Climate and average weather in La Ceiba

In La Ceiba, the weather is muggy, warm, wet, and mostly cloudy and remarkably steady, with daytime highs holding near warm levels all year. The wettest stretch peaks around November.

Best: early January to early May

Over the course of the year, the temperature in La Ceiba typically varies from 20°C to 28°C, and is rarely below 18°C or above 30°C. June is the hottest month of the year, while January is the coldest.

Based on the travel score, the best time of year to visit La Ceiba for warm-weather activities is from early January to early May.

Hottest
Jun
28°
Coldest
Jan
20°
Wettest
Nov
373 mm
Driest
Apr
64 mm
Rain / yr
2233 mm
240 wet days
Daylight
11.1–12.9 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
14 m
15.8°N
Clearest
Mar
38% cloud

La Ceiba is human settlement in Honduras.

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

La Ceiba 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 early May.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

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

Temperatures in La Ceiba stay fairly even through the year, without a distinct hot or cool season. The warmest month is June, with an average high of 28°C and low of 24°C; the coolest is January, with an average low of 20°C and high of 24°C.

Days typically run about 4°C warmer than nights year-round.

15°20°25°30°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan2420
Feb2520
Mar2621
Apr2722
May2823
Jun2824
Jul2823
Aug2823
Sep2824
Oct2723
Nov2522
Dec2421

Average hourly temperature in La Ceiba

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 June afternoons, near 28°C, and coldest before dawn in January, near 20°C.

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

La Ceiba 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
Jan24° / 20°22416.911.26.1
Feb25° / 20°12611.311.56.8
Mar26° / 21°10710.311.97.0
Apr27° / 22°6410.612.36.6
May28° / 23°13019.212.75.1
Jun28° / 24°15023.812.94.1
Jul28° / 23°14025.212.84.2
Aug28° / 23°15626.112.54.1
Sep28° / 24°20227.612.13.7
Oct27° / 23°33326.711.64.0
Nov25° / 22°3732311.34.7
Dec24° / 21°22719.311.15.6

Chance of rain

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

La Ceiba gets about 2233 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 6.7 months, from around May 19 to Dec 9, peaking in September at about 92% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Apr 3.

November is the wettest month by volume, with 373 mm over about 23 wet days; April is the driest, with 64 mm.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdrierwettermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetSep 25 · 92%Apr 3 · 28%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan5417
Feb4111
Mar3310
Apr3611
May6219
Jun7924
Jul8125
Aug8526
Sep9128
Oct8727
Nov7623
Dec6319

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, La Ceiba collects about 2233 mm of rain across 240 wet days — roughly 186 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. November is the wettest month with 373 mm, while April is the driest at just 64 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 42% of the year’s total.

050100150200250300350400450JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec22412610764130150140156202333373227
Rainfall (mm)Rain days
Jan22417
Feb12611
Mar10710
Apr6411
May13019
Jun15024
Jul14025
Aug15626
Sep20228
Oct33327
Nov37323
Dec22719

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In La Ceiba, 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 30 and lasts for 5.4 months, ending around May 12. The clearest month is March, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 79% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around May 13 and lasts for 6.6 months, ending around November 29. The cloudiest month is June, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 71% 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%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecMar 28 · 82%Oct 2 · 26%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastclearercloudierclearer
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan6634
Feb7723
Mar7921
Apr7525
May4753
Jun2971
Jul3862
Aug4357
Sep3268
Oct3268
Nov4555
Dec5941

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 30, brings about 12 h 54 min of light; the shortest, around January 1, only 11 h 06 min — a swing of roughly 1 h 48 min.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan11.26:225:31
Feb11.56:175:46
Mar11.96:005:53
Apr12.35:375:58
May12.75:216:05
Jun12.95:196:15
Jul12.85:276:18
Aug12.55:356:07
Sep12.15:395:44
Oct11.65:435:21
Nov11.35:555:10
Dec11.16:115:15

Sunny days

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

La Ceiba averages about 9 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 3 and 19 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 5.1 months, from around Dec 7 to May 10. The sunniest month is February, with roughly 18 sunny days (bright).

The greyest month is September, down near 4 sunny days — about 80% fewer than the February peak.

0510152025JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecsunniergreyersunniergloomymixedbrightbrilliantFeb 2319 daysSep 303 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan13Mixed
Feb16Bright
Mar19Bright
Apr16Bright
May8Gloomy
Jun4Gloomy
Jul5Gloomy
Aug5Gloomy
Sep4Gloomy
Oct5Gloomy
Nov7Gloomy
Dec10Mixed

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 Ceiba 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 April, when it feels muggy, oppressive or miserable about 97% of the time. Even in January, the mildest month, the air is dry or comfortable only 3% of the time.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecmuggyoppressivehumid
Comfortable (%)Humid (%)Muggy (%)Oppressive (%)Miserable (%)
Jan3177640
Feb2137780
Mar21064240
Apr0336592
May0110863
Jun002962
Jul002980
Aug001990
Sep001990
Oct0118820
Nov0749440
Dec11370160

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 Ceiba is typically calm, near 10 km/h, and varies little with the seasons.

The windier part of the year lasts 4.6 months, from around Dec 25 to May 14. The windiest month is March, averaging about 11 km/h (calm).

The calmer part of the year runs from around Aug 7 to Oct 30, with September the calmest month at about 8 km/h.

051015JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwindiercalmercalmlight breezeMar 5 · 11 km/hSep 22 · 7 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan10calm
Feb11calm
Mar11calm
Apr10calm
May10calm
Jun10calm
Jul11calm
Aug9calm
Sep8calm
Oct9calm
Nov10calm
Dec9calm

Hazard calendar for La Ceiba

In seasonPeak

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

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

La Ceiba's rainy season runs September–January, 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 La Ceiba

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

Around mid January, La Ceiba 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 La Ceiba for general outdoor tourist activities is from late December to early May, with a peak score in the last week of March.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationMar 31 · 7.2

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
Jan6.1good
Feb6.8good
Mar7.1good
Apr6.6good
May5.1fair
Jun4.1fair
Jul4.2fair
Aug4.1fair
Sep3.7fair
Oct4.0fair
Nov4.7fair
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 La Ceiba for hot-weather activities is from early February to mid May, with a peak score in the first week of April.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationApr 4 · 7.1

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 La Ceiba, 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 Ceiba packs about the same all year — highs hold near 28°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 June, La Ceiba sees daytime highs around 28°C and nights near 24°C. Pack light clothes, rain gear and sun protection. About 24 days see rain.

Sea temperature near La Ceiba

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 16 km away) is warmest in September at about 30°C and coldest in January near 27°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
Jan27Warm
Feb27Warm
Mar27Warm
Apr28Tropical
May29Tropical
Jun29Tropical
Jul29Tropical
Aug29Tropical
Sep30Tropical
Oct29Tropical
Nov28Tropical
Dec27Warm

UV index (midday) in La Ceiba 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 Ceiba peaks around March 24 at about 14 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near December 15 at about 8 (very high).

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

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecExtremeVery highMar 24UV 14Dec 15UV 8
UV index (midday)Level
Jan10Very high
Feb12Extreme
Mar14Extreme
Apr14Extreme
May12Extreme
Jun13Extreme
Jul12Extreme
Aug12Extreme
Sep12Extreme
Oct11Extreme
Nov9Very high
Dec8Very high

Average hourly UV index in La Ceiba

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
Feb7.56
Mar86
Apr8.56.5
May8.56.5
Jun8.56.5
Jul86
Aug86
Sep86
Oct7.55.5
Nov74.5
Dec6.54

Air quality in La Ceiba 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 Ceiba is worst in April — around 36 µg/m³ PM2.5 (poor), about 5.3× the cleanest month (December, 7 µg/m³).

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

010203040JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecGoodModerateGoodApr 2035 µg/m³Dec 207 µg/m³
PM2.5 (µg/m³)Level
Jan7Good
Feb8Good
Mar12Good
Apr36Poor
May29Moderate
Jun25Moderate
Jul28Moderate
Aug20Moderate
Sep15Moderate
Oct12Good
Nov8Good
Dec7Good
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free dayFrost-free year round

La Ceiba 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 Ceiba banks about 5,215 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around June.

02,0004,000JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°C·days)
Jan379
Feb355
Mar418
Apr443
May481
Jun474
Jul475
Aug481
Sep468
Oct455
Nov399
Dec390

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 Ceiba receives about 5.6 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — bright — with a clear seasonal swing between 4.1 and 6.7 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 7.0 months, from around Feb 22 to Sep 23. The brightest month is April, averaging about 6.7 kWh/m² (intense).

The dimmest month is November, down near 4.2 kWh/m² — roughly 37% less than the April peak.

012345678JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmerbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightintenseApr 196.7 kWhNov 274.1 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan4.5Bright
Feb5.3Bright
Mar6.2Intense
Apr6.8Intense
May6.4Intense
Jun6.1Intense
Jul6.3Intense
Aug6.3Intense
Sep5.8Bright
Oct4.8Bright
Nov4.2Bright
Dec4.2Bright

Where is La Ceiba?

La Ceiba sits at 15.8°N, 86.8°W, 14 m above sea level, in Honduras. The nearest listed city is Olanchito, 38 km away.

OlanchitoSonagueraArizonaSabáRoatanTelaYoroTocoa

Topography around La Ceiba

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around La Ceiba has significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 274 m around an average of 53 m above sea level; within 16 km, very significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 2,191 m; within 80 km, extreme variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 2,437 m.

The land around La Ceiba is covered by trees (60%) and artificial surfaces (30%) within 3 km, trees (51%) and water (42%) within 16 km, and trees (46%) and water (44%) within 80 km.

3 km
274 m
16 km
2,191 m
80 km
2,437 m
treesgrasslandcroplandartificial surfacesbare terrainwater
Nearby: Olanchito 38 km · Sonaguera 50 km · Arizona 59 km · Sabá 66 km · Roatan 67 km · Tela 73 km · Yoro 78 km · Tocoa 84 km

Honduras travel facts

Travel advisory
Level 3
Reconsider Travel
Power plugs
Type A / B
120 V · 60 Hz
Prices
≈ 46% of US
price level, 2025
GDP per capita
$3,598
2025
Happiness
6.1 / 10
World Happiness, 2025
Safe drinking water
66%
of population, 2024
Homicide rate
31.4
per 100k, 2023
Road deaths
16.1
per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group
Lower middle
World Bank
English
High
EF EPI 553
Religion
Evangelical 55%Roman Catholic 33%none 10%

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 Ceiba (15.7597°, -86.7822°, elevation 14 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).