5
Nov14° / 9211.42.414.44.1
Dec17° / 83101155.5

Chance of rain

How likely it is to rain on a typical day, and how that shifts across the wetter and drier seasons.

El Bolsón gets about 1425 mm of precipitation a year. On a typical day the chance of rain is often wet, but that rises and falls sharply with the seasons.

The wetter season lasts 6.6 months, from around Apr 21 to Nov 7, peaking in June at about 58% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Jan 20.

June is the wettest month by volume, with 218 mm over about 18 wet days; February is the driest, with 51 mm. Some of the cold-season precipitation falls as snow.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdrierwetterdriermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetJun 9 · 58%Jan 20 · 20%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan237
Feb236
Mar299
Apr3812
May4815
Jun5718
Jul5416
Aug5417
Sep4313
Oct4314
Nov3811
Dec3210

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, El Bolsón collects about 1425 mm of rain across 147 wet days — roughly 119 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. June is the wettest month with 218 mm, while February is the driest at just 51 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 41% of the year’s total, and some of the cold-season precipitation falls as snow.

050100150200250JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec5651681131592181891831011129283
Rainfall (mm)Rain daysSnow days
Jan5670
Feb5160
Mar6890
Apr113123
May159155
Jun2181813
Jul1891613
Aug1831714
Sep101138
Oct112146
Nov92112
Dec83101

Snow in El Bolsón

Average snowy days through the year, the snow-season span, and estimated snowfall — for ski trips and the perennial 'will there be snow at Christmas?' question.

El Bolsón averages about 67 snowy days a year. Snow season runs roughly Mar 25 to Jan 1 — about 9.3 months.

August is snowiest, with roughly 13 days of snow and an estimated 110 cm of snowfall. Over the year that adds up to an estimated 488 cm of snow.

05101520JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecsnow seasonAug 7
Snow daysSnowfall (cm)
Jan01
Feb00
Mar01
Apr314
May534
Jun13105
Jul13110
Aug14110
Sep856
Oct640
Nov211
Dec16

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

How often the daytime sky is clear, partly cloudy or overcast.

In El Bolsón, the average share of the sky covered by clouds shows significant seasonal variation over the course of the year.

The clearer part of the year begins around November 12 and lasts for 4.9 months, ending around April 8. The clearest month is February, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 60% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around April 9 and lasts for 6.4 months, ending around October 19. The cloudiest month is June, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 82% of the time.

0%100%10%90%20%80%30%70%40%60%50%50%60%40%70%30%80%20%90%10%100%0%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecFeb 8 · 63%Jun 18 · 17%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastclearercloudierclearer
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan5743
Feb6040
Mar4852
Apr3466
May2080
Jun1882
Jul2476
Aug2674
Sep3070
Oct3565
Nov3961
Dec4852

Daylight, sunrise and sunset

DaylightNight

Hours of daylight through the year, with sunrise and sunset times.

The gold band is daylight — sunrise runs along its lower edge, sunset along the upper — so it widens toward summer and pinches toward winter, with night the dark area above and below. The longest day, around December 18, brings about 15 h 06 min of light; the shortest, around June 19, only 8 h 54 min — a swing of roughly 6 h 12 min.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan14.76:339:18
Feb13.77:108:51
Mar12.37:458:06
Apr10.98:207:12
May9.78:536:31
Jun9.09:176:15
Jul9.39:156:29
Aug10.38:416:59
Sep11.77:497:32
Oct13.16:578:06
Nov14.46:198:44
Dec15.06:119:13

Sunny days

How many genuinely sunny days each month brings — days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — banded into plain-language zones.

El Bolsón averages about 7 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 2 and 14 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 5.6 months, from around Oct 21 to Apr 8. The sunniest month is February, with roughly 13 sunny days (mixed).

The greyest month is June, down near 3 sunny days — about 80% fewer than the February peak.

05101520JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecsunniergreyersunniergloomymixedbrightFeb 1014 daysJun 92 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan13Mixed
Feb12Mixed
Mar10Mixed
Apr6Gloomy
May4Gloomy
Jun3Gloomy
Jul4Gloomy
Aug4Gloomy
Sep5Gloomy
Oct6Gloomy
Nov7Gloomy
Dec10Mixed

Humidity comfort

DryComfortableHumidMuggyOppressiveMiserable

Share of days at each humidity comfort level, based on the dew point — the measure that tracks how muggy it actually feels.

Humidity comfort is graded by the dew point — the temperature at which the air would be fully saturated — because it tracks how muggy it actually feels far better than relative humidity does. A low dew point feels dry and crisp; a high one feels sticky and oppressive no matter the reading on a humidity gauge.

In El Bolsón, the air stays dry or comfortable essentially all year. Even in January, the muggiest month, it feels humid or worse only about 0% of the time — humidity is not something you need to plan around here.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdry
Dry (%)
Jan100
Feb100
Mar100
Apr100
May100
Jun100
Jul100
Aug100
Sep100
Oct100
Nov100
Dec100

Wind

Average wind speed through the year, banded into plain-language speed zones so a number reads as 'breezy' or 'calm' without knowing the scale.

This is the average sustained wind speed at the standard 10 metres above open ground — the steady flow a weather station reports, not the sharper gusts that come and go, which can run half again as fast. It's the number that says whether a place is generally breezy or calm.

Wind in El Bolsón is steady company: average speeds sit near 6 km/hcalm — in every month of the year, with no meaningful windy or calm season.

051015JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDeccalmlight breezeDec 23 · 7 km/hMay 12 · 5 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan7calm
Feb6calm
Mar6calm
Apr6calm
May5calm
Jun6calm
Jul6calm
Aug6calm
Sep6calm
Oct6calm
Nov7calm
Dec7calm

Hazard calendar for El Bolsón

In seasonPeak

When the seasonal hazards worth planning around — the rainy season, tropical-cyclone risk and dust haze — are active through the year.

El Bolsón's rainy season runs April–October, when most of the year's rain falls.

Rainy season
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec

Best time to visit El Bolsón

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

To characterize how pleasant the weather is in El Bolsón throughout the year, we compute two travel scores — one for general sightseeing, one for beach and pool weather.

Around early March, El Bolsón is still near the tail of its best-weather window — great conditions with the peak-season crowds already thinning.

Inferred from the travel-score curve; month-by-month visitor numbers are a planned addition.

The travel score favors clear, rainless days with daytime highs between 18°C and 28°C. Based on this score, the best time of year to visit El Bolsón for general outdoor tourist activities is from late December to mid March, with a peak score in the last week of January.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationJan 22 · 7.0

The travel score (filled area), and its constituents: the temperature score (red line), the cloud cover score (blue line), and the precipitation score (green line).

Travel score (0–10)Rating
Jan6.7good
Feb6.8good
Mar5.5good
Apr3.1poor
May1.1poor
Jun0.0poor
Jul0.0poor
Aug0.1poor
Sep1.1poor
Oct2.5poor
Nov4.1fair
Dec5.5good

The beach/pool score favors clear, rainless days with daytime highs between 24°C and 34°C. Based on this score, the best time of year to visit El Bolsón for hot-weather activities is from mid January to late February, with a peak score in the last week of January.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationJan 24 · 3.5

The beach/pool score (filled area), and its constituents: the temperature score (red line), the cloud cover score (blue line), and the precipitation score (green line).

What to pack for El Bolsón, by month

EssentialRecommendedOptional

Month by month, what's worth putting in the bag — from the temperature range, rain chance, sun and wind. Tap a month for a quick packing note.

For a warm-season trip around February (highs near 19°C), the essentials are a warm layer and sun protection. In the cold season around July (highs near 4°C), pack a warm layer, a heavy coat and rain gear.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In February, El Bolsón sees daytime highs around 19°C and nights near 7°C. Pack sun protection. Worth having: a warm layer. About 6 days see rain.

UV index (midday) in El Bolsón by month

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Clear-sky midday UV index through the year, shaded by the WHO exposure levels — how much sun protection each month calls for.

Under clear skies, the midday UV index in El Bolsón peaks around December 22 at about 12 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near June 18 at about 2 (low).

The index reaches 3 or more — the level where the WHO recommends sun protection — in 8 months of the year.

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecExtremeModerateLowModerateVery highExtremeDec 22UV 12Jun 18UV 2
UV index (midday)Level
Jan12Extreme
Feb11Extreme
Mar7Very high
Apr4Moderate
May3Moderate
Jun2Low
Jul2Moderate
Aug3Moderate
Sep5Moderate
Oct8Very high
Nov9Very high
Dec12Extreme

Average hourly UV index in El Bolsón

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Modeled clear-sky UV for every hour of every day — when in the day sun protection actually matters.

The whole year hour by hour: each column is a day, each row an hour, and the color is the modeled clear-sky UV index — the midday peak scaled down as the sun sits lower in the sky. Darker overlays mark night, lighter ones the civil-twilight hours around sunrise and sunset.

UV falls off far faster than brightness as the sun drops, so even in December the burn window is concentrated in the middle of the day: about 9.5 hours a day reach index 3 (protection recommended), and 7 hours reach 6 or more. Mornings and late afternoons stay comparatively gentle year round.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec12 AM2 AM4 AM6 AM8 AM10 AM12 PM2 PM4 PM6 PM8 PM10 PM12 AM
UV ≥ 3 (h/day)UV ≥ 6 (h/day)
Jan97
Feb8.56
Mar6.53
Apr40
May00
Jun00
Jul00
Aug00
Sep50
Oct74
Nov8.55.5
Dec9.57
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free dayTypical season (≥50%)

The growing season in El Bolsón typically lasts about 233 days, from around September 29 to May 19 — the span where a frost-free day is more likely than not. It is reliably frost-free from November 17 to March 31.

0%25%50%75%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgrowing seasongrowing seasonSep 2950%Nov 1790%Mar 3190%May 1950%
Frost-free chance (%)Frost nights
Jan990
Feb990
Mar961
Apr7830
May5431
Jun2930
Jul2231
Aug2531
Sep3730
Oct6531
Nov8816
Dec970

Growing degree days

Degree days (base 10°C)Frost-free shaded

Growing degree days tally heat above 10°C: each day adds however many degrees its average temperature runs over that threshold, and cold days add nothing. El Bolsón banks about 276 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around February.

0100200300400JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°C·days)
Jan102
Feb95
Mar39
Apr0
May0
Jun0
Jul0
Aug0
Sep0
Oct0
Nov0
Dec40

Solar energy

Average daily shortwave solar energy reaching the ground, banded into brightness zones so the number means something at a glance.

Solar energy is how much sunlight actually reaches the ground each day, measured in kilowatt-hours per square metre (kWh/m²) — the combined effect of how long the sun is up, how high it climbs, and how much cloud gets in the way. It's the raw fuel a solar panel has to work with: for scale, 1 kWh/m² a day is dim and wintry, while 7+ is desert-bright.

El Bolsón receives about 4.3 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — bright — with a clear seasonal swing between 1.4 and 7.5 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 5.9 months, from around Sep 23 to Mar 21. The brightest month is January, averaging about 7.3 kWh/m² (intense).

The dimmest month is June, down near 1.4 kWh/m² — roughly 81% less than the January peak.

0123456789JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbrighterdimmerbrighterdimmoderatebrightintenseJan 57.5 kWhJun 181.4 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan7.4Intense
Feb6.3Intense
Mar4.6Bright
Apr2.9Moderate
May1.7Dim
Jun1.4Dim
Jul1.7Dim
Aug2.5Moderate
Sep4.0Moderate
Oct5.4Bright
Nov6.6Intense
Dec7.4Intense

Where is El Bolsón?

El Bolsón sits at 42.0°S, 71.5°W, 320 m above sea level, in Argentina. The nearest listed city is Bariloche, 93 km away.

Topography around El Bolsón

How much the land rises and falls, and what covers it, within 3, 16 and 80 km of El Bolsón.

Within 3 km, the terrain around El Bolsón has large variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 720 m around an average of 403 m above sea level; within 16 km, very significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 2,052 m; within 80 km, extreme variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 2,469 m.

The land around El Bolsón is covered by trees (64%) within 3 km, trees (60%) and grassland (27%) within 16 km, and trees (42%) and grassland (38%) within 80 km.

3 km
720 m
16 km
2,052 m
80 km
2,469 m
treesshrubsgrasslandcroplandartificial surfacesbare terrainsnow and icewater
Nearby: Bariloche 93 km · Esquel 107 km · Puerto Montt 129 km · Calbuco 134 km · Puerto Varas 140 km · Llanquihue 145 km · Frutillar 157 km · Maullín 175 km

Argentina travel facts

Travel advisory
Level 1
Exercise Normal Precautions
Power plugs
Type C / I
220 V · 50 Hz
Prices
≈ 46% of US
price level, 2025
GDP per capita
$14,898
2025
Happiness
6.4 / 10
World Happiness, 2025
Homicide rate
4.5
per 100k, 2023
Road deaths
14.1
per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group
Upper middle
World Bank
English
High
EF EPI 575
Religion
Roman Catholic 63%none 19%Evangelical 15%Jehovah's Witness and Church of Jesus Christ 1%

Sources: World Bank, US State Department, World Happiness Report, WHO/UNICEF, EF EPI, CIA World Factbook.

Data sources

Temperature, precipitation, cloud, humidity, wind and solar figures are a 1991–2020 climatology for El Bolsón (-41.9605°, -71.5334°, elevation 320 m), computed from hourly ERA5 reanalysis — contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information. Sun figures are astronomical calculations, not observations. City data © GeoNames, CC BY 4.0. Map outlines from Natural Earth (public domain); interactive map © Google. UV index is derived from CAMS (Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service) clear-sky UV data — contains modified Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service information. Topography is sampled from the Copernicus DEM GLO-90 elevation model (© ESA/Airbus) and ESA WorldCover 2021 land cover (CC BY 4.0).