Climate and average weather in La Unión

In La Unión, 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 September.

Best: mid November to mid April

Over the course of the year, the temperature in La Unión typically varies from 26°C to 30°C, and is rarely below 24°C or above 32°C. July is the hottest month of the year, while October is the coldest.

Based on the travel score, the best time of year to visit La Unión for warm-weather activities is from mid November to mid April.

Hottest
Jul
30°
Coldest
Oct
26°
Wettest
Sep
375 mm
Driest
Jan
1 mm
Rain / yr
1814 mm
142 wet days
Daylight
11.2–12.8 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
10 m
13.3°N
Clearest
Feb
17% cloud

La Unión is city in El Salvador.

Density
186/km²
people per km²
Founded
1854

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

La Unión 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 November to mid April.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

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

Temperatures in La Unión stay fairly even through the year, without a distinct hot or cool season. The warmest month is July, with an average high of 30°C and low of 27°C; the coolest is October, with an average low of 26°C and high of 28°C.

Days typically run about 3°C warmer than nights year-round.

20°25°30°35°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan2926
Feb2926
Mar2927
Apr2927
May2927
Jun3027
Jul3027
Aug3027
Sep2926
Oct2826
Nov2926
Dec2926

How hot and cold La Unión 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, La Unión feels like about 35°C (around May 6). About 193 days a year carry some heat stress, peaking in May.

24°26°28°30°32°34°36°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Feels-like high (°C)Air high (°C)Feels-like low (°C)Air low (°C)
Jan31292626
Feb31292626
Mar32292727
Apr34292727
May34292727
Jun34302627
Jul34302727
Aug34302727
Sep32292626
Oct32282626
Nov32292626
Dec31292626

Average hourly temperature in La Unión

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 July afternoons, near 30°C, and coldest before dawn in October, near 26°C.

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

La Unión 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
Jan29° / 26°10.411.37.4
Feb29° / 26°20.611.67.4
Mar29° / 27°82.611.97.0
Apr29° / 27°409.912.35.6
May29° / 27°27721.412.64.0
Jun30° / 27°31320.912.83.8
Jul30° / 27°14612.412.74.5
Aug30° / 27°25619.212.44.1
Sep29° / 26°37525.112.13.6
Oct28° / 26°34422.111.74.2
Nov29° / 26°486.711.46.2
Dec29° / 26°30.911.27.2

Chance of rain

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

La Unión gets about 1814 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 3.4 months, from around Jul 23 to Nov 4, peaking in September at about 87% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Jan 17.

September is the wettest month by volume, with 375 mm over about 25 wet days; January is the driest, with 1 mm.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdrierwetterdriermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetSep 23 · 87%Jan 17 · 1%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan10
Feb21
Mar93
Apr3310
May6821
Jun6921
Jul4212
Aug6119
Sep8225
Oct7122
Nov237
Dec31

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, La Unión collects about 1814 mm of rain across 142 wet days — roughly 151 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. September is the wettest month with 375 mm, while January is the driest at just 1 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 57% of the year’s total.

050100150200250300350400450JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec12840277313146256375344483
Rainfall (mm)Rain days
Jan10
Feb21
Mar83
Apr4010
May27721
Jun31321
Jul14612
Aug25619
Sep37525
Oct34422
Nov487
Dec31

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In La Unión, 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 6 and lasts for 5.8 months, ending around May 2. 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 3 and lasts for 6.1 months, ending around November 5. The cloudiest month is June, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 72% 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 · 95%Jun 1 · 25%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastclearercloudierclearer
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan937
Feb946
Mar919
Apr7822
May4159
Jun2872
Jul4258
Aug4258
Sep3169
Oct3961
Nov6931
Dec8713

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 6, brings about 12 h 48 min of light; the shortest, around January 1, only 11 h 12 min — a swing of roughly 1 h 36 min.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan11.36:225:39
Feb11.66:195:53
Mar11.96:045:58
Apr12.35:436:01
May12.65:296:06
Jun12.85:286:15
Jul12.75:356:18
Aug12.45:426:09
Sep12.15:435:48
Oct11.75:465:27
Nov11.45:555:18
Dec11.26:115:24

Sunny days

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

La Unión averages about 14 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 4 and 27 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 5.7 months, from around Nov 9 to Apr 29. The sunniest month is February, with roughly 27 sunny days (brilliant).

The greyest month is September, down near 4 sunny days — about 84% fewer than the February peak.

051015202530JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecsunniergreyersunniergloomymixedbrightbrilliantFeb 627 daysSep 244 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan27Brilliant
Feb25Brilliant
Mar26Brilliant
Apr19Bright
May8Gloomy
Jun4Gloomy
Jul7Gloomy
Aug7Gloomy
Sep4Gloomy
Oct6Gloomy
Nov16Bright
Dec24Brilliant

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.

La Unión 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 March, when it feels muggy, oppressive or miserable about 96% 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%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecmiserableoppressivemuggyhumid
Comfortable (%)Humid (%)Muggy (%)Oppressive (%)Miserable (%)
Jan1944450
Feb1639522
Mar03256110
Apr0166033
May0006238
Jun0007525
Jul0018811
Aug0008119
Sep0008317
Oct016849
Nov0623683
Dec1637541

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 La Unión is typically calm, near 11 km/h, and varies moderately with the seasons.

The windier part of the year lasts 5.3 months, from around Nov 22 to May 1. The windiest month is January, averaging about 14 km/h (light breeze).

The calmer part of the year runs from around May 2 to Nov 21, with October the calmest month at about 9 km/h.

05101520JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwindiercalmerwindiercalmlight breezeJan 13 · 15 km/hOct 16 · 9 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan14light breeze
Feb14light breeze
Mar13light breeze
Apr12light breeze
May10calm
Jun9calm
Jul11calm
Aug10calm
Sep9calm
Oct9calm
Nov11calm
Dec13light breeze

Hazard calendar for La Unión

In seasonPeak

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

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

La Unión's monsoon runs August–October, when most of the year's rain falls.

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

Best time to visit La Unión

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

Around late March, La Unión 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 La Unión for general outdoor tourist activities is from mid November to mid April, with a peak score in the third week of January.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationJan 20 · 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
Jan7.4good
Feb7.4good
Mar7.0good
Apr5.6good
May4.0fair
Jun3.8fair
Jul4.5fair
Aug4.1fair
Sep3.6fair
Oct4.2fair
Nov6.1good
Dec7.2good

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 La Unión for hot-weather activities is from mid November to mid April, with a peak score in the first week of February.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationFeb 4 · 9.4

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 La Unión, 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.

La Unión 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 July, La Unión sees daytime highs around 30°C and nights near 27°C. Pack light clothes and sun protection. Worth having: rain gear. About 12 days see rain.

Sea temperature near La Unión

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 24 km away) is warmest in August at about 30°C and coldest in January near 28°C.

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

26°28°30°32°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwarmtropicalcomfortable to swim
Sea temperature (°C)Comfort
Jan28Warm
Feb28Warm
Mar28Tropical
Apr29Tropical
May30Tropical
Jun30Tropical
Jul30Tropical
Aug30Tropical
Sep30Tropical
Oct29Tropical
Nov29Tropical
Dec28Tropical

UV index (midday) in La Unión 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 La Unión peaks around March 20 at about 13 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near December 14 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 20UV 13Dec 14UV 9
UV index (midday)Level
Jan10Extreme
Feb12Extreme
Mar13Extreme
Apr13Extreme
May12Extreme
Jun13Extreme
Jul11Extreme
Aug11Extreme
Sep12Extreme
Oct11Extreme
Nov9Very high
Dec9Very high

Average hourly UV index in La Unión

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 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)
Jan75
Feb7.55.5
Mar86
Apr86
May86
Jun8.56.5
Jul86
Aug86
Sep86
Oct7.55.5
Nov74.5
Dec6.54.5

Air quality in La Unión 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 La Unión is worst in April — around 34 µg/m³ PM2.5 (moderate), about 3.3× the cleanest month (January, 10 µg/m³).

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

010203040JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecGoodModerateGoodApr 2233 µg/m³Jan 1010 µg/m³
PM2.5 (µg/m³)Level
Jan10Good
Feb12Good
Mar20Moderate
Apr34Moderate
May32Moderate
Jun21Moderate
Jul24Moderate
Aug20Moderate
Sep18Moderate
Oct17Moderate
Nov14Moderate
Dec10Good
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free dayFrost-free year round

La Unión 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. La Unión banks about 6,484 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around July.

02,0004,0006,000JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°C·days)
Jan537
Feb490
Mar553
Apr546
May556
Jun539
Jul579
Aug565
Sep519
Oct531
Nov525
Dec543

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.

La Unión receives about 6.0 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — bright — with a clear seasonal swing between 5.1 and 6.8 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 3.5 months, from around Feb 1 to May 17. The brightest month is March, averaging about 6.7 kWh/m² (intense).

The dimmest month is October, down near 5.2 kWh/m² — roughly 23% less than the March peak.

012345678JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmerbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightintenseMar 306.8 kWhOct 135.1 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan5.7Bright
Feb6.3Intense
Mar6.8Intense
Apr6.7Intense
May6.0Intense
Jun5.9Bright
Jul6.4Intense
Aug6.3Intense
Sep5.7Bright
Oct5.2Bright
Nov5.4Bright
Dec5.5Bright

Where is La Unión?

La Unión sits at 13.3°N, 87.8°W, 10 m above sea level, in El Salvador. The nearest listed city is Langue, 37 km away.

LangueSan MiguelSan Francisco GoteraSan Rafael OrienteUsulutánSantiago de María

Topography around La Unión

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around La Unión has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 245 m around an average of 38 m above sea level; within 16 km, very significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 1,230 m; within 80 km, very significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 2,074 m.

The land around La Unión is covered by water (43%) and trees (33%) within 3 km, trees (39%) and water (32%) within 16 km, and trees (42%) and water (32%) within 80 km.

3 km
245 m
16 km
1,230 m
80 km
2,074 m
treesshrubsgrasslandcroplandartificial surfacesbare terrainwatermangroves
Nearby: Langue 37 km · San Miguel 40 km · San Lorenzo 44 km · San Francisco Gotera 49 km · San Rafael Oriente 55 km · Marcovia 58 km · Usulután 65 km · Santiago de María 69 km

El Salvador travel facts

Travel advisory
Level 1
Exercise Normal Precautions
Power plugs
Type A / B
115 V · 60 Hz
Prices
≈ 41% of US
price level, 2025
GDP per capita
$5,767
2025
Happiness
6.6 / 10
World Happiness, 2025
Homicide rate
7.9
per 100k, 2022
Road deaths
20.9
per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group
Upper middle
World Bank
English
Moderate
EF EPI 523
Religion
Roman Catholic 44%Protestant 40%none 16%

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 La Unión (13.3392°, -87.8433°, elevation 10 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).