Climate and average weather in Tumaco

In Tumaco, the weather is muggy, warm, wet, and mostly cloudy and remarkably steady, with daytime highs holding near warm levels all year. The wettest stretch peaks around January.

Best: mid May to late December

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Tumaco typically varies from 24°C to 27°C, and is rarely below 24°C or above 28°C. April is the hottest month of the year, while November is the coldest.

Based on the travel score, the best times of year to visit Tumaco for warm-weather activities are from early January to early May and mid May to late December.

Hottest
Apr
27°
Coldest
Nov
24°
Wettest
Jan
461 mm
Driest
Nov
199 mm
Rain / yr
3619 mm
311 wet days
Daylight
11.9–12.1 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
1 m
1.8°N
Clearest
Dec
78% cloud

Tumaco 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 mid May to late December.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

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

Temperatures in Tumaco stay fairly even through the year, without a distinct hot or cool season. The warmest month is April, with an average high of 27°C and low of 25°C; the coolest is November, with an average low of 24°C and high of 26°C.

Days typically run about 2°C warmer than nights year-round.

18°20°22°24°26°28°30°32°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan2724
Feb2725
Mar2725
Apr2725
May2725
Jun2725
Jul2724
Aug2724
Sep2724
Oct2724
Nov2624
Dec2724

Average hourly temperature in Tumaco

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 April afternoons, near 27°C, and coldest before dawn in November, near 24°C.

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

Tumaco 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° / 24°46128.711.93.7
Feb27° / 25°32723.911.93.9
Mar27° / 25°29323.9124.2
Apr27° / 25°37925.6123.9
May27° / 25°40428.412.13.6
Jun27° / 25°2882712.13.7
Jul27° / 24°24827.412.13.7
Aug27° / 24°21027.112.13.8
Sep27° / 24°23025.8123.9
Oct27° / 24°27025.5124.0
Nov26° / 24°19921.911.94.4
Dec27° / 24°31225.511.94.1

Chance of rain

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

Tumaco gets about 3619 mm of precipitation a year. On a typical day the chance of rain is very wet, but that rises and falls sharply with the seasons.

The wetter season lasts 1.7 months, from around Dec 26 to Feb 16, peaking in January at about 94% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Nov 19.

January is the wettest month by volume, with 461 mm over about 29 wet days; November is the driest, with 199 mm.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwetterdriermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetJan 18 · 94%Nov 19 · 73%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan9229
Feb8624
Mar7724
Apr8526
May9128
Jun9027
Jul8927
Aug8727
Sep8626
Oct8226
Nov7422
Dec8226

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Tumaco collects about 3619 mm of rain across 311 wet days — roughly 302 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. January is the wettest month with 461 mm, while November is the driest at just 199 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 34% of the year’s total.

050100150200250300350400450500550JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec461327293379404288248210230270199312
Rainfall (mm)Rain days
Jan46129
Feb32724
Mar29324
Apr37926
May40428
Jun28827
Jul24827
Aug21027
Sep23026
Oct27026
Nov19922
Dec31226

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Tumaco, the average share of the sky covered by clouds shows moderate seasonal variation over the course of the year.

The clearer part of the year begins around November 24 and lasts for 5.2 months, ending around April 29. The clearest month is January, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 19% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around April 30 and lasts for 6.8 months, ending around November 23. The cloudiest month is September, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 95% 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%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecDec 31 · 22%Sep 21 · 4%partly cloudymostly cloudyovercastclearercloudierclearer
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan1981
Feb1585
Mar1486
Apr1486
May991
Jun793
Jul991
Aug793
Sep595
Oct694
Nov991
Dec1882

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. Close to the equator, Tumaco barely changes through the year: days stay near 12 h 06 min of light in every season.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan11.96:276:22
Feb11.96:326:28
Mar12.06:256:24
Apr12.06:146:17
May12.16:096:14
Jun12.16:126:18
Jul12.16:186:24
Aug12.16:176:21
Sep12.06:096:10
Oct12.06:015:59
Nov11.96:035:58
Dec11.96:146:08

Sunny days

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

Tumaco gets about 0 sunny days a month gloomy — and it barely shifts through the year, holding between 0 and 1 days every month. Clear skies here are a flat line, not a season.

05JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgloomyJan 41 daysJun 80 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan1Gloomy
Feb1Gloomy
Mar1Gloomy
Apr1Gloomy
May0Gloomy
Jun0Gloomy
Jul0Gloomy
Aug0Gloomy
Sep0Gloomy
Oct0Gloomy
Nov0Gloomy
Dec1Gloomy

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.

Tumaco is humid all year round — on a typical day the air feels at least humid, and there is no real dry season to wait for.

The stickiest month is January, when it feels muggy, oppressive or miserable about 100% of the time. Even in January, the mildest month, the air is dry or comfortable only 0% of the time.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecmiserableoppressive
Muggy (%)Oppressive (%)Miserable (%)
Jan18811
Feb08416
Mar08218
Apr07723
May07723
Jun0928
Jul1982
Aug0991
Sep0991
Oct1981
Nov2962
Dec0936

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.

Across the year, average wind speed in Tumaco is typically light breeze, near 12 km/h, and varies moderately with the seasons.

The windier part of the year lasts 6.8 months, from around Jun 8 to Dec 31. The windiest month is September, averaging about 14 km/h (light breeze).

The calmer part of the year runs from around Jan 1 to Jun 7, with March the calmest month at about 9 km/h.

05101520JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDeccalmerwindiercalmlight breezeSep 1 · 14 km/hMar 4 · 9 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan11calm
Feb9calm
Mar9calm
Apr10calm
May11calm
Jun12light breeze
Jul13light breeze
Aug14light breeze
Sep14light breeze
Oct14light breeze
Nov14light breeze
Dec13light breeze

Best time to visit Tumaco

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

Around late May, Tumaco 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. In Tumaco it holds close to 4.4 all year, so any month is about as good as another for general outdoor tourist activities.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDectravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitation

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
Jan3.7fair
Feb3.9fair
Mar4.2fair
Apr3.9fair
May3.6fair
Jun3.7fair
Jul3.7fair
Aug3.8fair
Sep3.9fair
Oct4.0fair
Nov4.4fair
Dec4.1fair

The beach/pool score favors clear, rainless days with daytime highs between 24°C and 34°C. In Tumaco it holds close to 4.4 all year, so any month is about as good as another for hot-weather activities.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitation

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 Tumaco, 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.

Tumaco packs about the same all year — highs hold near 27°C. Across the year the things worth having are light clothes, rain gear and sun protection.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In April, Tumaco sees daytime highs around 27°C and nights near 25°C. Pack light clothes and rain gear. Worth having: sun protection. About 26 days see rain.

Sea temperature near Tumaco

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 13 km away) is warmest in May at about 28°C and coldest in December near 27°C.

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

26°28°30°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwarmtropicalcomfortable to swim
Sea temperature (°C)Comfort
Jan27Warm
Feb27Warm
Mar27Warm
Apr28Warm
May28Warm
Jun27Warm
Jul27Warm
Aug27Warm
Sep27Warm
Oct27Warm
Nov27Warm
Dec27Warm

UV index (midday) in Tumaco 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 Tumaco peaks around February 19 at about 15 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near July 20 at about 11 (extreme).

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

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecExtremeFeb 19UV 15Jul 20UV 11
UV index (midday)Level
Jan14Extreme
Feb15Extreme
Mar14Extreme
Apr13Extreme
May12Extreme
Jun11Extreme
Jul11Extreme
Aug11Extreme
Sep12Extreme
Oct13Extreme
Nov11Extreme
Dec11Extreme

Average hourly UV index in Tumaco

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 February the burn window is concentrated in the middle of the day: about 8.5 hours a day reach index 3 (protection recommended), and 6.5 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)
Jan86
Feb8.56.5
Mar86.5
Apr86.5
May86
Jun86
Jul7.55.5
Aug7.55.5
Sep86
Oct86
Nov7.55.5
Dec7.55.5

Air quality in Tumaco by month

GoodModeratePoorUnhealthyVery unhealthy

Average fine-particle pollution (PM2.5) through the year — so you can see which months the air is worst, not just the yearly average.

Air quality in Tumaco is worst in March — around 17 µg/m³ PM2.5 (moderate), about 2.0× the cleanest month (July, 8 µg/m³).

Modeled monthly averages (CAMS reanalysis, 2015–2024).

01020JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecGoodModerateGoodModerateMar 1716 µg/m³Jul 188 µg/m³
PM2.5 (µg/m³)Level
Jan10Good
Feb13Moderate
Mar17Moderate
Apr14Moderate
May11Good
Jun9Good
Jul8Good
Aug9Good
Sep9Good
Oct10Good
Nov13Moderate
Dec12Good
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free dayFrost-free year round

Tumaco 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
Jul1000
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. Tumaco banks about 5,711 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around May.

02,0004,0006,000JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°C·days)
Jan482
Feb442
Mar496
Apr484
May501
Jun475
Jul482
Aug477
Sep459
Oct476
Nov459
Dec478

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.

Tumaco receives about 4.2 kWh/m² a day of solar energy — bright — and it stays remarkably steady, holding between 3.9 and 4.8 kWh/m² all year. For solar panels, output here is a flat line, not a seasonal wave.

0123456JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmoderatebrightMar 204.8 kWhDec 123.9 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan4.0Moderate
Feb4.5Bright
Mar4.8Bright
Apr4.6Bright
May4.1Bright
Jun3.9Moderate
Jul4.0Moderate
Aug4.2Bright
Sep4.2Bright
Oct4.1Bright
Nov4.0Bright
Dec3.9Moderate

Where is Tumaco?

Tumaco sits at 1.8°N, 78.8°W, 1 m above sea level, in Colombia. The nearest listed city is San Lorenzo de Esmeraldas, 56 km away.

El CharcoEsmeraldasSamaniegoProvidenciaTúquerresTulcánPupiales

Topography around Tumaco

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Tumaco has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 25 m around an average of 5 m above sea level; within 16 km, only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 70 m; within 80 km, large variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 748 m.

The land around Tumaco is covered by mangroves (44%) and water (30%) within 3 km, water (53%) and trees (27%) within 16 km, and trees (53%) and water (40%) within 80 km.

3 km
25 m
16 km
70 m
80 km
748 m
treesgrasslandartificial surfacesbare terrainwaterwetlandmangroves
Nearby: San Lorenzo de Esmeraldas 56 km · El Charco 108 km · Esmeraldas 133 km · Samaniego 142 km · Providencia 150 km · Túquerres 152 km · Tulcán 162 km · Pupiales 164 km

Colombia travel facts

Travel advisory
Level 3
Reconsider Travel
Power plugs
Type A / B
120 / 240 V · 60 Hz
Prices
≈ 38% of US
price level, 2025
GDP per capita
$8,562
2025
Happiness
6.0 / 10
World Happiness, 2025
Safe drinking water
74%
of population, 2024
Homicide rate
24.9
per 100k, 2023
Road deaths
15.4
per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group
Upper middle
World Bank
English
Low
EF EPI 480
Religion
Roman Catholic 64%Protestant 17%none 14%atheist 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 Tumaco (1.7911°, -78.7927°, elevation 1 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. Monthly air-quality (PM2.5) seasonality is from the CAMS EAC4 reanalysis (Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service), scaled to the WHO annual mean where available. Topography is sampled from the Copernicus DEM GLO-90 elevation model (© ESA/Airbus) and ESA WorldCover 2021 land cover (CC BY 4.0).