Climate and average weather in Ovalle

In Ovalle, the summers are warm, dry, and clear and the winters are mild and mostly clear.

Best: late August to mid May

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Ovalle typically varies from 6°C to 27°C, and is rarely below 2°C or above 29°C. January is the hottest month of the year, while July is the coldest.

Based on the travel score, the best time of year to visit Ovalle for warm-weather activities is from late August to mid May.

Hottest
Jan
27°
Coldest
Jul
Wettest
Jun
47 mm
Driest
Jan
0 mm
Rain / yr
151 mm
16 wet days
Daylight
10.0–14.0 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
218 m
30.6°S
Clearest
Feb
9% cloud

Ovalle is city in the Coquimbo Region, Chile.

Density
20/km²
people per km²
Founded
1831

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

Ovalle 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 late August to mid May.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

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

The hot season lasts 4.2 months, from November 18 to March 25, with daily high temperatures above 25°C. The hottest month of the year in Ovalle is January, with an average high of 27°C and low of 15°C.

The cool season lasts 3.1 months, from May 24 to August 26, with daily high temperatures below 19°C. The coldest month of the year in Ovalle is July, with an average low of 6°C and high of 17°C.

Days typically run about 12°C warmer than nights year-round.

10°15°20°25°30°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan2715
Feb2715
Mar2513
Apr2311
May209
Jun177
Jul176
Aug187
Sep209
Oct2210
Nov2412
Dec2613

Average hourly temperature in Ovalle

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 27°C, and coldest before dawn in July, near C.

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

Ovalle weather by month

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

MonthHigh / Low (°C)Rainfall (mm)Wet daysDaylight (hours)Travel score
Jan27° / 15°00.113.89.0
Feb27° / 15°10.113.19.1
Mar25° / 13°50.612.29.3
Apr23° / 11°5111.38.9
May20° / 292.910.57.6
Jun17° / 473.310.16.7
Jul17° / 232.710.26.6
Aug18° / 262.510.97.4
Sep20° / 81.511.88.0
Oct22° / 10°6112.88.8
Nov24° / 12°10.313.59.4
Dec26° / 13°00.113.99.2

Chance of rain

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

Ovalle gets about 151 mm of precipitation a year. On a typical day the chance of rain is mostly dry, but that rises and falls sharply with the seasons.

The wetter season lasts 5.2 months, from around May 3 to Oct 6, peaking in May at about 13% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Jan 1.

June is the wettest month by volume, with 47 mm over about 3 wet days; January is the driest, with 0 mm.

0%10%20%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdrierwetterdriermostly drysome rainMay 29 · 13%Jan 1 · 0%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan00
Feb00
Mar21
Apr31
May93
Jun113
Jul93
Aug83
Sep52
Oct31
Nov10
Dec00

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Ovalle collects about 151 mm of rain across 16 wet days — roughly 13 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. June is the wettest month with 47 mm, while January is the driest at just 0 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 67% of the year’s total.

0255075JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec0155294723268610
Rainfall (mm)Rain days
Jan00
Feb10
Mar51
Apr51
May293
Jun473
Jul233
Aug263
Sep82
Oct61
Nov10
Dec00

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Ovalle, 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 15 and lasts for 6.0 months, ending around April 16. The clearest month is February, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 97% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around April 17 and lasts for 5.9 months, ending around October 14. The cloudiest month is June, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 38% 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%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecJan 28 · 97%Jun 17 · 60%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastclearercloudierclearer
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan964
Feb973
Mar955
Apr8317
May6733
Jun6238
Jul6733
Aug7228
Sep7525
Oct8218
Nov928
Dec964

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 13, brings about 14 hours of light; the shortest, around June 13, only 10 hours — a swing of roughly 4 hours.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan13.87:018:47
Feb13.17:268:33
Mar12.27:488:01
Apr11.38:077:23
May10.58:276:55
Jun10.18:446:46
Jul10.28:446:56
Aug10.98:227:15
Sep11.87:457:34
Oct12.87:077:53
Nov13.56:438:17
Dec13.96:428:40

Sunny days

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

Ovalle averages about 22 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 14 and 29 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 6.0 months, from around Oct 18 to Apr 17. The sunniest month is February, with roughly 29 sunny days (brilliant).

The greyest month is May, down near 16 sunny days — about 45% fewer than the February peak.

05101520253035JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecsunniergreyersunniergloomymixedbrightbrilliantFeb 829 daysMay 3014 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan28Brilliant
Feb27Brilliant
Mar28Brilliant
Apr23Bright
May16Bright
Jun15Mixed
Jul17Bright
Aug19Bright
Sep19Bright
Oct22Bright
Nov26Brilliant
Dec28Brilliant

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 Ovalle, 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%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDeccomfortabledry
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)
Jan8713
Feb8119
Mar8812
Apr973
May1000
Jun1000
Jul1000
Aug1000
Sep1000
Oct1000
Nov1000
Dec982

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

051015JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDeccalmlight breezeJan 1 · 8 km/hMay 13 · 5 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan8calm
Feb7calm
Mar6calm
Apr6calm
May5calm
Jun5calm
Jul5calm
Aug6calm
Sep6calm
Oct7calm
Nov8calm
Dec8calm

Best time to visit Ovalle

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

Around early May, Ovalle 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 Ovalle for general outdoor tourist activities is from late August to mid May, with a peak score in the third week of November.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationNov 18 · 9.5

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
Jan9.0ideal
Feb9.1ideal
Mar9.2ideal
Apr8.9ideal
May7.6ideal
Jun6.7good
Jul6.6good
Aug7.4good
Sep8.0ideal
Oct8.8ideal
Nov9.4ideal
Dec9.2ideal

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 Ovalle for hot-weather activities is from late October to early April, with a peak score in the last week of January.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationJan 29 · 9.1

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 Ovalle, 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 January (highs near 27°C), the essentials are light clothes and sun protection. In the cold season around July (highs near 17°C), pack a warm layer.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In January, Ovalle sees daytime highs around 27°C and nights near 15°C. Pack light clothes and sun protection.

Sea temperature near Ovalle

Average ocean temperature at the nearest coast, month by month, banded into swim-comfort zones — the other half of the beach question.

The sea at the nearest coast (about 51 km away) is warmest in February at about 18°C and coldest in August near 13°C.

The water stays below 20°C all year — cool enough that most swimmers want a wetsuit.

12°14°16°18°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbracingcool
Sea temperature (°C)Comfort
Jan17Cool
Feb18Cool
Mar17Cool
Apr16Cool
May15Bracing
Jun14Bracing
Jul13Bracing
Aug13Bracing
Sep13Bracing
Oct13Bracing
Nov14Bracing
Dec16Cool

UV index (midday) in Ovalle 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 Ovalle peaks around January 19 at about 14 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near June 18 at about 3 (moderate).

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

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecExtremeModerateHighVery highExtremeJan 19UV 14Jun 18UV 3
UV index (midday)Level
Jan15Extreme
Feb14Extreme
Mar11Extreme
Apr6High
May4Moderate
Jun3Moderate
Jul4Moderate
Aug5High
Sep7Very high
Oct11Extreme
Nov12Extreme
Dec13Extreme

Average hourly UV index in Ovalle

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 January the burn window is concentrated in the middle of the day: about 9 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
Feb97
Mar7.55.5
Apr61.5
May3.50
Jun2.50
Jul30
Aug50
Sep6.53.5
Oct86
Nov8.56.5
Dec97
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free dayFrost-free year round

Ovalle is frost-free year round — even the coldest nights rarely reach freezing, so there is no start or end to the growing season.

0%25%50%75%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecfrost-free year round
Frost-free chance (%)Frost nights
Jan1000
Feb1000
Mar1000
Apr1000
May1000
Jun1000
Jul990
Aug1000
Sep1000
Oct1000
Nov1000
Dec1000

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. Ovalle banks about 2,304 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around January.

01,0002,000JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°C·days)
Jan338
Feb299
Mar291
Apr205
May129
Jun60
Jul41
Aug77
Sep129
Oct192
Nov243
Dec300

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.

Ovalle receives about 6.1 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — intense — with a clear seasonal swing between 3.1 and 9.0 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 6.0 months, from around Sep 23 to Mar 25. The brightest month is December, averaging about 9.0 kWh/m² (intense).

The dimmest month is June, down near 3.1 kWh/m² — roughly 65% less than the December peak.

012345678910JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbrighterdimmerbrighterdimmoderatebrightintenseDec 249.0 kWhJun 203.1 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan8.8Intense
Feb8.0Intense
Mar6.6Intense
Apr5.0Bright
May3.7Moderate
Jun3.1Moderate
Jul3.4Moderate
Aug4.4Bright
Sep5.8Bright
Oct7.3Intense
Nov8.5Intense
Dec9.0Intense

Where is Ovalle?

Ovalle sits at 30.6°S, 71.2°W, 218 m above sea level, in Chile. The nearest listed city is Coquimbo, 73 km away.

Topography around Ovalle

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Ovalle has significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 315 m around an average of 260 m above sea level; within 16 km, large variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 1,127 m; within 80 km, extreme variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 4,630 m.

The land around Ovalle is covered by artificial surfaces (28%) and shrubs (20%) within 3 km, grassland (35%), bare terrain (25%) and shrubs (23%) within 16 km, and grassland (32%), bare terrain (23%) and shrubs (22%) within 80 km.

3 km
315 m
16 km
1,127 m
80 km
4,630 m
treesshrubsgrasslandcroplandartificial surfacesbare terrainwater
Nearby: Coquimbo 73 km · La Serena 77 km · Vicuña 78 km · Illapel 115 km · Los Vilos 149 km · Cabildo 204 km · La Ligua 206 km · Vallenar 229 km

Chile travel facts

Travel advisory
Level 2
Exercise Increased Caution
Power plugs
Type C / F / L
220 V · 50 Hz
Prices
≈ 48% of US
price level, 2025
GDP per capita
$17,995
2025
Happiness
6.3 / 10
World Happiness, 2025
Safe drinking water
98%
of population, 2024
Homicide rate
6.3
per 100k, 2023
Road deaths
14.9
per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group
High
World Bank
English
Moderate
EF EPI 517
Religion
Catholic 57%none 26%Evangelical or Protestant 16%other Christians and traditions related to 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 Ovalle (-30.6011°, -71.199°, elevation 218 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).