Climate and average weather in Port-au-Prince

In Port-au-Prince, the weather is humid, hot, wet, and partly cloudy and remarkably steady, with daytime highs holding near hot levels all year. The wettest stretch peaks around May.

Best: early January to mid March

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Port-au-Prince typically varies from 17°C to 29°C, and is rarely below 15°C or above 30°C. July is the hottest month of the year, while January is the coldest.

Based on the travel score, the best times of year to visit Port-au-Prince for warm-weather activities are from early January to mid March and late November to late December.

Hottest
Jul
29°
Coldest
Jan
17°
Wettest
May
240 mm
Driest
Jan
26 mm
Rain / yr
1613 mm
211 wet days
Daylight
10.9–13.1 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
27 m
18.5°N
Clearest
Jan
40% cloud

Port-au-Prince 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 March.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

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

Temperatures in Port-au-Prince stay fairly even through the year, without a distinct hot or cool season. The warmest month is July, with an average high of 29°C and low of 21°C; the coolest is January, with an average low of 17°C and high of 26°C.

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

15°20°25°30°35°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan2617
Feb2717
Mar2718
Apr2719
May2720
Jun2821
Jul2921
Aug2921
Sep2821
Oct2720
Nov2719
Dec2618

Average hourly temperature in Port-au-Prince

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 29°C, and coldest before dawn in January, near 17°C.

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

Port-au-Prince 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° / 17°266.5117.5
Feb27° / 17°428.211.47.0
Mar27° / 18°10315.311.95.9
Apr27° / 19°16920.312.45.0
May27° / 20°2402412.94.4
Jun28° / 21°14220.113.14.5
Jul29° / 21°13020.4134.3
Aug29° / 21°19323.412.63.9
Sep28° / 21°22325.512.13.8
Oct27° / 20°20824.211.64.4
Nov27° / 19°10115.811.15.7
Dec26° / 18°367.310.97.3

Chance of rain

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

Port-au-Prince gets about 1613 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 7.5 months, from around Mar 30 to Nov 13, peaking in September at about 86% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Jan 2.

May is the wettest month by volume, with 240 mm over about 24 wet days; January is the driest, with 26 mm.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdrierwetterdriermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetSep 18 · 86%Jan 2 · 20%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan227
Feb308
Mar4915
Apr6720
May7624
Jun6820
Jul6620
Aug7623
Sep8526
Oct7824
Nov5216
Dec247

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Port-au-Prince collects about 1613 mm of rain across 211 wet days — roughly 134 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. May is the wettest month with 240 mm, while January is the driest at just 26 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 42% of the year’s total.

050100150200250300JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec264210316924014213019322320810136
Rainfall (mm)Rain days
Jan267
Feb428
Mar10315
Apr16920
May24024
Jun14220
Jul13020
Aug19323
Sep22326
Oct20824
Nov10116
Dec367

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Port-au-Prince, 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 15 and lasts for 5.2 months, ending around April 21. The clearest month is January, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 81% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around April 22 and lasts for 6.8 months, ending around November 14. The cloudiest month is September, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 64% 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 21 · 82%May 29 · 30%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastclearercloudierclearer
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan8119
Feb7822
Mar6436
Apr5644
May3763
Jun4159
Jul5149
Aug4357
Sep3664
Oct4159
Nov5743
Dec7723

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 4, 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)
Jan11.06:295:29
Feb11.46:235:45
Mar11.96:035:55
Apr12.45:376:02
May12.95:196:12
Jun13.15:166:23
Jul13.05:256:25
Aug12.65:346:12
Sep12.15:415:47
Oct11.65:475:22
Nov11.16:015:08
Dec10.96:195:12

Sunny days

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

Port-au-Prince averages about 8 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 3 and 18 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 4.3 months, from around Nov 8 to Mar 17. The sunniest month is January, with roughly 16 sunny days (bright).

The greyest month is May, down near 4 sunny days — about 77% fewer than the January peak.

05101520JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecsunniergreyersunniergloomymixedbrightJan 318 daysMay 283 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan16Bright
Feb13Mixed
Mar9Mixed
Apr6Gloomy
May4Gloomy
Jun5Gloomy
Jul7Gloomy
Aug5Gloomy
Sep3Gloomy
Oct5Gloomy
Nov10Mixed
Dec17Bright

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 Port-au-Prince, how humid it feels changes noticeably over the year.

The more humid part of the year lasts 8.1 months, from around April 8 to December 9. The muggiest month is May, when the air feels humid, muggy or worse about 100% of the time.

The most comfortable stretch runs from around December 10 to April 7, and January is the most comfortable month — the air is dry or comfortable 16% of the time.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecJan 31 · 19%May 6 · 0%oppressivehumidmuggycomfortablecomfortablehumid
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)Humid (%)Muggy (%)Oppressive (%)
Jan11471130
Feb21768130
Mar11058310
Apr0328681
May0058510
Jun0018118
Jul0037621
Aug0016831
Sep0016436
Oct0017425
Nov0117784
Dec1653410

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 Port-au-Prince is steady company: average speeds sit near 4 km/hcalm — in every month of the year, with no meaningful windy or calm season.

0510JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDeccalmJan 1 · 4 km/hSep 9 · 3 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan4calm
Feb4calm
Mar4calm
Apr3calm
May4calm
Jun4calm
Jul4calm
Aug3calm
Sep3calm
Oct3calm
Nov4calm
Dec4calm

Hazard calendar for Port-au-Prince

In seasonPeak

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

Port-au-Prince sits in the Atlantic hurricane belt; the season peaks August–October.

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

Best time to visit Port-au-Prince

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

Around early March, Port-au-Prince 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 Port-au-Prince for general outdoor tourist activities is from late November to mid March, with a peak score in the first week of January.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationJan 2 · 7.6

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
Jan7.5good
Feb7.0good
Mar6.0good
Apr5.0fair
May4.4fair
Jun4.5fair
Jul4.3fair
Aug3.9fair
Sep3.8fair
Oct4.4fair
Nov5.7good
Dec7.3good

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 Port-au-Prince for hot-weather activities is from late November to mid March, with a peak score in the first week of January.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationJan 1 · 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 Port-au-Prince, 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.

Port-au-Prince packs about the same all year — highs hold near 29°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, Port-au-Prince sees daytime highs around 29°C and nights near 21°C. Pack light clothes, rain gear and sun protection. About 20 days see rain.

Sea temperature near Port-au-Prince

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 September at about 30°C and coldest in February 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
Mar28Warm
Apr28Tropical
May29Tropical
Jun29Tropical
Jul30Tropical
Aug30Tropical
Sep30Tropical
Oct30Tropical
Nov29Tropical
Dec29Tropical

UV index (midday) in Port-au-Prince 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 Port-au-Prince peaks around August 20 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 highHighAug 20UV 12Dec 15UV 7
UV index (midday)Level
Jan8Very high
Feb9Very high
Mar12Extreme
Apr12Extreme
May11Extreme
Jun12Extreme
Jul10Very high
Aug12Extreme
Sep11Extreme
Oct10Extreme
Nov8Very high
Dec7High

Average hourly UV index in Port-au-Prince

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 August 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)
Jan6.54
Feb74.5
Mar86
Apr86
May8.56
Jun8.56
Jul85.5
Aug86
Sep86
Oct75
Nov6.53.5
Dec62.5

Air quality in Port-au-Prince 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 Port-au-Prince is worst in June — around 34 µg/m³ PM2.5 (moderate), and holds fairly steady the rest of the year.

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

010203040JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecModerateJun 2233 µg/m³Mar 2222 µg/m³
PM2.5 (µg/m³)Level
Jan28Moderate
Feb24Moderate
Mar22Moderate
Apr22Moderate
May25Moderate
Jun34Moderate
Jul33Moderate
Aug29Moderate
Sep26Moderate
Oct31Moderate
Nov31Moderate
Dec31Moderate
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free dayFrost-free year round

Port-au-Prince 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. Port-au-Prince banks about 4,846 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around August.

02,0004,000JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°C·days)
Jan358
Feb334
Mar383
Apr388
May422
Jun431
Jul460
Aug462
Sep431
Oct426
Nov383
Dec368

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.

Port-au-Prince receives about 5.8 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — bright — with a clear seasonal swing between 4.6 and 6.9 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 6.8 months, from around Mar 1 to Sep 22. The brightest month is July, averaging about 6.8 kWh/m² (intense).

The dimmest month is December, down near 4.7 kWh/m² — roughly 32% less than the July peak.

012345678JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmerbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightintenseJul 26.9 kWhDec 164.6 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan4.9Bright
Feb5.5Bright
Mar6.0Bright
Apr6.4Intense
May6.3Intense
Jun6.8Intense
Jul6.8Intense
Aug6.5Intense
Sep6.0Intense
Oct5.3Bright
Nov4.7Bright
Dec4.7Bright

Where is Port-au-Prince?

Port-au-Prince sits at 18.5°N, 72.3°W, 27 m above sea level, in Haiti. The nearest listed city is Delmas, 4.0 km away.

GressierThomazeauArcahaie

What Port-au-Prince looks like

macbook pro beside black dslr camera on white table
Photos by Pro Affaires and Tim Trad on Unsplash
white and black drone near black and silver laptop computer
boy wear gray and orange shirt standing while raising his left hand

Topography around Port-au-Prince

How much the land rises and falls, and what covers it, within 3, 16 and 80 km of Port-au-Prince.

Within 3 km, the terrain around Port-au-Prince has significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 476 m around an average of 62 m above sea level; within 16 km, very significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 1,916 m; within 80 km, extreme variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 2,681 m.

The land around Port-au-Prince is covered by artificial surfaces (68%) within 3 km, grassland (30%), water (25%) and artificial surfaces (23%) within 16 km, and grassland (40%) and water (36%) within 80 km.

3 km
476 m
16 km
1,916 m
80 km
2,681 m
treesshrubsgrasslandcroplandartificial surfacesbare terrainwater
Nearby: Delmas 4.0 km · Carrefour 7.0 km · Pétionville 7.0 km · Kenscoff 12 km · Croix-des-Bouquets 12 km · Gressier 20 km · Thomazeau 29 km · Arcahaie 31 km

Haiti travel facts

Travel advisory
Level 4
Do Not Travel
Power plugs
Type A / B
110 V · 60 Hz
Prices
≈ 86% of US
price level, 2025
GDP per capita
$2,694
2025
Happiness
3.6 / 10
World Happiness, 2020
Homicide rate
41.2
per 100k, 2023
Road deaths
18.8
per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group
Lower middle
World Bank
English
Very low
EF EPI 444
Religion
Catholic 55%Protestant 29%none 10%other 5%

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 Port-au-Prince (18.5435°, -72.3388°, elevation 27 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).