Climate and average weather in San Rafael
In San Rafael, the summers are hot, showery, and mostly clear and the winters are cool and mostly clear.
Over the course of the year, the temperature in San Rafael typically varies from 3°C to 32°C, and is rarely below -2°C or above 37°C. January is the hottest month of the year, while July is the coldest.
Based on the travel score, the best times of year to visit San Rafael for warm-weather activities are from early March to late May and early August to late November.
- Hottest
- Jan
- 32°
- Coldest
- Jul
- 3°
- Wettest
- Oct
- 60 mm
- Driest
- Jul
- 17 mm
- Rain / yr
- 463 mm
- 73 wet days
- Daylight
- 9.7–14.3 h
- shortest–longest
- Elevation
- 690 m
- 34.6°S
- Clearest
- Dec
- 32% cloud
San Rafael is city in Mendoza Province, Argentina.
- Founded
- 1805
Air quality: WHO Ambient Air Quality Database. Density & description: Wikidata (CC0), GeoNames.
San Rafael 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 August to late November.
Temperature through the year
Daily average highs and lows in San Rafael, from 1991–2020 of climate data. The shaded bands show the range most days fall in — 10th to 90th percentile.
The hot season lasts 4.0 months, from November 13 to March 13, with daily high temperatures above 28°C. The hottest month of the year in San Rafael is January, with an average high of 32°C and low of 18°C.
The cool season lasts 3.2 months, from May 15 to August 19, with daily high temperatures below 18°C. The coldest month of the year in San Rafael is July, with an average low of 3°C and high of 15°C.
Days typically run about 13°C warmer than nights year-round.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avg high (°C) | 32 | 30 | 27 | 22 | 18 | 15 | 15 | 18 | 21 | 24 | 28 | 31 |
| Avg low (°C) | 18 | 17 | 15 | 10 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 8 | 11 | 14 | 17 |
| Avg high (°C) | Avg low (°C) | |
|---|---|---|
| Jan | 32 | 18 |
| Feb | 30 | 17 |
| Mar | 27 | 15 |
| Apr | 22 | 10 |
| May | 18 | 7 |
| Jun | 15 | 4 |
| Jul | 15 | 3 |
| Aug | 18 | 4 |
| Sep | 21 | 8 |
| Oct | 24 | 11 |
| Nov | 28 | 14 |
| Dec | 31 | 17 |
How hot and cold San Rafael really feels
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 -1°C (around July 15), with roughly 32 freezing days a year (feels-like at or below 0°C), worst in July.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feels-like high (°C) | 32 | 30 | 27 | 22 | 18 | 15 | 15 | 17 | 21 | 24 | 28 | 31 |
| Air high (°C) | 32 | 30 | 27 | 22 | 18 | 15 | 15 | 18 | 21 | 24 | 28 | 31 |
| Feels-like low (°C) | 18 | 17 | 15 | 10 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 10 | 14 | 17 |
| Air low (°C) | 18 | 17 | 15 | 10 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 8 | 11 | 14 | 17 |
| Feels-like high (°C) | Air high (°C) | Feels-like low (°C) | Air low (°C) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 32 | 32 | 18 | 18 |
| Feb | 30 | 30 | 17 | 17 |
| Mar | 27 | 27 | 15 | 15 |
| Apr | 22 | 22 | 10 | 10 |
| May | 18 | 18 | 5 | 7 |
| Jun | 15 | 15 | 1 | 4 |
| Jul | 15 | 15 | 0 | 3 |
| Aug | 17 | 18 | 2 | 4 |
| Sep | 21 | 21 | 5 | 8 |
| Oct | 24 | 24 | 10 | 11 |
| Nov | 28 | 28 | 14 | 14 |
| Dec | 31 | 31 | 17 | 17 |
Average hourly temperature in San Rafael
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 January afternoons, near 32°C, and coldest before dawn in July, near 3°C.
San Rafael weather by month
Every month at a glance. Click a month for its detailed page.
| Month | High / Low (°C) | Rainfall (mm) | Wet days | Snow days | Daylight (hours) | Travel score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 32° / 18° | 46 | 8.9 | 0 | 14.1 | 4.6 |
| Feb | 30° / 17° | 47 | 7.1 | 0 | 13.3 | 5.6 |
| Mar | 27° / 15° | 48 | 6.8 | 0 | 12.3 | 7.2 |
| Apr | 22° / 10° | 42 | 6 | 0 | 11.2 | 7.7 |
| May | 18° / 7° | 31 | 5 | 0 | 10.2 | 6.6 |
| Jun | 15° / 4° | 18 | 3.7 | 0.1 | 9.7 | 5.6 |
| Jul | 15° / 3° | 17 | 3.2 | 0.6 | 9.9 | 5.5 |
| Aug | 18° / 4° | 22 | 3.4 | 0.3 | 10.7 | 6.9 |
| Sep | 21° / 8° | 28 | 4.7 | 0.2 | 11.8 | 7.5 |
| Oct | 24° / 11° | 60 | 7.6 | 0 | 12.9 | 7.7 |
| Nov | 28° / 14° | 53 | 8 | 0 | 13.8 | 6.8 |
| Dec | 31° / 17° | 53 | 8.7 | 0 | 14.3 | 5.2 |
Chance of rain
How likely it is to rain on a typical day, and how that shifts across the wetter and drier seasons.
San Rafael gets about 463 mm of precipitation a year. On a typical day the chance of rain is some rain, but that rises and falls sharply with the seasons.
The wetter season lasts 6.5 months, from around Sep 27 to Apr 12, peaking in January at about 30% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Jul 25.
October is the wettest month by volume, with 60 mm over about 8 wet days; July is the driest, with 17 mm.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rain on a day (%) | 29 | 26 | 22 | 19 | 16 | 12 | 10 | 11 | 16 | 24 | 27 | 27 |
| Rain days | 9 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 8 | 9 |
| Rain on a day (%) | Rain days | |
|---|---|---|
| Jan | 29 | 9 |
| Feb | 26 | 7 |
| Mar | 22 | 7 |
| Apr | 19 | 6 |
| May | 16 | 5 |
| Jun | 12 | 4 |
| Jul | 10 | 3 |
| Aug | 11 | 3 |
| Sep | 16 | 5 |
| Oct | 24 | 8 |
| Nov | 27 | 8 |
| Dec | 27 | 9 |
Monthly rainfall
Over a full year, San Rafael collects about 463 mm of rain across 73 wet days — roughly 39 mm in an average month.
It doesn’t fall evenly. October is the wettest month with 60 mm, while July is the driest at just 17 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 36% of the year’s total, and some of the cold-season precipitation falls as snow.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rainfall (mm) | 46 | 47 | 48 | 42 | 31 | 18 | 17 | 22 | 28 | 60 | 53 | 53 |
| Rain days | 9 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 8 | 9 |
| Snow days | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Rainfall (mm) | Rain days | Snow days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 46 | 9 | 0 |
| Feb | 47 | 7 | 0 |
| Mar | 48 | 7 | 0 |
| Apr | 42 | 6 | 0 |
| May | 31 | 5 | 0 |
| Jun | 18 | 4 | 0 |
| Jul | 17 | 3 | 1 |
| Aug | 22 | 3 | 0 |
| Sep | 28 | 5 | 0 |
| Oct | 60 | 8 | 0 |
| Nov | 53 | 8 | 0 |
| Dec | 53 | 9 | 0 |
Clouds and sunshine
How often the daytime sky is clear, partly cloudy or overcast.
In San Rafael, 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 October 21 and lasts for 5.0 months, ending around March 22. The clearest month is January, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 86% of the time on average.
The cloudier part of the year begins around March 23 and lasts for 4.5 months, ending around August 5. The cloudiest month is May, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 41% of the time.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clearer (%) | 86 | 81 | 75 | 68 | 59 | 64 | 70 | 73 | 71 | 72 | 80 | 85 |
| Cloudier (%) | 14 | 19 | 25 | 32 | 41 | 36 | 30 | 27 | 29 | 28 | 20 | 15 |
| Clearer (%) | Cloudier (%) | |
|---|---|---|
| Jan | 86 | 14 |
| Feb | 81 | 19 |
| Mar | 75 | 25 |
| Apr | 68 | 32 |
| May | 59 | 41 |
| Jun | 64 | 36 |
| Jul | 70 | 30 |
| Aug | 73 | 27 |
| Sep | 71 | 29 |
| Oct | 72 | 28 |
| Nov | 80 | 20 |
| Dec | 85 | 15 |
Daylight, sunrise and sunset
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 January 1, brings about 14 h 18 min of light; the shortest, around June 9, only 9 h 42 min — a swing of roughly 4 h 36 min.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daylight (h) | 14.1 | 13.3 | 12.3 | 11.2 | 10.2 | 9.7 | 9.9 | 10.7 | 11.8 | 12.9 | 13.8 | 14.3 |
| Sunrise (AM) | 6:40 | 7:09 | 7:35 | 8:00 | 8:24 | 8:43 | 8:42 | 8:17 | 7:34 | 6:52 | 6:23 | 6:20 |
| Sunset (PM) | 8:45 | 8:27 | 7:51 | 7:08 | 6:35 | 6:24 | 6:36 | 6:58 | 7:21 | 7:45 | 8:14 | 8:39 |
| Daylight (h) | Sunrise (AM) | Sunset (PM) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 14.1 | 6:40 | 8:45 |
| Feb | 13.3 | 7:09 | 8:27 |
| Mar | 12.3 | 7:35 | 7:51 |
| Apr | 11.2 | 8:00 | 7:08 |
| May | 10.2 | 8:24 | 6:35 |
| Jun | 9.7 | 8:43 | 6:24 |
| Jul | 9.9 | 8:42 | 6:36 |
| Aug | 10.7 | 8:17 | 6:58 |
| Sep | 11.8 | 7:34 | 7:21 |
| Oct | 12.9 | 6:52 | 7:45 |
| Nov | 13.8 | 6:23 | 8:14 |
| Dec | 14.3 | 6:20 | 8:39 |
Sunny days
How many genuinely sunny days each month brings — days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — banded into plain-language zones.
San Rafael averages about 18 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 13 and 22 days.
The sunnier stretch runs 5.2 months, from around Oct 23 to Mar 29. The sunniest month is December, with roughly 21 sunny days (bright).
The greyest month is May, down near 14 sunny days — about 34% fewer than the December peak.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sunny days | 21 | 19 | 20 | 16 | 14 | 15 | 17 | 18 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 21 |
| Sky | Bright | Bright | Bright | Bright | Mixed | Mixed | Bright | Bright | Bright | Bright | Bright | Bright |
| Sunny days | Sky | |
|---|---|---|
| Jan | 21 | Bright |
| Feb | 19 | Bright |
| Mar | 20 | Bright |
| Apr | 16 | Bright |
| May | 14 | Mixed |
| Jun | 15 | Mixed |
| Jul | 17 | Bright |
| Aug | 18 | Bright |
| Sep | 17 | Bright |
| Oct | 18 | Bright |
| Nov | 19 | Bright |
| Dec | 21 | Bright |
Humidity comfort
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 San Rafael, how humid it feels changes noticeably over the year.
The more humid part of the year lasts 3.5 months, from around December 11 to March 26. The muggiest month is January, when the air feels humid, muggy or worse about 15% of the time.
The most comfortable stretch runs from around March 27 to December 10, and April is the most comfortable month — the air is dry or comfortable 99% of the time.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dry (%) | 63 | 59 | 67 | 92 | 99 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 97 | 92 | 77 |
| Comfortable (%) | 22 | 27 | 23 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 17 |
| Humid (%) | 13 | 11 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| Muggy (%) | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Dry (%) | Comfortable (%) | Humid (%) | Muggy (%) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 63 | 22 | 13 | 2 |
| Feb | 59 | 27 | 11 | 2 |
| Mar | 67 | 23 | 9 | 1 |
| Apr | 92 | 7 | 1 | 0 |
| May | 99 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Jun | 100 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jul | 100 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Aug | 100 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep | 100 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Oct | 97 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Nov | 92 | 7 | 1 | 0 |
| Dec | 77 | 17 | 5 | 0 |
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 San Rafael is steady company: average speeds sit near 11 km/h — calm — in every month of the year, with no meaningful windy or calm season.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wind speed (km/h) | 12 | 11 | 11 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 12 |
| Feels | calm | calm | calm | calm | calm | calm | calm | calm | calm | light breeze | light breeze | light breeze |
| Wind speed (km/h) | Feels | |
|---|---|---|
| Jan | 12 | calm |
| Feb | 11 | calm |
| Mar | 11 | calm |
| Apr | 10 | calm |
| May | 10 | calm |
| Jun | 10 | calm |
| Jul | 10 | calm |
| Aug | 11 | calm |
| Sep | 11 | calm |
| Oct | 12 | light breeze |
| Nov | 12 | light breeze |
| Dec | 12 | light breeze |
Best time to visit San Rafael
To characterize how pleasant the weather is in San Rafael throughout the year, we compute two travel scores — one for general sightseeing, one for beach and pool weather.
Around mid August, San Rafael is still near the start of its best-weather window — great conditions with the peak-season crowds not yet at full swing.
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 times of year to visit San Rafael for general outdoor tourist activities run from late February to late May and again from early August to late November, with a peak score in the third week of October.
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).
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Travel score (0–10) | 4.6 | 5.6 | 7.2 | 7.6 | 6.6 | 5.5 | 5.5 | 6.9 | 7.5 | 7.6 | 6.8 | 5.2 |
| Rating | fair | good | good | ideal | good | good | fair | good | ideal | ideal | good | fair |
| Travel score (0–10) | Rating | |
|---|---|---|
| Jan | 4.6 | fair |
| Feb | 5.6 | good |
| Mar | 7.2 | good |
| Apr | 7.6 | ideal |
| May | 6.6 | good |
| Jun | 5.5 | good |
| Jul | 5.5 | fair |
| Aug | 6.9 | good |
| Sep | 7.5 | ideal |
| Oct | 7.6 | ideal |
| Nov | 6.8 | good |
| Dec | 5.2 | fair |
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 San Rafael for hot-weather activities is from mid October to early April, with a peak score in the first week of March.
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 San Rafael, by month
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 January (highs near 32°C), the essentials are light clothes, rain gear and sun protection. In the cold season around July (highs near 15°C), pack a warm layer.
In January, San Rafael sees daytime highs around 32°C and nights near 18°C. Pack light clothes and sun protection. Worth having: rain gear. About 9 days see rain.
UV index (midday) in San Rafael by month
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 San Rafael peaks around January 17 at about 14 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near June 22 at about 3 (moderate).
The index reaches 3 or more — the level where the WHO recommends sun protection — in 10 months of the year.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UV index (midday) | 14 | 13 | 10 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 12 | 13 |
| Level | Extreme | Extreme | Extreme | High | Moderate | Moderate | Moderate | Moderate | High | Very high | Extreme | Extreme |
| UV index (midday) | Level | |
|---|---|---|
| Jan | 14 | Extreme |
| Feb | 13 | Extreme |
| Mar | 10 | Extreme |
| Apr | 5 | High |
| May | 4 | Moderate |
| Jun | 3 | Moderate |
| Jul | 3 | Moderate |
| Aug | 4 | Moderate |
| Sep | 6 | High |
| Oct | 10 | Very high |
| Nov | 12 | Extreme |
| Dec | 13 | Extreme |
Average hourly UV index in San Rafael
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 January the burn window is concentrated in the middle of the day: about 9.5 hours a day reach index 3 (protection recommended), and 7.5 hours reach 6 or more. Mornings and late afternoons stay comparatively gentle year round.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UV ≥ 3 (h/day) | 9.5 | 8.5 | 7.5 | 5.5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3.5 | 6 | 7.5 | 8.5 | 9.5 |
| UV ≥ 6 (h/day) | 7.5 | 6.5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.5 | 5 | 6.5 | 7 |
| UV ≥ 3 (h/day) | UV ≥ 6 (h/day) | |
|---|---|---|
| Jan | 9.5 | 7.5 |
| Feb | 8.5 | 6.5 |
| Mar | 7.5 | 5 |
| Apr | 5.5 | 0 |
| May | 3 | 0 |
| Jun | 0 | 0 |
| Jul | 0 | 0 |
| Aug | 3.5 | 0 |
| Sep | 6 | 1.5 |
| Oct | 7.5 | 5 |
| Nov | 8.5 | 6.5 |
| Dec | 9.5 | 7 |
Growing season
San Rafael is mild enough that a frost-free day stays more likely than not even in midwinter. Nights are reliably above freezing from about August 15 to June 17 (307 days); outside that window a hard frost is an occasional risk.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Frost-free chance (%) | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 98 | 91 | 80 | 90 | 98 | 100 | 100 | 100 |
| Frost nights | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 31 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Frost-free chance (%) | Frost nights | |
|---|---|---|
| Jan | 100 | 0 |
| Feb | 100 | 0 |
| Mar | 100 | 0 |
| Apr | 100 | 0 |
| May | 98 | 0 |
| Jun | 91 | 13 |
| Jul | 80 | 31 |
| Aug | 90 | 16 |
| Sep | 98 | 0 |
| Oct | 100 | 0 |
| Nov | 100 | 0 |
| Dec | 100 | 0 |
Growing degree days
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. San Rafael banks about 2,570 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around January.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Growing degree days (°C·days) | 462 | 378 | 335 | 186 | 74 | 2 | 0 | 31 | 121 | 233 | 326 | 423 |
| Growing degree days (°C·days) | |
|---|---|
| Jan | 462 |
| Feb | 378 |
| Mar | 335 |
| Apr | 186 |
| May | 74 |
| Jun | 2 |
| Jul | 0 |
| Aug | 31 |
| Sep | 121 |
| Oct | 233 |
| Nov | 326 |
| Dec | 423 |
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.
San Rafael receives about 5.3 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — bright — with a clear seasonal swing between 2.7 and 8.1 kWh/m².
The brighter stretch of the year lasts 5.9 months, from around Sep 18 to Mar 15. The brightest month is December, averaging about 8.0 kWh/m² (intense).
The dimmest month is June, down near 2.7 kWh/m² — roughly 66% less than the December peak.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Solar energy (kWh/m²) | 7.8 | 6.8 | 5.3 | 4.0 | 3.0 | 2.7 | 3.0 | 4.0 | 5.2 | 6.3 | 7.6 | 8.0 |
| Level | Intense | Intense | Bright | Moderate | Moderate | Moderate | Moderate | Moderate | Bright | Intense | Intense | Intense |
| Solar energy (kWh/m²) | Level | |
|---|---|---|
| Jan | 7.8 | Intense |
| Feb | 6.8 | Intense |
| Mar | 5.3 | Bright |
| Apr | 4.0 | Moderate |
| May | 3.0 | Moderate |
| Jun | 2.7 | Moderate |
| Jul | 3.0 | Moderate |
| Aug | 4.0 | Moderate |
| Sep | 5.2 | Bright |
| Oct | 6.3 | Intense |
| Nov | 7.6 | Intense |
| Dec | 8.0 | Intense |
Where is San Rafael?
San Rafael sits at 34.6°S, 68.3°W, 690 m above sea level, in Argentina. The nearest listed city is General Alvear, 71 km away.
Topography around San Rafael
How much the land rises and falls, and what covers it, within 3, 16 and 80 km of San Rafael.
Within 3 km, the terrain around San Rafael has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 61 m around an average of 696 m above sea level; within 16 km, significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 276 m; within 80 km, very significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 1,885 m.
The land around San Rafael is covered by artificial surfaces (59%) and grassland (27%) within 3 km, grassland (54%) and shrubs (33%) within 16 km, and shrubs (62%) and grassland (32%) within 80 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 San Rafael (-34.6153°, -68.3324°, elevation 690 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).