El Calafate weather in December

In December, El Calafate sees average daytime highs of 14°C and overnight lows near 6°C, with 57 mm of precipitation across 11.7 wet days and about 16.1 hours of daylight. It is the 3rd-warmest and 5th-wettest month of the year here.

Day-to-day highs hold fairly steady near 14°C through the month. The sky is clear or mostly clear about 18% of the time in December, and the air most often feels dry.

Daylight stretches from about 15 h 54 min at the start of December to 16 h 06 min by month's end. Set against the rest of the year, December is El Calafate's 7th-clearest and 2nd-windiest month. For the whole year in context, see El Calafate's year-round climate.

Daytime high: 14°; 3rd warmest
Overnight low: 6°; 10th coldest
Precipitation: 57 mm; 11.7 wet days
Daylight: 16 h 12 min; 5:40 AM – 9:51 PM
Cloud cover: 64%; 7th clearest
Wind: 11 km/h; 2nd windiest
Solar energy: 7.16 kWh/m²
Travel score: 4.0; out of 10

El Calafate is town in Santa Cruz Province, Argentina.

Density: 998/km²; people per km²
Founded: 1927

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

← November El Calafate year-round climate January →Best places to visit in December

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

Temperature in December

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

Day-to-day highs hold fairly steady near 14°C through the month.

A typical December day in El Calafate reaches about 14°C in the afternoon and slips back to 6°C overnight — a 9°C spread between the day's warmth and the night's chill. On most days the high lands between 11°C and 18°C. Set against its neighbours, December runs about 2°C warmer than November and about 1°C cooler than January.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Avg high (°C)	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	15	15	15	15	15	15	15
Avg low (°C)	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6

	Avg high (°C)	Avg low (°C)
1	14	5
2	14	5
3	14	5
4	14	5
5	14	5
6	14	5
7	14	5
8	14	5
9	14	6
10	14	6
11	14	6
12	14	6
13	14	6
14	14	6
15	14	6
16	14	6
17	14	6
18	14	6
19	14	6
20	14	6
21	14	6
22	14	6
23	14	6
24	14	6
25	15	6
26	15	6
27	15	6
28	15	6
29	15	6
30	15	6
31	15	6

How December really feels in El Calafate

Once humidity and wind are folded in, December averages 0 days that feel above 32°C and 0 that feel at or below 0°C — the comfort signal a plain temperature reading hides.

Days feeling ≥ 32°C

heat index over the day's high

Days feeling ≤ 0°C

wind chill below the day's low

December sits comfortably in between — no days that feel dangerously hot or drop to a hard freeze once humidity and wind are folded in.

El Calafate weather by month

How December compares with the rest of the year at a glance. December is the 3rd-warmest and 5th-wettest month here — the current month is highlighted below.

Month	High / Low (°C)	Rainfall (mm)	Wet days	Snow days	Daylight (hours)	Travel score
Jan	16° / 7°	54	11.3	0	15.7	4.7
Feb	15° / 7°	63	10.1	0.3	14.3	4.6
Mar	13° / 6°	67	12.2	0.6	12.5	3.5
Apr	10° / 3°	72	11.9	2.8	10.5	2.0
May	6° / 0°	66	12.2	5.5	8.8	0.4
Jun	2° / -2°	50	10.1	7.8	7.9	0.0
Jul	2° / -3°	50	10.6	8.5	8.3	0.0
Aug	4° / -2°	53	10.9	8.5	9.7	0.0
Sep	7° / -1°	45	8.8	5.1	11.6	0.7
Oct	10° / 1°	53	9.4	3.6	13.5	2.1
Nov	12° / 4°	47	10.1	1.6	15.2	3.4
Dec	14° / 6°	57	11.7	0.7	16.1	4.0

Cloud cover in December

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

The sky is clear or mostly clear about 18% of the time in December.

Beyond those clear spells, partly cloudy skies cover about 25% of December, with mostly cloudy or overcast conditions the remaining 58%.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Clearer (%)	45	45	44	44	45	45	44	44	44	43	44	43	44	43	42	42	42	41	41	41	41	41	40	40	41	40	40	40	41	42	42
Cloudier (%)	55	55	56	56	55	55	56	56	56	57	56	57	56	57	58	58	58	59	59	59	59	59	60	60	59	60	60	60	59	58	58

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	45	55
2	45	55
3	44	56
4	44	56
5	45	55
6	45	55
7	44	56
8	44	56
9	44	56
10	43	57
11	44	56
12	43	57
13	44	56
14	43	57
15	42	58
16	42	58
17	42	58
18	41	59
19	41	59
20	41	59
21	41	59
22	41	59
23	40	60
24	40	60
25	41	59
26	40	60
27	40	60
28	40	60
29	41	59
30	42	58
31	42	58

Chance of precipitation in December

Any precipitationSnow

El Calafate gets around 57 mm of rain and snow over 11.7 wet days in December. The line is the day-by-day chance of measurable precipitation.

Day to day, the chance of measurable precipitation averages around 38% and peaks near 42% on the wettest days, and about 1 day brings snow.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Rain chance (%)	35	34	34	34	34	33	33	34	34	34	35	36	36	37	38	39	39	40	41	41	42	42	42	42	41	41	41	40	40	40	39
Snow chance (%)	3	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2

	Rain chance (%)	Snow chance (%)
1	35	3
2	34	2
3	34	2
4	34	2
5	34	2
6	33	2
7	33	2
8	34	2
9	34	2
10	34	2
11	35	2
12	36	2
13	36	2
14	37	2
15	38	2
16	39	2
17	39	2
18	40	2
19	41	2
20	41	2
21	42	2
22	42	2
23	42	2
24	42	2
25	41	2
26	41	2
27	41	2
28	40	2
29	40	2
30	40	2
31	39	2

Humidity in December

DryComfortableHumidMuggyOppressiveMiserable

Most of December feels dry — the stacked bands show each day's mix of comfort levels, read off the dew point.

By dew point, December lands in the dry band about 100% of days. It rarely turns muggy — the humid and sticky bands barely register.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Dry (%)	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100

	Dry (%)
1	100
2	100
3	100
4	100
5	100
6	100
7	100
8	100
9	100
10	100
11	100
12	100
13	100
14	100
15	100
16	100
17	100
18	100
19	100
20	100
21	100
22	100
23	100
24	100
25	100
26	100
27	100
28	100
29	100
30	100
31	100

Wind in December

Winds average 11 km/h in December.

Across December, daily wind ranges from about 11 km/h on the calmest days to 11 km/h at its breeziest. It stays fairly steady from day to day.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Wind speed (km/h)	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11
Feels	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm

	Wind speed (km/h)	Feels
1	11	calm
2	11	calm
3	11	calm
4	11	calm
5	11	calm
6	11	calm
7	11	calm
8	11	calm
9	11	calm
10	11	calm
11	11	calm
12	11	calm
13	11	calm
14	11	calm
15	11	calm
16	11	calm
17	11	calm
18	11	calm
19	11	calm
20	11	calm
21	11	calm
22	11	calm
23	11	calm
24	11	calm
25	11	calm
26	11	calm
27	11	calm
28	11	calm
29	11	calm
30	11	calm
31	11	calm

Sunrise & sunset in December

DaylightNight

Daylight runs from about 15 h 54 min at the start of December to 16 h 06 min by month's end. The lit band spans sunrise to sunset each day.

Days grow by about 12 minutes over December. Sunrise moves from 5:43 AM to 5:48 AM, and sunset from 9:35 PM to 9:57 PM.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Daylight (h)	15.9	15.9	15.9	16.0	16.0	16.0	16.0	16.1	16.1	16.1	16.1	16.1	16.1	16.2	16.2	16.2	16.2	16.2	16.2	16.2	16.2	16.2	16.2	16.2	16.2	16.2	16.2	16.2	16.2	16.2	16.1
Sunrise (AM)	5:43	5:42	5:42	5:41	5:41	5:41	5:40	5:40	5:40	5:40	5:40	5:40	5:40	5:40	5:40	5:40	5:40	5:40	5:41	5:41	5:41	5:42	5:42	5:43	5:44	5:44	5:45	5:46	5:46	5:47	5:48
Sunset (PM)	9:35	9:36	9:38	9:39	9:40	9:41	9:42	9:43	9:44	9:45	9:46	9:47	9:48	9:49	9:50	9:51	9:51	9:52	9:53	9:53	9:54	9:54	9:55	9:55	9:55	9:56	9:56	9:56	9:56	9:56	9:57

	Daylight (h)	Sunrise (AM)	Sunset (PM)
1	15.9	5:43	9:35
2	15.9	5:42	9:36
3	15.9	5:42	9:38
4	16.0	5:41	9:39
5	16.0	5:41	9:40
6	16.0	5:41	9:41
7	16.0	5:40	9:42
8	16.1	5:40	9:43
9	16.1	5:40	9:44
10	16.1	5:40	9:45
11	16.1	5:40	9:46
12	16.1	5:40	9:47
13	16.1	5:40	9:48
14	16.2	5:40	9:49
15	16.2	5:40	9:50
16	16.2	5:40	9:51
17	16.2	5:40	9:51
18	16.2	5:40	9:52
19	16.2	5:41	9:53
20	16.2	5:41	9:53
21	16.2	5:41	9:54
22	16.2	5:42	9:54
23	16.2	5:42	9:55
24	16.2	5:43	9:55
25	16.2	5:44	9:55
26	16.2	5:44	9:56
27	16.2	5:45	9:56
28	16.2	5:46	9:56
29	16.2	5:46	9:56
30	16.2	5:47	9:56
31	16.1	5:48	9:57

Solar energy in December

Daily solar energy (kWh/m²)

Average shortwave solar energy reaching the ground each day in December, about 7.16 kWh/m² — the sunniest month for solar.

For context, solar energy here swings from a low near 0.82 kWh/m² to a high of 7.16 kWh/m² in December across the year — December's 7.16 kWh/m² sits near the top of that range.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Solar energy (kWh/m²)	7.2	7.2	7.2	7.2	7.2	7.2	7.2	7.2	7.2	7.2	7.2	7.2	7.2	7.2	7.2	7.2	7.2	7.1	7.1	7.1	7.1	7.1	7.1	7.1	7.1	7.1	7.1	7.1	7.0	7.0	7.0
Level	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense

	Solar energy (kWh/m²)	Level
1	7.2	Intense
2	7.2	Intense
3	7.2	Intense
4	7.2	Intense
5	7.2	Intense
6	7.2	Intense
7	7.2	Intense
8	7.2	Intense
9	7.2	Intense
10	7.2	Intense
11	7.2	Intense
12	7.2	Intense
13	7.2	Intense
14	7.2	Intense
15	7.2	Intense
16	7.2	Intense
17	7.2	Intense
18	7.1	Intense
19	7.1	Intense
20	7.1	Intense
21	7.1	Intense
22	7.1	Intense
23	7.1	Intense
24	7.1	Intense
25	7.1	Intense
26	7.1	Intense
27	7.1	Intense
28	7.1	Intense
29	7.0	Intense
30	7.0	Intense
31	7.0	Intense

Planning a trip in December

Is December a good time to visit El Calafate?

Our two travel scores rate December for general sightseeing and for beach or pool weather — 0 (poor) to 10 (ideal).

4.0

Sightseeing

3rd-best month of the year

—

Beach & pool

never really warm enough

December is a reasonable time to visit El Calafate for sightseeing.

What to pack for El Calafate in December

From December's temperature range, rain chance, sun and wind — what's worth putting in the bag.

In December, El Calafate sees daytime highs around 14°C and nights near 6°C. Pack sun protection. Worth having: a warm layer and rain gear. About 12 days see rain.

sun protectiona warm layerrain gear

UV index in El Calafate in December

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Clear-sky midday UV in December peaks around 10 (very high — sun protection essential). The full-year curve, shaded by WHO exposure level, is below.

Under clear skies, the midday UV index in El Calafate peaks around January 12 at about 10 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near June 21 at about 1 (low).

The index reaches 3 or more — the level where the WHO recommends sun protection — in 7 months of the year.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
UV index (midday)	10	9	5	3	1	1	1	2	3	6	7	10
Level	Extreme	Very high	High	Moderate	Low	Low	Low	Low	Moderate	High	High	Very high

	UV index (midday)	Level
Jan	10	Extreme
Feb	9	Very high
Mar	5	High
Apr	3	Moderate
May	1	Low
Jun	1	Low
Jul	1	Low
Aug	2	Low
Sep	3	Moderate
Oct	6	High
Nov	7	High
Dec	10	Very high

Location & terrain

Where is El Calafate?

El Calafate sits at 50.3°S, 72.3°W, 205 m above sea level, in Argentina. The nearest listed city is El Chalten, 121 km away.

Topography around El Calafate

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around El Calafate has significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 256 m around an average of 239 m above sea level; within 16 km, very significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 1,322 m; within 80 km, extreme variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 2,782 m.

The land around El Calafate is covered by grassland (54%) within 3 km, grassland (53%) and water (36%) within 16 km, and grassland (51%) and bare terrain (26%) within 80 km.

3 km

256 m

grassland 54%

16 km

1,322 m

grassland 53%

80 km

2,782 m

grassland 51%

treesshrubsgrasslandartificial surfacesbare terrainsnow and icewatermoss and lichen

← November El Calafate year-round climate January →Best places to visit in December

December weather nearby: El Chalten 121 km · Puerto Natales 155 km · Río Gallegos 255 km · Punta Arenas 328 km · Las Heras 489 km · Río Grande 494 km · Pico Truncado 506 km · Coyhaique 530 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

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 Calafate (-50.3407°, -72.2768°, elevation 205 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).

	Avg high (°C)	Avg low (°C)
1	14	5
2	14	5
3	14	5
4	14	5
5	14	5
6	14	5
7	14	5
8	14	5
9	14	6
10	14	6
11	14	6
12	14	6
13	14	6
14	14	6
15	14	6
16	14	6
17	14	6
18	14	6
19	14	6
20	14	6
21	14	6
22	14	6
23	14	6
24	14	6
25	15	6
26	15	6
27	15	6
28	15	6
29	15	6
30	15	6
31	15	6

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	45	55
2	45	55
3	44	56
4	44	56
5	45	55
6	45	55
7	44	56
8	44	56
9	44	56
10	43	57
11	44	56
12	43	57
13	44	56
14	43	57
15	42	58
16	42	58
17	42	58
18	41	59
19	41	59
20	41	59
21	41	59
22	41	59
23	40	60
24	40	60
25	41	59
26	40	60
27	40	60
28	40	60
29	41	59
30	42	58
31	42	58

	Rain chance (%)	Snow chance (%)
1	35	3
2	34	2
3	34	2
4	34	2
5	34	2
6	33	2
7	33	2
8	34	2
9	34	2
10	34	2
11	35	2
12	36	2
13	36	2
14	37	2
15	38	2
16	39	2
17	39	2
18	40	2
19	41	2
20	41	2
21	42	2
22	42	2
23	42	2
24	42	2
25	41	2
26	41	2
27	41	2
28	40	2
29	40	2
30	40	2
31	39	2

	Dry (%)
1	100
2	100
3	100
4	100
5	100
6	100
7	100
8	100
9	100
10	100
11	100
12	100
13	100
14	100
15	100
16	100
17	100
18	100
19	100
20	100
21	100
22	100
23	100
24	100
25	100
26	100
27	100
28	100
29	100
30	100
31	100

	Avg high (°C)	Avg low (°C)
1	14	5
2	14	5
3	14	5
4	14	5
5	14	5
6	14	5
7	14	5
8	14	5
9	14	6
10	14	6
11	14	6
12	14	6
13	14	6
14	14	6
15	14	6
16	14	6
17	14	6
18	14	6
19	14	6
20	14	6
21	14	6
22	14	6
23	14	6
24	14	6
25	15	6
26	15	6
27	15	6
28	15	6
29	15	6
30	15	6
31	15	6

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	45	55
2	45	55
3	44	56
4	44	56
5	45	55
6	45	55
7	44	56
8	44	56
9	44	56
10	43	57
11	44	56
12	43	57
13	44	56
14	43	57
15	42	58
16	42	58
17	42	58
18	41	59
19	41	59
20	41	59
21	41	59
22	41	59
23	40	60
24	40	60
25	41	59
26	40	60
27	40	60
28	40	60
29	41	59
30	42	58
31	42	58

	Rain chance (%)	Snow chance (%)
1	35	3
2	34	2
3	34	2
4	34	2
5	34	2
6	33	2
7	33	2
8	34	2
9	34	2
10	34	2
11	35	2
12	36	2
13	36	2
14	37	2
15	38	2
16	39	2
17	39	2
18	40	2
19	41	2
20	41	2
21	42	2
22	42	2
23	42	2
24	42	2
25	41	2
26	41	2
27	41	2
28	40	2
29	40	2
30	40	2
31	39	2

	Dry (%)
1	100
2	100
3	100
4	100
5	100
6	100
7	100
8	100
9	100
10	100
11	100
12	100
13	100
14	100
15	100
16	100
17	100
18	100
19	100
20	100
21	100
22	100
23	100
24	100
25	100
26	100
27	100
28	100
29	100
30	100
31	100

	Avg high (°C)	Avg low (°C)
1	14	5
2	14	5
3	14	5
4	14	5
5	14	5
6	14	5
7	14	5
8	14	5
9	14	6
10	14	6
11	14	6
12	14	6
13	14	6
14	14	6
15	14	6
16	14	6
17	14	6
18	14	6
19	14	6
20	14	6
21	14	6
22	14	6
23	14	6
24	14	6
25	15	6
26	15	6
27	15	6
28	15	6
29	15	6
30	15	6
31	15	6

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	45	55
2	45	55
3	44	56
4	44	56
5	45	55
6	45	55
7	44	56
8	44	56
9	44	56
10	43	57
11	44	56
12	43	57
13	44	56
14	43	57
15	42	58
16	42	58
17	42	58
18	41	59
19	41	59
20	41	59
21	41	59
22	41	59
23	40	60
24	40	60
25	41	59
26	40	60
27	40	60
28	40	60
29	41	59
30	42	58
31	42	58

	Rain chance (%)	Snow chance (%)
1	35	3
2	34	2
3	34	2
4	34	2
5	34	2
6	33	2
7	33	2
8	34	2
9	34	2
10	34	2
11	35	2
12	36	2
13	36	2
14	37	2
15	38	2
16	39	2
17	39	2
18	40	2
19	41	2
20	41	2
21	42	2
22	42	2
23	42	2
24	42	2
25	41	2
26	41	2
27	41	2
28	40	2
29	40	2
30	40	2
31	39	2

	Dry (%)
1	100
2	100
3	100
4	100
5	100
6	100
7	100
8	100
9	100
10	100
11	100
12	100
13	100
14	100
15	100
16	100
17	100
18	100
19	100
20	100
21	100
22	100
23	100
24	100
25	100
26	100
27	100
28	100
29	100
30	100
31	100