Climate and average weather in Willemstad

In Willemstad, the weather is oppressive, hot, wet, and partly cloudy and remarkably steady, with daytime highs holding near hot levels all year. The wettest stretch peaks around November.

Best: early January to mid June

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Willemstad typically varies from 25°C to 28°C, and is rarely below 24°C or above 29°C. September is the hottest month of the year, while February is the coldest.

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

Hottest
Sep
28°
Coldest
Feb
25°
Wettest
Nov
150 mm
Driest
Mar
20 mm
Rain / yr
699 mm
156 wet days
Daylight
11.3–12.7 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
1 m
12.1°N
Clearest
Jan
35% cloud

Willemstad is capital city of Curaçao.

Density
868/km²
people per km²
Founded
1634

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

Willemstad 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 January to mid June.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

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

Temperatures in Willemstad stay fairly even through the year, without a distinct hot or cool season. The warmest month is September, with an average high of 28°C and low of 27°C; the coolest is February, with an average low of 25°C and high of 26°C.

Days typically run about 1°C warmer than nights year-round.

18°20°22°24°26°28°30°32°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan2625
Feb2625
Mar2625
Apr2726
May2726
Jun2727
Jul2726
Aug2827
Sep2827
Oct2827
Nov2826
Dec2726

How hot and cold Willemstad 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, Willemstad feels like about 34°C (around September 6). About 124 days a year carry some heat stress, peaking in September.

24°26°28°30°32°34°36°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Feels-like high (°C)Air high (°C)Feels-like low (°C)Air low (°C)
Jan26262525
Feb26262525
Mar26262525
Apr27272626
May31272626
Jun32272627
Jul32272626
Aug33282727
Sep34282727
Oct34282727
Nov32282626
Dec29272626

Average hourly temperature in Willemstad

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 September afternoons, near 28°C, and coldest before dawn in February, near 25°C.

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

Willemstad 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° / 25°4612.911.46.7
Feb26° / 25°237.511.67.3
Mar26° / 25°206.111.97.4
Apr27° / 26°306.912.36.8
May27° / 26°378.412.66.5
Jun27° / 27°431212.76.0
Jul27° / 26°4412.512.66.2
Aug28° / 27°4612.512.45.9
Sep28° / 27°661512.15.0
Oct28° / 27°1102111.74.4
Nov28° / 26°1502311.44.5
Dec27° / 26°841811.35.6

Chance of rain

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

Willemstad gets about 699 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 4.4 months, from around Sep 3 to Jan 14, peaking in November at about 78% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Mar 28.

November is the wettest month by volume, with 150 mm over about 23 wet days; March is the driest, with 20 mm.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdrierwettermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetNov 5 · 78%Mar 28 · 16%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan4113
Feb288
Mar206
Apr237
May278
Jun4012
Jul4013
Aug4113
Sep5015
Oct6821
Nov7523
Dec5818

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Willemstad collects about 699 mm of rain across 156 wet days — roughly 58 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. November is the wettest month with 150 mm, while March is the driest at just 20 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 49% of the year’s total.

0255075100125150175JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec46232030374344466611015084
Rainfall (mm)Rain days
Jan4613
Feb238
Mar206
Apr307
May378
Jun4312
Jul4413
Aug4613
Sep6615
Oct11021
Nov15023
Dec8418

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Willemstad, 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 26 and lasts for 4.0 months, ending around March 28. The clearest month is January, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 84% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around March 29 and lasts for 3.7 months, ending around July 20. The cloudiest month is May, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 67% 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 13 · 85%May 5 · 27%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastclearercloudierclearer
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan8416
Feb8317
Mar6634
Apr3664
May3367
Jun4357
Jul5248
Aug5644
Sep4456
Oct4060
Nov5050
Dec6931

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 May 31, brings about 12 h 42 min of light; the shortest, around January 1, only 11 h 18 min — a swing of roughly 1 h 24 min.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan11.47:046:26
Feb11.67:026:38
Mar11.96:486:43
Apr12.36:286:44
May12.66:156:48
Jun12.76:156:57
Jul12.66:227:01
Aug12.46:276:52
Sep12.16:286:32
Oct11.76:296:12
Nov11.46:386:04
Dec11.36:536:10

Sunny days

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

Willemstad averages about 12 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 5 and 22 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 4.0 months, from around Nov 27 to Mar 29. The sunniest month is January, with roughly 21 sunny days (bright).

The greyest month is April, down near 7 sunny days — about 68% fewer than the January peak.

0510152025JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecsunniergreyersunniergloomymixedbrightbrilliantJan 1422 daysApr 295 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan22Bright
Feb19Bright
Mar16Bright
Apr7Gloomy
May6Gloomy
Jun9Mixed
Jul11Mixed
Aug12Mixed
Sep9Mixed
Oct9Mixed
Nov10Mixed
Dec16Bright

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.

Willemstad 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%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecmiserableoppressivemuggy
Muggy (%)Oppressive (%)Miserable (%)
Jan4951
Feb8912
Mar6905
Apr17425
May03763
Jun02377
Jul02179
Aug0595
Sep0496
Oct01486
Nov04357
Dec28117

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 Willemstad is typically windy, near 30 km/h, and varies moderately with the seasons.

The windier part of the year lasts 7.9 months, from around Dec 25 to Aug 21. The windiest month is June, averaging about 33 km/h (windy).

The calmer part of the year runs from around Aug 22 to Dec 24, with October the calmest month at about 25 km/h.

0510152025303540JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwindiercalmercalmlight breezebreezywindyblusteryJun 17 · 34 km/hOct 30 · 24 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan31windy
Feb32windy
Mar31windy
Apr31windy
May32windy
Jun33windy
Jul32windy
Aug30windy
Sep27breezy
Oct25breezy
Nov25breezy
Dec29breezy

Hazard calendar for Willemstad

In seasonPeak

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

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

Willemstad's rainy season runs October–December, 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 Willemstad

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

Around early June, Willemstad 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 times of year to visit Willemstad for general outdoor tourist activities run from late June to mid August and again from late December to mid June, with a peak score in the last week of March.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationMar 23 · 7.5

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
Jan6.6good
Feb7.3good
Mar7.4good
Apr6.8good
May6.5good
Jun6.0good
Jul6.2good
Aug5.9good
Sep5.0fair
Oct4.4fair
Nov4.5fair
Dec5.6good

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 Willemstad for hot-weather activities is from late December to late September, with a peak score in the last week of March.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationMar 26 · 7.3

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 Willemstad, 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.

Willemstad packs about the same all year — highs hold near 28°C. Across the year the things worth having are light clothes, rain gear, sun protection and a windbreaker.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In September, Willemstad sees daytime highs around 28°C and nights near 27°C. Pack light clothes, rain gear and sun protection. Worth having: a windbreaker. About 15 days see rain.

Sea temperature near Willemstad

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

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

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

24°26°28°30°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwarmtropicalcomfortable to swim
Sea temperature (°C)Comfort
Jan27Warm
Feb26Warm
Mar26Warm
Apr27Warm
May27Warm
Jun28Warm
Jul28Warm
Aug28Tropical
Sep29Tropical
Oct29Tropical
Nov29Tropical
Dec28Warm

UV index (midday) in Willemstad 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 Willemstad peaks around March 19 at about 13 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near December 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.

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecExtremeVery highMar 19UV 13Dec 13UV 9
UV index (midday)Level
Jan11Extreme
Feb12Extreme
Mar14Extreme
Apr13Extreme
May12Extreme
Jun11Extreme
Jul11Extreme
Aug12Extreme
Sep12Extreme
Oct11Extreme
Nov9Very high
Dec9Very high

Average hourly UV index in Willemstad

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 March the burn window is concentrated in the middle of the day: about 8 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)
Jan7.55.5
Feb7.56
Mar86.5
Apr86
May86
Jun86
Jul86
Aug86
Sep86
Oct7.55.5
Nov74.5
Dec74.5

Air quality in Willemstad 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 Willemstad is worst in June — around 32 µg/m³ PM2.5 (moderate), about 3.0× the cleanest month (January, 11 µg/m³).

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

010203040JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecGoodModerateGoodJun 1531 µg/m³Jan 111 µg/m³
PM2.5 (µg/m³)Level
Jan11Good
Feb14Moderate
Mar14Moderate
Apr21Moderate
May26Moderate
Jun32Moderate
Jul26Moderate
Aug20Moderate
Sep15Moderate
Oct14Moderate
Nov12Good
Dec11Good
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free dayFrost-free year round

Willemstad 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. Willemstad banks about 6,087 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around September.

02,0004,0006,000JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°C·days)
Jan490
Feb438
Mar490
Apr488
May521
Jun508
Jul524
Aug540
Sep532
Oct541
Nov508
Dec507

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.

Willemstad receives about 5.9 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — bright — with a clear seasonal swing between 4.9 and 6.5 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 7.3 months, from around Feb 19 to Sep 28. The brightest month is August, averaging about 6.5 kWh/m² (intense).

The dimmest month is December, down near 4.9 kWh/m² — roughly 24% less than the August peak.

012345678JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmerbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightintenseAug 96.5 kWhDec 24.9 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan5.2Bright
Feb5.8Bright
Mar6.3Intense
Apr6.3Intense
May6.3Intense
Jun6.4Intense
Jul6.5Intense
Aug6.5Intense
Sep6.3Intense
Oct5.6Bright
Nov5.0Bright
Dec4.9Bright

Where is Willemstad?

Willemstad sits at 12.1°N, 68.9°W, 1 m above sea level, in Curacao. The nearest listed city is Bandariba, 7.0 km away.

Bandariba

What Willemstad looks like

Topography around Willemstad

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Willemstad has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 90 m around an average of 24 m above sea level; within 16 km, only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 178 m; within 80 km, significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 281 m.

The land around Willemstad is covered by artificial surfaces (66%) within 3 km, water (71%) within 16 km, and water (94%) within 80 km.

3 km
90 m
16 km
178 m
80 km
281 m
treesshrubsgrasslandartificial surfacesbare terrainwater
Nearby: Bandariba 7.0 km · Kralendijk 67 km · Puerto Cumarebo 87 km · La Vela de Coro 104 km · Pueblo Nuevo 114 km · Coro 117 km · Savaneta 120 km · Santa Cruz 126 km

Curacao travel facts

Travel advisory
Level 1
Exercise Normal Precautions
Power plugs
Type A / B / F
127 V · 50 Hz
Prices
≈ 70% of US
price level, 2024
GDP per capita
$22,833
2024
Homicide rate
16.9
per 100k, 2007
Income group
High
World Bank
Religion
Roman Catholic 73%Pentecostal 7%none 6%other 4%

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 Willemstad (12.1225°, -68.8864°, 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. 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).