El Calafate weather in March

In March, El Calafate sees average daytime highs of 13°C and overnight lows near 6°C, with 67 mm of precipitation across 12.2 wet days and about 12.5 hours of daylight. It is the 4th-warmest and 2nd-wettest month of the year here.

Highs ease over the month, from about 15°C in the first days to 12°C by the end. The sky is clear or mostly clear about 22% of the time in March, and the air most often feels dry.

Daylight stretches from about 13 h 24 min at the start of March to 11 h 30 min by month's end. Set against the rest of the year, March is El Calafate's 5th-clearest and 5th-windiest month. For the whole year in context, see El Calafate's year-round climate.

Daytime high: 13°; 4th warmest
Overnight low: 6°; 10th coldest
Precipitation: 67 mm; 12.2 wet days
Daylight: 12 h 30 min; 7:45 AM – 8:13 PM
Cloud cover: 62%; 5th clearest
Wind: 8 km/h; 5th windiest
Solar energy: 3.8 kWh/m²
Travel score: 3.5; 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.

← February El Calafate year-round climate April →Best places to visit in March

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

Temperature in March

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

Highs ease over the month, from about 15°C in the first days to 12°C by the end.

A typical March day in El Calafate reaches about 13°C in the afternoon and slips back to 6°C overnight — a 7°C spread between the day's warmth and the night's chill. On most days the high lands between 9°C and 17°C. Set against its neighbours, March runs about 2°C cooler than February and about 4°C warmer than April.

	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)	15	15	15	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12
Avg low (°C)	7	7	7	7	7	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5

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

How March really feels in El Calafate

Once humidity and wind are folded in, March 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

March 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 March compares with the rest of the year at a glance. March is the 4th-warmest and 2nd-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 March

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

The sky is clear or mostly clear about 22% of the time in March.

Beyond those clear spells, partly cloudy skies cover about 22% of March, with mostly cloudy or overcast conditions the remaining 56%.

	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 (%)	48	48	48	48	48	47	48	47	47	45	45	44	44	44	42	42	42	42	42	41	40	40	41	41	41	41	41	41	41	41	41
Cloudier (%)	52	52	52	52	52	53	52	53	53	55	55	56	56	56	58	58	58	58	58	59	60	60	59	59	59	59	59	59	59	59	59

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	48	52
2	48	52
3	48	52
4	48	52
5	48	52
6	47	53
7	48	52
8	47	53
9	47	53
10	45	55
11	45	55
12	44	56
13	44	56
14	44	56
15	42	58
16	42	58
17	42	58
18	42	58
19	42	58
20	41	59
21	40	60
22	40	60
23	41	59
24	41	59
25	41	59
26	41	59
27	41	59
28	41	59
29	41	59
30	41	59
31	41	59

Chance of precipitation in March

Any precipitationSnow

El Calafate gets around 67 mm of rain and snow over 12.2 wet days in March. The line is the day-by-day chance of measurable precipitation.

Day to day, the chance of measurable precipitation averages around 40% and peaks near 41% 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 (%)	41	41	41	41	41	41	41	41	41	41	41	41	41	41	41	41	40	40	40	40	39	39	38	38	38	38	37	37	37	37	37
Snow chance (%)	0	0	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	2	2	2	2	2	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	4	4	4	4	4	4

	Rain chance (%)	Snow chance (%)
1	41	0
2	41	0
3	41	1
4	41	1
5	41	1
6	41	1
7	41	1
8	41	1
9	41	1
10	41	2
11	41	2
12	41	2
13	41	2
14	41	2
15	41	2
16	41	3
17	40	3
18	40	3
19	40	3
20	40	3
21	39	3
22	39	3
23	38	3
24	38	3
25	38	3
26	38	4
27	37	4
28	37	4
29	37	4
30	37	4
31	37	4

Humidity in March

DryComfortableHumidMuggyOppressiveMiserable

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

By dew point, March 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 March

Winds average 8 km/h in March.

Across March, daily wind ranges from about 8 km/h on the calmest days to 9 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)	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8
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	9	calm
2	9	calm
3	9	calm
4	9	calm
5	9	calm
6	9	calm
7	9	calm
8	9	calm
9	9	calm
10	9	calm
11	9	calm
12	9	calm
13	9	calm
14	9	calm
15	8	calm
16	8	calm
17	8	calm
18	8	calm
19	8	calm
20	8	calm
21	8	calm
22	8	calm
23	8	calm
24	8	calm
25	8	calm
26	8	calm
27	8	calm
28	8	calm
29	8	calm
30	8	calm
31	8	calm

Sunrise & sunset in March

DaylightNight

Daylight runs from about 13 h 24 min at the start of March to 11 h 30 min by month's end. The lit band spans sunrise to sunset each day.

Days shrink by about 114 minutes over March. Sunrise moves from 7:19 AM to 8:09 AM, and sunset from 8:45 PM to 7:39 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)	13.4	13.4	13.3	13.2	13.2	13.1	13.0	13.0	12.9	12.9	12.8	12.7	12.7	12.6	12.5	12.5	12.4	12.3	12.3	12.2	12.1	12.1	12.0	12.0	11.9	11.8	11.8	11.7	11.6	11.6	11.5
Sunrise (AM)	7:19	7:21	7:23	7:25	7:26	7:28	7:30	7:31	7:33	7:35	7:36	7:38	7:40	7:41	7:43	7:45	7:46	7:48	7:50	7:51	7:53	7:55	7:56	7:58	7:59	8:01	8:03	8:04	8:06	8:08	8:09
Sunset (PM)	8:45	8:43	8:41	8:39	8:37	8:35	8:33	8:30	8:28	8:26	8:24	8:22	8:20	8:17	8:15	8:13	8:11	8:08	8:06	8:04	8:02	7:59	7:57	7:55	7:53	7:50	7:48	7:46	7:44	7:41	7:39

	Daylight (h)	Sunrise (AM)	Sunset (PM)
1	13.4	7:19	8:45
2	13.4	7:21	8:43
3	13.3	7:23	8:41
4	13.2	7:25	8:39
5	13.2	7:26	8:37
6	13.1	7:28	8:35
7	13.0	7:30	8:33
8	13.0	7:31	8:30
9	12.9	7:33	8:28
10	12.9	7:35	8:26
11	12.8	7:36	8:24
12	12.7	7:38	8:22
13	12.7	7:40	8:20
14	12.6	7:41	8:17
15	12.5	7:43	8:15
16	12.5	7:45	8:13
17	12.4	7:46	8:11
18	12.3	7:48	8:08
19	12.3	7:50	8:06
20	12.2	7:51	8:04
21	12.1	7:53	8:02
22	12.1	7:55	7:59
23	12.0	7:56	7:57
24	12.0	7:58	7:55
25	11.9	7:59	7:53
26	11.8	8:01	7:50
27	11.8	8:03	7:48
28	11.7	8:04	7:46
29	11.6	8:06	7:44
30	11.6	8:08	7:41
31	11.5	8:09	7:39

Solar energy in March

Daily solar energy (kWh/m²)

Average shortwave solar energy reaching the ground each day in March, about 3.8 kWh/m².

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 — March's 3.8 kWh/m² falls in the middle.

	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)	4.7	4.6	4.6	4.5	4.5	4.4	4.3	4.3	4.2	4.1	4.1	4.0	3.9	3.9	3.8	3.8	3.7	3.6	3.6	3.5	3.5	3.4	3.4	3.3	3.3	3.2	3.2	3.1	3.1	3.0	3.0
Level	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate

	Solar energy (kWh/m²)	Level
1	4.7	Bright
2	4.6	Bright
3	4.6	Bright
4	4.5	Bright
5	4.5	Bright
6	4.4	Bright
7	4.3	Bright
8	4.3	Bright
9	4.2	Bright
10	4.1	Bright
11	4.1	Bright
12	4.0	Bright
13	3.9	Moderate
14	3.9	Moderate
15	3.8	Moderate
16	3.8	Moderate
17	3.7	Moderate
18	3.6	Moderate
19	3.6	Moderate
20	3.5	Moderate
21	3.5	Moderate
22	3.4	Moderate
23	3.4	Moderate
24	3.3	Moderate
25	3.3	Moderate
26	3.2	Moderate
27	3.2	Moderate
28	3.1	Moderate
29	3.1	Moderate
30	3.0	Moderate
31	3.0	Moderate

Planning a trip in March

Is March a good time to visit El Calafate?

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

3.5

Sightseeing

4th-best month of the year

—

Beach & pool

never really warm enough

March is a weaker month for outdoor sightseeing in El Calafate.

What to pack for El Calafate in March

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

In March, El Calafate sees daytime highs around 13°C and nights near 6°C. Worth packing: a warm layer and rain gear. About 12 days see rain.

a warm layerrain gear

UV index in El Calafate in March

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Clear-sky midday UV in March peaks around 5 — enough to warrant sun protection. 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

← February El Calafate year-round climate April →Best places to visit in March

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

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	48	52
2	48	52
3	48	52
4	48	52
5	48	52
6	47	53
7	48	52
8	47	53
9	47	53
10	45	55
11	45	55
12	44	56
13	44	56
14	44	56
15	42	58
16	42	58
17	42	58
18	42	58
19	42	58
20	41	59
21	40	60
22	40	60
23	41	59
24	41	59
25	41	59
26	41	59
27	41	59
28	41	59
29	41	59
30	41	59
31	41	59

	Rain chance (%)	Snow chance (%)
1	41	0
2	41	0
3	41	1
4	41	1
5	41	1
6	41	1
7	41	1
8	41	1
9	41	1
10	41	2
11	41	2
12	41	2
13	41	2
14	41	2
15	41	2
16	41	3
17	40	3
18	40	3
19	40	3
20	40	3
21	39	3
22	39	3
23	38	3
24	38	3
25	38	3
26	38	4
27	37	4
28	37	4
29	37	4
30	37	4
31	37	4

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

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	48	52
2	48	52
3	48	52
4	48	52
5	48	52
6	47	53
7	48	52
8	47	53
9	47	53
10	45	55
11	45	55
12	44	56
13	44	56
14	44	56
15	42	58
16	42	58
17	42	58
18	42	58
19	42	58
20	41	59
21	40	60
22	40	60
23	41	59
24	41	59
25	41	59
26	41	59
27	41	59
28	41	59
29	41	59
30	41	59
31	41	59

	Rain chance (%)	Snow chance (%)
1	41	0
2	41	0
3	41	1
4	41	1
5	41	1
6	41	1
7	41	1
8	41	1
9	41	1
10	41	2
11	41	2
12	41	2
13	41	2
14	41	2
15	41	2
16	41	3
17	40	3
18	40	3
19	40	3
20	40	3
21	39	3
22	39	3
23	38	3
24	38	3
25	38	3
26	38	4
27	37	4
28	37	4
29	37	4
30	37	4
31	37	4

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

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	48	52
2	48	52
3	48	52
4	48	52
5	48	52
6	47	53
7	48	52
8	47	53
9	47	53
10	45	55
11	45	55
12	44	56
13	44	56
14	44	56
15	42	58
16	42	58
17	42	58
18	42	58
19	42	58
20	41	59
21	40	60
22	40	60
23	41	59
24	41	59
25	41	59
26	41	59
27	41	59
28	41	59
29	41	59
30	41	59
31	41	59

	Rain chance (%)	Snow chance (%)
1	41	0
2	41	0
3	41	1
4	41	1
5	41	1
6	41	1
7	41	1
8	41	1
9	41	1
10	41	2
11	41	2
12	41	2
13	41	2
14	41	2
15	41	2
16	41	3
17	40	3
18	40	3
19	40	3
20	40	3
21	39	3
22	39	3
23	38	3
24	38	3
25	38	3
26	38	4
27	37	4
28	37	4
29	37	4
30	37	4
31	37	4

	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