Climate and average weather in Santa Clara

In Santa Clara, the weather is muggy, hot, wet, and partly cloudy and remarkably steady, with daytime highs holding near hot levels all year. The wettest stretch peaks around June.

Best: early November to late March

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Santa Clara typically varies from 18°C to 32°C, and is rarely below 14°C or above 34°C. August is the hottest month of the year, while January is the coldest.

Based on the travel score, the best time of year to visit Santa Clara for warm-weather activities is from early November to late March.

Hottest
Aug
32°
Coldest
Jan
18°
Wettest
Jun
150 mm
Driest
Dec
22 mm
Rain / yr
929 mm
148 wet days
Daylight
10.6–13.4 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
132 m
22.4°N
Clearest
Feb
39% cloud

Santa Clara 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 November to late March.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

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

Temperatures in Santa Clara stay fairly even through the year, without a distinct hot or cool season. The warmest month is August, with an average high of 32°C and low of 24°C; the coolest is January, with an average low of 18°C and high of 26°C.

Days typically run about 8°C warmer than nights year-round.

10°15°20°25°30°35°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan2618
Feb2718
Mar2819
Apr3021
May3122
Jun3123
Jul3224
Aug3224
Sep3123
Oct3023
Nov2721
Dec2719

How hot and cold Santa Clara really feels

Feels-like highFeels-like lowactual air temp

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 hottest afternoons, once humidity is folded in, Santa Clara feels like about 37°C (around August 12). About 175 days a year carry some heat stress, peaking in August.

15°20°25°30°35°40°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Feels-like high (°C)Air high (°C)Feels-like low (°C)Air low (°C)
Jan26261818
Feb27271818
Mar29281919
Apr31302121
May33312222
Jun35312323
Jul36322424
Aug36322424
Sep35312323
Oct33302323
Nov29272121
Dec26271919

Average hourly temperature in Santa Clara

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 August afternoons, near 32°C, and coldest before dawn in January, near 18°C.

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

Santa Clara 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
Jan26° / 18°254.510.87.7
Feb27° / 18°253.711.27.7
Mar28° / 19°234.711.86.9
Apr30° / 21°437.512.55.5
May31° / 22°12916.413.14.1
Jun31° / 23°1502013.33.3
Jul32° / 24°9617.113.23.4
Aug32° / 24°11019.112.83.2
Sep31° / 23°15022.412.13.1
Oct30° / 23°11218.511.54.2
Nov27° / 21°449.210.96.6
Dec27° / 19°224.910.77.5

Chance of rain

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

Santa Clara gets about 929 mm of precipitation a year. On a typical day the chance of rain is often wet, but that rises and falls sharply with the seasons.

The wetter season lasts 5.8 months, from around May 8 to Oct 31, peaking in September at about 75% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Feb 4.

June is the wettest month by volume, with 150 mm over about 20 wet days; December is the driest, with 22 mm.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdrierwetterdriermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetSep 17 · 75%Feb 4 · 12%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan145
Feb134
Mar155
Apr258
May5316
Jun6620
Jul5617
Aug6119
Sep7422
Oct6019
Nov319
Dec175

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Santa Clara collects about 929 mm of rain across 148 wet days — roughly 77 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. June is the wettest month with 150 mm, while December is the driest at just 22 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 46% of the year’s total.

0255075100125150175JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec25252343129150961101501124422
Rainfall (mm)Rain days
Jan255
Feb254
Mar235
Apr438
May12916
Jun15020
Jul9617
Aug11019
Sep15022
Oct11219
Nov449
Dec225

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Santa Clara, 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 November 5 and lasts for 6.3 months, ending around May 16. The clearest month is March, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 80% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around May 17 and lasts for 5.7 months, ending around November 4. The cloudiest month is June, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 65% 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%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecFeb 19 · 82%Jun 9 · 30%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastclearercloudierclearer
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan6832
Feb8020
Mar8020
Apr7525
May5743
Jun3565
Jul4753
Aug4753
Sep3961
Oct4654
Nov6436
Dec6733

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 June 13, brings about 13 h 24 min of light; the shortest, around January 1, only 10 h 36 min — a swing of roughly 2 h 48 min.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan10.87:065:52
Feb11.26:586:11
Mar11.86:346:25
Apr12.56:056:36
May13.15:446:48
Jun13.35:397:01
Jul13.25:487:03
Aug12.86:016:47
Sep12.16:106:18
Oct11.56:215:49
Nov10.96:385:32
Dec10.76:575:35

Sunny days

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

Santa Clara averages about 11 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 5 and 18 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 5.9 months, from around Nov 17 to May 16. The sunniest month is February, with roughly 17 sunny days (bright).

The greyest month is June, down near 6 sunny days — about 67% fewer than the February peak.

05101520JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecsunniergreyersunniergloomymixedbrightFeb 2018 daysJun 95 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan14Mixed
Feb16Bright
Mar17Bright
Apr15Mixed
May11Mixed
Jun5Gloomy
Jul8Mixed
Aug8Gloomy
Sep6Gloomy
Oct8Gloomy
Nov11Mixed
Dec14Mixed

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 Santa Clara, how humid it feels changes dramatically over the year.

The more humid part of the year lasts 7.3 months, from around April 22 to November 28. The muggiest month is May, when the air feels humid, muggy or worse about 98% of the time.

The most comfortable stretch runs from around November 29 to April 21, and January is the most comfortable month — the air is dry or comfortable 28% of the time.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecJan 27 · 31%May 26 · 0%muggyoppressivehumidcomfortabledrycomfortablehumidcomfortable
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)Humid (%)Muggy (%)Oppressive (%)Miserable (%)
Jan1216264510
Feb1217274410
Mar818324020
Apr2102552110
May02940490
Jun0004933
Jul0001954
Aug0001954
Sep0001945
Oct01415772
Nov171737370
Dec6122050120

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 Santa Clara is typically calm, near 11 km/h, and varies little with the seasons.

The windier part of the year lasts 6.8 months, from around Oct 22 to May 15. The windiest month is November, averaging about 13 km/h (light breeze).

The calmer part of the year runs from around May 16 to Oct 21, with September the calmest month at about 9 km/h.

05101520JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwindiercalmerwindiercalmlight breezeNov 10 · 13 km/hSep 18 · 9 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan12light breeze
Feb12light breeze
Mar12light breeze
Apr12light breeze
May11calm
Jun10calm
Jul10calm
Aug10calm
Sep9calm
Oct11calm
Nov13light breeze
Dec12light breeze

Hazard calendar for Santa Clara

In seasonPeak

When the seasonal hazards worth planning around — the rainy season, tropical-cyclone risk and dust haze — are active through the year.

Santa Clara sits in the Atlantic hurricane belt; the season peaks August–October.

Santa Clara's rainy season runs May–October, when most of the year's rain falls.

Atlantic hurricane
Rainy season
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec

Best time to visit Santa Clara

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

Around mid November, Santa Clara 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 time of year to visit Santa Clara for general outdoor tourist activities is from early November to late March, with a peak score in the first week of February.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationFeb 2 · 7.8

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
Jan7.7ideal
Feb7.7ideal
Mar6.9good
Apr5.5fair
May4.1fair
Jun3.3poor
Jul3.4poor
Aug3.2poor
Sep3.1poor
Oct4.3fair
Nov6.5good
Dec7.5good

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 Santa Clara for hot-weather activities is from late October to early May, with a peak score in the last week of March.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationMar 23 · 8.1

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 Santa Clara, 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.

Santa Clara packs about the same all year — highs hold near 32°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 August, Santa Clara sees daytime highs around 32°C and nights near 24°C. Pack light clothes, rain gear and sun protection. About 19 days see rain.

Sea temperature near Santa Clara

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 53 km away) is warmest in September at about 29°C and coldest in February near 25°C.

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

24°26°28°30°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecrefreshingwarmtropicalcomfortable to swim
Sea temperature (°C)Comfort
Jan26Warm
Feb25Warm
Mar25Warm
Apr26Warm
May27Warm
Jun28Tropical
Jul29Tropical
Aug29Tropical
Sep29Tropical
Oct29Tropical
Nov27Warm
Dec26Warm

UV index (midday) in Santa Clara 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 Santa Clara peaks around June 13 at about 12 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near December 16 at about 6 (high).

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

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecVery highExtremeVery highHighJun 13UV 12Dec 16UV 6
UV index (midday)Level
Jan7High
Feb9Very high
Mar11Extreme
Apr11Extreme
May12Extreme
Jun12Extreme
Jul11Extreme
Aug12Extreme
Sep11Extreme
Oct10Very high
Nov7High
Dec6High

Average hourly UV index in Santa Clara

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 June 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)
Jan62.5
Feb6.54
Mar7.55.5
Apr85.5
May8.56.5
Jun8.56.5
Jul8.56
Aug86
Sep85.5
Oct74.5
Nov62.5
Dec5.50

Air quality in Santa Clara 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 Santa Clara is worst in July — around 23 µg/m³ PM2.5 (moderate), about 3.0× the cleanest month (November, 8 µg/m³).

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

0102030JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecGoodModerateGoodJul 1222 µg/m³Nov 238 µg/m³
PM2.5 (µg/m³)Level
Jan9Good
Feb9Good
Mar13Moderate
Apr14Moderate
May14Moderate
Jun22Moderate
Jul23Moderate
Aug19Moderate
Sep15Moderate
Oct11Good
Nov8Good
Dec8Good
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free dayFrost-free year round

Santa Clara 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. Santa Clara banks about 5,569 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around August.

02,0004,0006,000JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°C·days)
Jan372
Feb352
Mar421
Apr458
May506
Jun519
Jul553
Aug557
Sep518
Oct497
Nov420
Dec396

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.

Santa Clara receives about 5.2 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — bright — with a clear seasonal swing between 3.6 and 6.5 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 6.6 months, from around Mar 4 to Sep 19. The brightest month is July, averaging about 6.4 kWh/m² (intense).

The dimmest month is December, down near 3.6 kWh/m² — roughly 43% less than the July peak.

012345678JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmerbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightintenseJul 116.5 kWhDec 213.6 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan3.8Moderate
Feb4.7Bright
Mar5.6Bright
Apr6.3Intense
May6.2Intense
Jun6.0Intense
Jul6.5Intense
Aug6.1Intense
Sep5.3Bright
Oct4.5Bright
Nov3.9Moderate
Dec3.6Moderate

Where is Santa Clara?

Santa Clara sits at 22.4°N, 80.0°W, 132 m above sea level, in Cuba. The nearest listed city is Ranchuelo, 19 km away.

Topography around Santa Clara

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Santa Clara has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 91 m around an average of 125 m above sea level; within 16 km, significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 411 m; within 80 km, large variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 1,099 m.

The land around Santa Clara is covered by artificial surfaces (47%), trees (29%) and grassland (21%) within 3 km, trees (57%) and grassland (33%) within 16 km, and trees (39%), grassland (27%) and water (25%) within 80 km.

3 km
91 m
16 km
411 m
80 km
1,099 m
treesgrasslandcroplandartificial surfaceswatermangroves
Nearby: Ranchuelo 19 km · Camajuaní 24 km · Encrucijada 26 km · Cifuentes 28 km · Manicaragua 29 km · Cruces 32 km · Lajas 34 km · Placetas 34 km

Cuba travel facts

Travel advisory
Level 2
Exercise Increased Caution
Power plugs
Type A / B / C / L
110 V · 60 Hz
Prices
≈ 39% of US
price level, 2011
GDP per capita
$9,605
2020
Happiness
5.4 / 10
World Happiness, 2011
Homicide rate
4.5
per 100k, 2019
Road deaths
8.9
per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group
Upper middle
World Bank
English
Moderate
EF EPI 515
Religion
Christian 59%none 23%folk religion 18%

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 Santa Clara (22.4071°, -79.9658°, elevation 132 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. Tropical-cyclone seasons are the published climatological basin seasons (NOAA National Hurricane Center / regional warning centres). 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).