Recife weather in December

In December, Recife sees average daytime highs of 31°C and overnight lows near 24°C, with 32 mm of rain across 12.5 wet days and about 12.5 hours of daylight. It is the 3rd-warmest and 10th-wettest month of the year here.

Day-to-day highs hold fairly steady near 31°C through the month. The sky is clear or mostly clear about 30% of the time in December, and the air most often feels oppressive.

Daylight stretches from about 12 h 24 min at the start of December to 12 h 30 min by month's end. Set against the rest of the year, December is Recife's 6th-clearest and 7th-windiest month. For the whole year in context, see Recife's year-round climate.

Daytime high: 31°; 3rd warmest
Overnight low: 24°; 8th coldest
Rainfall: 32 mm; 12.5 wet days
Daylight: 12 h 30 min; 5:02 AM – 5:30 PM
Cloud cover: 55%; 6th clearest
Wind: 12 km/h; 7th windiest
Solar energy: 5.99 kWh/m²
Travel score: 4.5; out of 10

Recife is human settlement in Brazil.

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

← November Recife 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 31°C through the month.

A typical December day in Recife reaches about 31°C in the afternoon and slips back to 24°C overnight — a 7°C spread between the day's warmth and the night's chill. On most days the high lands between 29°C and 32°C. Set against its neighbours, December runs on par with November and on par with 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)	30	31	31	31	31	31	31	31	31	31	31	31	31	31	31	31	31	31	31	30	30	30	30	30	30	30	30	30	31	31	31
Avg low (°C)	24	24	24	24	24	24	24	24	24	24	24	24	24	24	24	24	24	24	24	24	24	24	24	24	24	24	24	24	24	24	24

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

How December really feels in Recife

Once humidity and wind are folded in, December averages 31 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

The story in December is heat — humidity pushes the afternoon "feels like" well above the raw temperature.

Recife weather by month

How December compares with the rest of the year at a glance. December is the 3rd-warmest and 10th-wettest month here — the current month is highlighted below.

Month	High / Low (°C)	Rainfall (mm)	Wet days	Daylight (hours)	Travel score
Jan	31° / 24°	54	17.2	12.4	4.0
Feb	31° / 24°	60	16.4	12.3	3.8
Mar	31° / 24°	78	18.9	12.1	3.8
Apr	30° / 24°	103	20.6	11.8	3.8
May	29° / 23°	114	23.2	11.6	4.0
Jun	28° / 22°	130	23.5	11.5	4.5
Jul	27° / 22°	117	23.5	11.6	4.7
Aug	27° / 21°	69	20.1	11.7	5.1
Sep	28° / 22°	43	15.5	12	5.4
Oct	29° / 23°	31	12.5	12.2	5.2
Nov	30° / 23°	26	10.8	12.4	4.9
Dec	31° / 24°	32	12.5	12.5	4.5

Cloud cover in December

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

The sky is clear or mostly clear about 30% of the time in December.

Beyond those clear spells, partly cloudy skies cover about 30% of December, with mostly cloudy or overcast conditions the remaining 40%.

	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 (%)	63	63	63	63	64	64	64	64	63	63	62	61	61	60	60	59	59	58	58	57	57	56	57	56	57	56	57	57	57	58	57
Cloudier (%)	37	37	37	37	36	36	36	36	37	37	38	39	39	40	40	41	41	42	42	43	43	44	43	44	43	44	43	43	43	42	43

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	63	37
2	63	37
3	63	37
4	63	37
5	64	36
6	64	36
7	64	36
8	64	36
9	63	37
10	63	37
11	62	38
12	61	39
13	61	39
14	60	40
15	60	40
16	59	41
17	59	41
18	58	42
19	58	42
20	57	43
21	57	43
22	56	44
23	57	43
24	56	44
25	57	43
26	56	44
27	57	43
28	57	43
29	57	43
30	58	42
31	57	43

Chance of precipitation in December

Any precipitation

Recife gets around 32 mm of rain over 12.5 wet days in December. The line is the day-by-day chance of measurable precipitation.

Day to day, the chance of measurable rain averages around 40% and peaks near 46% on the wettest days. The odds climb toward the end of the month.

	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 (%)	34	34	33	33	33	33	34	34	35	36	37	38	39	40	41	42	43	44	44	45	45	45	45	45	45	45	45	45	46	46	46

	Rain chance (%)
1	34
2	34
3	33
4	33
5	33
6	33
7	34
8	34
9	35
10	36
11	37
12	38
13	39
14	40
15	41
16	42
17	43
18	44
19	44
20	45
21	45
22	45
23	45
24	45
25	45
26	45
27	45
28	45
29	46
30	46
31	46

Humidity in December

DryComfortableHumidMuggyOppressiveMiserable

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

By dew point, December lands in the oppressive band about 72% of days. Sticky, muggy-or-worse air turns up on roughly 100% of them.

	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
Muggy (%)	36	36	35	35	34	33	32	32	31	30	29	28	28	27	27	27	26	26	26	26	26	26	26	26	26	26	25	25	25	24	24
Oppressive (%)	64	64	65	65	66	67	68	68	69	70	71	72	72	73	73	73	74	74	74	74	74	74	74	74	74	74	75	75	75	76	76

	Muggy (%)	Oppressive (%)
1	36	64
2	36	64
3	35	65
4	35	65
5	34	66
6	33	67
7	32	68
8	32	68
9	31	69
10	30	70
11	29	71
12	28	72
13	28	72
14	27	73
15	27	73
16	27	73
17	26	74
18	26	74
19	26	74
20	26	74
21	26	74
22	26	74
23	26	74
24	26	74
25	26	74
26	26	74
27	25	75
28	25	75
29	25	75
30	24	76
31	24	76

Wind in December

Winds average 12 km/h in December.

Across December, daily wind ranges from about 12 km/h on the calmest days to 12 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)	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12
Feels	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm

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

Sunrise & sunset in December

DaylightNight

Daylight runs from about 12 h 24 min at the start of December to 12 h 30 min by month's end. The lit band spans sunrise to sunset each day.

Days grow by about 6 minutes over December. Sunrise moves from 4:56 AM to 5:09 AM, and sunset from 5:22 PM to 5:37 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)	12.4	12.4	12.4	12.4	12.4	12.4	12.5	12.5	12.5	12.5	12.5	12.5	12.5	12.5	12.5	12.5	12.5	12.5	12.5	12.5	12.5	12.5	12.5	12.5	12.5	12.5	12.5	12.5	12.5	12.5	12.5
Sunrise (AM)	4:56	4:57	4:57	4:57	4:57	4:58	4:58	4:58	4:59	4:59	5:00	5:00	5:00	5:01	5:01	5:02	5:02	5:03	5:03	5:03	5:04	5:04	5:05	5:05	5:06	5:06	5:07	5:07	5:08	5:08	5:09
Sunset (PM)	5:22	5:23	5:23	5:24	5:24	5:25	5:25	5:26	5:26	5:27	5:27	5:28	5:28	5:29	5:29	5:30	5:30	5:31	5:31	5:32	5:32	5:33	5:33	5:33	5:34	5:34	5:35	5:35	5:36	5:36	5:37

	Daylight (h)	Sunrise (AM)	Sunset (PM)
1	12.4	4:56	5:22
2	12.4	4:57	5:23
3	12.4	4:57	5:23
4	12.4	4:57	5:24
5	12.4	4:57	5:24
6	12.4	4:58	5:25
7	12.5	4:58	5:25
8	12.5	4:58	5:26
9	12.5	4:59	5:26
10	12.5	4:59	5:27
11	12.5	5:00	5:27
12	12.5	5:00	5:28
13	12.5	5:00	5:28
14	12.5	5:01	5:29
15	12.5	5:01	5:29
16	12.5	5:02	5:30
17	12.5	5:02	5:30
18	12.5	5:03	5:31
19	12.5	5:03	5:31
20	12.5	5:03	5:32
21	12.5	5:04	5:32
22	12.5	5:04	5:33
23	12.5	5:05	5:33
24	12.5	5:05	5:33
25	12.5	5:06	5:34
26	12.5	5:06	5:34
27	12.5	5:07	5:35
28	12.5	5:07	5:35
29	12.5	5:08	5:36
30	12.5	5:08	5:36
31	12.5	5:09	5:37

Solar energy in December

Daily solar energy (kWh/m²)

Average shortwave solar energy reaching the ground each day in December, about 5.99 kWh/m².

For context, solar energy here swings from a low near 4.12 kWh/m² to a high of 6.05 kWh/m² in November across the year — December's 5.99 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)	6.1	6.1	6.1	6.1	6.1	6.1	6.1	6.0	6.0	6.0	6.0	6.0	6.0	6.0	6.0	6.0	6.0	5.9	5.9	5.9	5.9	5.9	5.9	5.9	5.9	5.9	5.9	5.9	5.9	5.9	5.9
Level	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright

	Solar energy (kWh/m²)	Level
1	6.1	Intense
2	6.1	Intense
3	6.1	Intense
4	6.1	Intense
5	6.1	Intense
6	6.1	Intense
7	6.1	Intense
8	6.0	Intense
9	6.0	Intense
10	6.0	Intense
11	6.0	Intense
12	6.0	Intense
13	6.0	Bright
14	6.0	Bright
15	6.0	Bright
16	6.0	Bright
17	6.0	Bright
18	5.9	Bright
19	5.9	Bright
20	5.9	Bright
21	5.9	Bright
22	5.9	Bright
23	5.9	Bright
24	5.9	Bright
25	5.9	Bright
26	5.9	Bright
27	5.9	Bright
28	5.9	Bright
29	5.9	Bright
30	5.9	Bright
31	5.9	Bright

Planning a trip in December

Hazard calendar for Recife

In seasonPeak

None of Recife's seasonal hazards are active in December. The full-year calendar below shows when the rainy season, cyclone risk and dust haze do peak.

Recife's rainy season runs February–August, when most of the year's rain falls.

Rainy season

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Is December a good time to visit Recife?

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

4.5

Sightseeing

6th-best month of the year

6.4

Beach & pool

3rd-best month of the year

December is a reasonable time to visit Recife for sightseeing. The water and warmth also suit a beach or pool day.

What to pack for Recife in December

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

In December, Recife sees daytime highs around 31°C and nights near 24°C. Pack light clothes. Worth having: rain gear and sun protection. About 13 days see rain.

light clothesrain gearsun protection

Sea temperature near Recife in December

The nearest coast averages about 28°C in December — the other half of the beach question. The full-year curve and swim-comfort zones are below.

The sea offshore is warmest in April at about 29°C and coldest in August near 26°C.

The water stays above 20°C all year — warm enough for a swim any month.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Sea temperature (°C)	28	28	29	29	28	27	26	26	26	27	27	28
Comfort	Warm	Tropical	Tropical	Tropical	Tropical	Warm	Warm	Warm	Warm	Warm	Warm	Warm

	Sea temperature (°C)	Comfort
Jan	28	Warm
Feb	28	Tropical
Mar	29	Tropical
Apr	29	Tropical
May	28	Tropical
Jun	27	Warm
Jul	26	Warm
Aug	26	Warm
Sep	26	Warm
Oct	27	Warm
Nov	27	Warm
Dec	28	Warm

UV index in Recife in December

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Clear-sky midday UV in December peaks around 12 (very high — sun protection essential). The full-year curve, shaded by WHO exposure level, is below.

Under clear skies, the midday UV index in Recife peaks around March 13 at about 15 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near July 13 at about 9 (very high).

The index reaches 3 or more — the level where the WHO recommends sun protection — every month of the year.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
UV index (midday)	13	14	15	13	11	10	9	10	12	12	12	12
Level	Extreme	Extreme	Extreme	Extreme	Extreme	Very high	Very high	Very high	Extreme	Extreme	Extreme	Extreme

	UV index (midday)	Level
Jan	13	Extreme
Feb	14	Extreme
Mar	15	Extreme
Apr	13	Extreme
May	11	Extreme
Jun	10	Very high
Jul	9	Very high
Aug	10	Very high
Sep	12	Extreme
Oct	12	Extreme
Nov	12	Extreme
Dec	12	Extreme

Location & terrain

Where is Recife?

Recife sits at 8.1°S, 34.9°W, 8 m above sea level, in Brazil. The nearest listed city is Olinda, 6.0 km away.

Topography around Recife

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Recife has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 23 m around an average of 4 m above sea level; within 16 km, only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 143 m; within 80 km, large variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 823 m.

The land around Recife is covered by artificial surfaces (57%) and water (34%) within 3 km, water (45%), artificial surfaces (25%) and trees (24%) within 16 km, and water (37%) and grassland (35%) within 80 km.

3 km

23 m

artificial surfaces 57%

16 km

143 m

water 45%

80 km

823 m

water 37%

treesgrasslandcroplandartificial surfaceswaterwetlandmangroves

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

December weather nearby: Olinda 6.0 km · Camaragibe 12 km · Paulista 13 km · Abreu e Lima 16 km · Jaboatão dos Guararapes 16 km · São Lourenço da Mata 16 km · Moreno 24 km · Igarassu 25 km

Brazil travel facts

Travel advisory: Level 2; Exercise Increased Caution
Power plugs: Type C / N; 127 / 220 V · 60 Hz
Prices: ≈ 46% of US; price level, 2025
GDP per capita: $10,713; 2025
Happiness: 6.6 / 10; World Happiness, 2025
Safe drinking water: 89%; of population, 2024
Homicide rate: 19.3; per 100k, 2023
Road deaths: 16; per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group: Upper middle; World Bank
English: Low; EF EPI 482
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 Recife (-8.0539°, -34.8811°, elevation 8 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. Sea temperatures are the NOAA OISST v2.1 1991–2020 monthly climatology (public domain), sampled at the nearest ocean point. 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	30	24
2	31	24
3	31	24
4	31	24
5	31	24
6	31	24
7	31	24
8	31	24
9	31	24
10	31	24
11	31	24
12	31	24
13	31	24
14	31	24
15	31	24
16	31	24
17	31	24
18	31	24
19	31	24
20	30	24
21	30	24
22	30	24
23	30	24
24	30	24
25	30	24
26	30	24
27	30	24
28	30	24
29	31	24
30	31	24
31	31	24

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	63	37
2	63	37
3	63	37
4	63	37
5	64	36
6	64	36
7	64	36
8	64	36
9	63	37
10	63	37
11	62	38
12	61	39
13	61	39
14	60	40
15	60	40
16	59	41
17	59	41
18	58	42
19	58	42
20	57	43
21	57	43
22	56	44
23	57	43
24	56	44
25	57	43
26	56	44
27	57	43
28	57	43
29	57	43
30	58	42
31	57	43

	Rain chance (%)
1	34
2	34
3	33
4	33
5	33
6	33
7	34
8	34
9	35
10	36
11	37
12	38
13	39
14	40
15	41
16	42
17	43
18	44
19	44
20	45
21	45
22	45
23	45
24	45
25	45
26	45
27	45
28	45
29	46
30	46
31	46

	Muggy (%)	Oppressive (%)
1	36	64
2	36	64
3	35	65
4	35	65
5	34	66
6	33	67
7	32	68
8	32	68
9	31	69
10	30	70
11	29	71
12	28	72
13	28	72
14	27	73
15	27	73
16	27	73
17	26	74
18	26	74
19	26	74
20	26	74
21	26	74
22	26	74
23	26	74
24	26	74
25	26	74
26	26	74
27	25	75
28	25	75
29	25	75
30	24	76
31	24	76

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

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	63	37
2	63	37
3	63	37
4	63	37
5	64	36
6	64	36
7	64	36
8	64	36
9	63	37
10	63	37
11	62	38
12	61	39
13	61	39
14	60	40
15	60	40
16	59	41
17	59	41
18	58	42
19	58	42
20	57	43
21	57	43
22	56	44
23	57	43
24	56	44
25	57	43
26	56	44
27	57	43
28	57	43
29	57	43
30	58	42
31	57	43

	Rain chance (%)
1	34
2	34
3	33
4	33
5	33
6	33
7	34
8	34
9	35
10	36
11	37
12	38
13	39
14	40
15	41
16	42
17	43
18	44
19	44
20	45
21	45
22	45
23	45
24	45
25	45
26	45
27	45
28	45
29	46
30	46
31	46

	Muggy (%)	Oppressive (%)
1	36	64
2	36	64
3	35	65
4	35	65
5	34	66
6	33	67
7	32	68
8	32	68
9	31	69
10	30	70
11	29	71
12	28	72
13	28	72
14	27	73
15	27	73
16	27	73
17	26	74
18	26	74
19	26	74
20	26	74
21	26	74
22	26	74
23	26	74
24	26	74
25	26	74
26	26	74
27	25	75
28	25	75
29	25	75
30	24	76
31	24	76

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

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	63	37
2	63	37
3	63	37
4	63	37
5	64	36
6	64	36
7	64	36
8	64	36
9	63	37
10	63	37
11	62	38
12	61	39
13	61	39
14	60	40
15	60	40
16	59	41
17	59	41
18	58	42
19	58	42
20	57	43
21	57	43
22	56	44
23	57	43
24	56	44
25	57	43
26	56	44
27	57	43
28	57	43
29	57	43
30	58	42
31	57	43

	Rain chance (%)
1	34
2	34
3	33
4	33
5	33
6	33
7	34
8	34
9	35
10	36
11	37
12	38
13	39
14	40
15	41
16	42
17	43
18	44
19	44
20	45
21	45
22	45
23	45
24	45
25	45
26	45
27	45
28	45
29	46
30	46
31	46

	Muggy (%)	Oppressive (%)
1	36	64
2	36	64
3	35	65
4	35	65
5	34	66
6	33	67
7	32	68
8	32	68
9	31	69
10	30	70
11	29	71
12	28	72
13	28	72
14	27	73
15	27	73
16	27	73
17	26	74
18	26	74
19	26	74
20	26	74
21	26	74
22	26	74
23	26	74
24	26	74
25	26	74
26	26	74
27	25	75
28	25	75
29	25	75
30	24	76
31	24	76