Climate and average weather in Santa Cruz de Barahona

In Santa Cruz de Barahona, the weather is muggy, hot, showery, and partly cloudy and remarkably steady, with daytime highs holding near hot levels all year. The wettest stretch peaks around October.

Best: early January to mid April

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Santa Cruz de Barahona typically varies from 22°C to 30°C, and is rarely below 21°C or above 31°C. August is the hottest month of the year, while February is the coldest.

Based on the travel score, the best times of year to visit Santa Cruz de Barahona for warm-weather activities are from early January to mid April and late November to late December.

Hottest
Aug
30°
Coldest
Feb
22°
Wettest
Oct
100 mm
Driest
Jan
11 mm
Rain / yr
591 mm
86 wet days
Daylight
10.9–13.1 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
39 m
18.2°N
Clearest
Feb
24% cloud

Santa Cruz de Barahona is human settlement.

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

Santa Cruz de Barahona 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 April.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

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

Temperatures in Santa Cruz de Barahona stay fairly even through the year, without a distinct hot or cool season. The warmest month is August, with an average high of 30°C and low of 25°C; the coolest is February, with an average low of 22°C and high of 28°C.

Days typically run about 5°C warmer than nights year-round.

20°25°30°35°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan2822
Feb2822
Mar2823
Apr2824
May2924
Jun3025
Jul3025
Aug3025
Sep3025
Oct3025
Nov2924
Dec2823

How hot and cold Santa Cruz de Barahona 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 Cruz de Barahona feels like about 34°C (around September 5). About 176 days a year carry some heat stress, peaking in September.

20°25°30°35°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Feels-like high (°C)Air high (°C)Feels-like low (°C)Air low (°C)
Jan29282222
Feb29282222
Mar29282323
Apr30282424
May32292424
Jun33302525
Jul34302525
Aug34302525
Sep34302525
Oct33302525
Nov32292424
Dec30282323

Average hourly temperature in Santa Cruz de Barahona

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 30°C, and coldest before dawn in February, near 22°C.

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

Santa Cruz de Barahona 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
Jan28° / 22°112.2118.2
Feb28° / 22°112.611.48.1
Mar28° / 23°194.711.97.7
Apr28° / 24°305.512.46.8
May29° / 24°7510.912.85.5
Jun30° / 25°6010.413.15.2
Jul30° / 25°487.2135.5
Aug30° / 25°858.912.65.2
Sep30° / 25°8511.612.14.8
Oct30° / 25°10012.211.65.0
Nov29° / 24°466.811.16.2
Dec28° / 23°192.810.97.5

Chance of rain

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

Santa Cruz de Barahona gets about 591 mm of precipitation a year. On a typical day the chance of rain is some rain, but that rises and falls sharply with the seasons.

The wetter season lasts 3.5 months, from around Aug 3 to Nov 16, peaking in September at about 46% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Jan 13.

October is the wettest month by volume, with 100 mm over about 12 wet days; January is the driest, with 11 mm.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdrierwetterdriermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetSep 30 · 46%Jan 13 · 6%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan72
Feb103
Mar145
Apr196
May3411
Jun3510
Jul247
Aug289
Sep3912
Oct4012
Nov227
Dec93

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Santa Cruz de Barahona collects about 591 mm of rain across 86 wet days — roughly 49 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. October is the wettest month with 100 mm, while January is the driest at just 11 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 46% of the year’s total.

0255075100125JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec1111193075604885851004619
Rainfall (mm)Rain days
Jan112
Feb113
Mar195
Apr306
May7511
Jun6010
Jul487
Aug859
Sep8512
Oct10012
Nov467
Dec193

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Santa Cruz de Barahona, 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 21 and lasts for 5.4 months, ending around May 4. The clearest month is February, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 94% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around May 5 and lasts for 6.6 months, ending around November 20. The cloudiest month is June, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 47% 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 15 · 95%May 29 · 45%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastclearercloudierclearer
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan9010
Feb946
Mar8812
Apr8119
May5743
Jun5347
Jul6634
Aug6139
Sep5545
Oct5842
Nov7030
Dec8416

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 8, brings about 13 h 06 min of light; the shortest, around January 1, only 10 h 54 min — a swing of roughly 2 h 12 min.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan11.07:236:24
Feb11.47:176:41
Mar11.96:586:50
Apr12.46:326:57
May12.86:157:06
Jun13.16:127:17
Jul13.06:207:20
Aug12.66:307:07
Sep12.16:366:42
Oct11.66:426:17
Nov11.16:566:04
Dec10.97:136:08

Sunny days

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

Santa Cruz de Barahona averages about 17 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 8 and 26 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 5.4 months, from around Nov 16 to Apr 27. The sunniest month is February, with roughly 26 sunny days (brilliant).

The greyest month is May, down near 11 sunny days — about 57% fewer than the February peak.

051015202530JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecsunniergreyersunniergloomymixedbrightbrilliantFeb 1126 daysMay 308 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan26Brilliant
Feb24Brilliant
Mar23Bright
Apr19Bright
May11Mixed
Jun10Mixed
Jul15Bright
Aug14Mixed
Sep11Mixed
Oct12Mixed
Nov17Bright
Dec23Bright

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.

Santa Cruz de Barahona 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 89% of the time. Even in January, the mildest month, the air is dry or comfortable only 1% of the time.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecmuggyoppressivehumid
Comfortable (%)Humid (%)Muggy (%)Oppressive (%)Miserable (%)
Jan1108280
Feb1128160
Mar01175140
Apr0357400
May0016831
Jun001962
Jul001963
Aug000946
Sep000946
Oct003943
Nov0129700
Dec0664300

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 Santa Cruz de Barahona is steady company: average speeds sit near 7 km/hcalm — in every month of the year, with no meaningful windy or calm season.

051015JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDeccalmlight breezeJul 1 · 9 km/hOct 17 · 6 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan8calm
Feb8calm
Mar8calm
Apr8calm
May8calm
Jun8calm
Jul8calm
Aug8calm
Sep6calm
Oct6calm
Nov6calm
Dec7calm

Hazard calendar for Santa Cruz de Barahona

In seasonPeak

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

Santa Cruz de Barahona sits in the Atlantic hurricane belt; the season peaks August–October.

Santa Cruz de Barahona's rainy season runs May–November, 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 Cruz de Barahona

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

Around early April, Santa Cruz de Barahona 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 Santa Cruz de Barahona for general outdoor tourist activities is from late November to mid April, with a peak score in the third week of January.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationJan 15 · 8.3

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
Jan8.2ideal
Feb8.1ideal
Mar7.7ideal
Apr6.8good
May5.5good
Jun5.2fair
Jul5.5fair
Aug5.2fair
Sep4.8fair
Oct5.0fair
Nov6.2good
Dec7.5ideal

The beach/pool score favors clear, rainless days with daytime highs between 24°C and 34°C. Based on this score, the best times of year to visit Santa Cruz de Barahona for hot-weather activities run from late June to late August and again from late October to mid May, with a peak score in the second week of January.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timebest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationJan 13 · 8.7

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 Cruz de Barahona, 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 Cruz de Barahona packs about the same all year — highs hold near 30°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 Cruz de Barahona sees daytime highs around 30°C and nights near 25°C. Pack light clothes and sun protection. Worth having: rain gear. About 9 days see rain.

Sea temperature near Santa Cruz de Barahona

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 26 km away) is warmest in September at about 29°C and coldest in February 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
Apr27Warm
May28Warm
Jun28Tropical
Jul29Tropical
Aug29Tropical
Sep29Tropical
Oct29Tropical
Nov29Tropical
Dec28Warm

UV index (midday) in Santa Cruz de Barahona 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 Cruz de Barahona peaks around March 23 at about 12 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near December 15 at about 7 (high).

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

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecVery highExtremeVery highHighMar 23UV 12Dec 15UV 7
UV index (midday)Level
Jan8Very high
Feb10Very high
Mar12Extreme
Apr12Extreme
May12Extreme
Jun12Extreme
Jul11Extreme
Aug12Extreme
Sep11Extreme
Oct10Very high
Nov8Very high
Dec7High

Average hourly UV index in Santa Cruz de Barahona

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 7.5 hours a day reach index 3 (protection recommended), and 6 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)
Jan6.53.5
Feb75
Mar7.56
Apr86
May86
Jun8.56.5
Jul86
Aug86
Sep7.55.5
Oct75
Nov6.53.5
Dec62.5

Air quality in Santa Cruz de Barahona 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 Cruz de Barahona is worst in June — around 28 µg/m³ PM2.5 (moderate), about 3.6× the cleanest month (January, 8 µg/m³).

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

0102030JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecGoodModerateGoodJun 2328 µg/m³Jan 18 µg/m³
PM2.5 (µg/m³)Level
Jan8Good
Feb9Good
Mar10Good
Apr11Good
May18Moderate
Jun28Moderate
Jul28Moderate
Aug23Moderate
Sep17Moderate
Oct17Moderate
Nov10Good
Dec8Good
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free dayFrost-free year round

Santa Cruz de Barahona 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 Cruz de Barahona banks about 5,969 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)
Jan461
Feb415
Mar469
Apr477
May512
Jun513
Jul542
Aug548
Sep527
Oct531
Nov494
Dec480

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 Cruz de Barahona receives about 5.7 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — bright — with a clear seasonal swing between 4.6 and 6.6 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 6.7 months, from around Mar 1 to Sep 21. The brightest month is July, averaging about 6.6 kWh/m² (intense).

The dimmest month is December, down near 4.6 kWh/m² — roughly 30% less than the July peak.

012345678JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmerbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightintenseJul 76.6 kWhDec 194.6 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan4.8Bright
Feb5.5Bright
Mar6.0Intense
Apr6.4Intense
May6.2Intense
Jun6.4Intense
Jul6.6Intense
Aug6.4Intense
Sep5.9Bright
Oct5.3Bright
Nov4.8Bright
Dec4.6Bright

Where is Santa Cruz de Barahona?

Santa Cruz de Barahona sits at 18.2°N, 71.1°W, 39 m above sea level, in Dominican Republic. The nearest listed city is Neiba, 46 km away.

NeibaAzuaSan Juan de la MaguanaSan José de OcoaBaníLas Matas de FarfánGrand GosierConstanza

Topography around Santa Cruz de Barahona

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Santa Cruz de Barahona has significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 354 m around an average of 71 m above sea level; within 16 km, very significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 1,607 m; within 80 km, extreme variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 2,675 m.

The land around Santa Cruz de Barahona is covered by trees (37%), artificial surfaces (30%) and water (22%) within 3 km, trees (43%) and water (39%) within 16 km, and trees (40%) and water (34%) within 80 km.

3 km
354 m
16 km
1,607 m
80 km
2,675 m
treesshrubsgrasslandcroplandartificial surfacesbare terrainwatermangroves
Nearby: Neiba 46 km · Azua 47 km · San Juan de la Maguana 68 km · San José de Ocoa 73 km · Baní 82 km · Las Matas de Farfán 86 km · Grand Gosier 86 km · Constanza 86 km

Dominican Republic travel facts

Travel advisory
Level 2
Exercise Increased Caution
Power plugs
Type A / B / C
120 V · 60 Hz
Prices
≈ 39% of US
price level, 2025
GDP per capita
$11,059
2025
Happiness
6.1 / 10
World Happiness, 2025
Safe drinking water
45%
of population, 2024
Homicide rate
10.9
per 100k, 2023
Road deaths
64.6
per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group
Upper middle
World Bank
English
Moderate
EF EPI 503

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 Cruz de Barahona (18.2086°, -71.1007°, elevation 39 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).