Climate and average weather in Changuinola

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

Best: early January to late March

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Changuinola typically varies from 23°C to 30°C, and is rarely below 21°C or above 31°C. June is the hottest month of the year, while January is the coldest.

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

Hottest
Jun
30°
Coldest
Jan
23°
Wettest
Jul
424 mm
Driest
Mar
148 mm
Rain / yr
3435 mm
311 wet days
Daylight
11.4–12.6 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
12 m
9.4°N
Clearest
Jan
53% cloud

Changuinola 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 late March.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

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

Temperatures in Changuinola stay fairly even through the year, without a distinct hot or cool season. The warmest month is June, with an average high of 30°C and low of 25°C; the coolest is January, with an average low of 23°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)
Jan2823
Feb2823
Mar2823
Apr2924
May3025
Jun3025
Jul2925
Aug2925
Sep3025
Oct2925
Nov2824
Dec2823

How hot and cold Changuinola 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, Changuinola feels like about 36°C (around June 6). About 223 days a year carry some heat stress, peaking in June.

20°25°30°35°40°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Feels-like high (°C)Air high (°C)Feels-like low (°C)Air low (°C)
Jan30282323
Feb30282323
Mar31282323
Apr33292424
May35302525
Jun35302525
Jul34292525
Aug34292525
Sep35302525
Oct34292425
Nov32282424
Dec31282323

Average hourly temperature in Changuinola

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 30°C, and coldest before dawn in January, near 23°C.

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

Changuinola 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° / 23°20621.411.54.9
Feb28° / 23°15019.211.74.8
Mar28° / 23°1482211.94.3
Apr29° / 24°16722.812.23.7
May30° / 25°35328.112.42.9
Jun30° / 25°35129.112.52.7
Jul29° / 25°42430.112.52.8
Aug29° / 25°32929.812.32.7
Sep30° / 25°26028.512.12.8
Oct29° / 25°31328.811.82.9
Nov28° / 24°41226.811.63.3
Dec28° / 23°32424.511.54.1

Chance of rain

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

Changuinola gets about 3435 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 7.0 months, from around May 3 to Dec 2, peaking in June at about 98% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Jan 27.

July is the wettest month by volume, with 424 mm over about 30 wet days; March is the driest, with 148 mm.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%110%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdrierwetterdriermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetJun 21 · 98%Jan 27 · 65%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan6921
Feb6919
Mar7122
Apr7623
May9028
Jun9729
Jul9730
Aug9630
Sep9429
Oct9329
Nov8927
Dec8025

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Changuinola collects about 3435 mm of rain across 311 wet days — roughly 286 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. July is the wettest month with 424 mm, while March is the driest at just 148 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 35% of the year’s total.

050100150200250300350400450500JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec206150148167353351424329260313412324
Rainfall (mm)Rain days
Jan20621
Feb15019
Mar14822
Apr16723
May35328
Jun35129
Jul42430
Aug32930
Sep26029
Oct31329
Nov41227
Dec32425

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Changuinola, 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 4.8 months, ending around April 21. The clearest month is January, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 63% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around April 22 and lasts for 7.2 months, ending around November 25. The cloudiest month is June, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 94% 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 26 · 67%Jun 17 · 5%mostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastclearercloudierclearer
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan6337
Feb6238
Mar5446
Apr3367
May892
Jun694
Jul793
Aug793
Sep793
Oct892
Nov2080
Dec4654

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 20, brings about 12 h 36 min of light; the shortest, around December 20, only 11 h 24 min — a swing of roughly 1 h 12 min.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan11.56:546:25
Feb11.76:546:35
Mar11.96:426:38
Apr12.26:246:37
May12.46:136:39
Jun12.56:146:47
Jul12.56:216:51
Aug12.36:256:44
Sep12.16:236:26
Oct11.86:216:09
Nov11.66:296:02
Dec11.56:436:10

Sunny days

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

Changuinola averages about 4 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 0 and 12 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 4.8 months, from around Nov 24 to Apr 19. The sunniest month is January, with roughly 11 sunny days (mixed).

The greyest month is September, down near 0 sunny days — about 97% fewer than the January peak.

051015JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecsunniergreyersunniergloomymixedJan 2912 daysSep 150 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan11Mixed
Feb9Mixed
Mar8Gloomy
Apr4Gloomy
May1Gloomy
Jun0Gloomy
Jul1Gloomy
Aug1Gloomy
Sep0Gloomy
Oct1Gloomy
Nov3Gloomy
Dec8Gloomy

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.

Changuinola 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 (%)
Jan29700
Feb35631
Mar25714
Apr77716
May14257
Jun03664
Jul06931
Aug06139
Sep04951
Oct05644
Nov38314
Dec10873

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 Changuinola is typically calm, near 6 km/h, and varies little with the seasons.

The windier part of the year lasts 4.4 months, from around Nov 1 to Mar 14. The windiest month is November, averaging about 7 km/h (calm).

The calmer part of the year runs from around Aug 6 to Oct 31, with September the calmest month at about 5 km/h.

051015JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwindiercalmerwindiercalmlight breezeNov 30 · 8 km/hSep 24 · 5 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan8calm
Feb7calm
Mar6calm
Apr6calm
May6calm
Jun6calm
Jul7calm
Aug6calm
Sep5calm
Oct5calm
Nov7calm
Dec8calm

Best time to visit Changuinola

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

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

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationJan 27 · 5.1

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
Jan4.9fair
Feb4.8fair
Mar4.3fair
Apr3.7fair
May2.9poor
Jun2.7poor
Jul2.8poor
Aug2.7poor
Sep2.8poor
Oct2.9poor
Nov3.3poor
Dec4.1fair

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 Changuinola for hot-weather activities is from early December to late April, with a peak score in the last week of January.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationJan 28 · 5.4

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 Changuinola, 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.

Changuinola packs about the same all year — highs hold near 30°C. Across the year the things worth having are light clothes and rain gear.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In June, Changuinola sees daytime highs around 30°C and nights near 25°C. Pack light clothes and rain gear. About 29 days see rain.

Sea temperature near Changuinola

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 25 km away) is warmest in September at about 29°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°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwarmtropicalcomfortable to swim
Sea temperature (°C)Comfort
Jan27Warm
Feb27Warm
Mar28Warm
Apr28Tropical
May29Tropical
Jun29Tropical
Jul28Tropical
Aug29Tropical
Sep29Tropical
Oct29Tropical
Nov28Tropical
Dec28Warm

UV index (midday) in Changuinola 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 Changuinola peaks around March 19 at about 13 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near December 16 at about 10 (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 16UV 10
UV index (midday)Level
Jan11Extreme
Feb12Extreme
Mar14Extreme
Apr13Extreme
May12Extreme
Jun13Extreme
Jul12Extreme
Aug12Extreme
Sep12Extreme
Oct12Extreme
Nov11Extreme
Dec10Very high

Average hourly UV index in Changuinola

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)
Jan7.55
Feb86
Mar86
Apr86.5
May86
Jun8.56.5
Jul86
Aug86
Sep86
Oct7.55.5
Nov7.55.5
Dec75

Air quality in Changuinola 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 Changuinola is worst in July — around 18 µg/m³ PM2.5 (moderate), about 2.8× the cleanest month (November, 6 µg/m³).

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

01020JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecGoodModerateGoodJul 1418 µg/m³Nov 226 µg/m³
PM2.5 (µg/m³)Level
Jan7Good
Feb9Good
Mar9Good
Apr13Moderate
May17Moderate
Jun16Moderate
Jul18Moderate
Aug15Moderate
Sep11Good
Oct10Good
Nov6Good
Dec7Good
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free dayFrost-free year round

Changuinola 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. Changuinola banks about 5,976 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around June.

02,0004,0006,000JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°C·days)
Jan471
Feb427
Mar485
Apr494
May530
Jun515
Jul523
Aug526
Sep512
Oct520
Nov486
Dec486

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.

Changuinola receives about 4.6 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — bright — with a clear seasonal swing between 3.7 and 5.6 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 4.6 months, from around Jan 21 to Jun 8. The brightest month is March, averaging about 5.4 kWh/m² (bright).

The dimmest month is November, down near 3.8 kWh/m² — roughly 30% less than the March peak.

01234567JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightintenseMar 315.6 kWhNov 213.7 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan4.5Bright
Feb5.0Bright
Mar5.4Bright
Apr5.4Bright
May4.6Bright
Jun4.5Bright
Jul4.2Bright
Aug4.5Bright
Sep4.7Bright
Oct4.3Bright
Nov3.7Moderate
Dec4.0Moderate

Where is Changuinola?

Changuinola sits at 9.4°N, 82.5°W, 12 m above sea level, in Panama. The nearest listed city is Bocas del Toro, 32 km away.

Puerto ViejoBoqueteLa ConcepciónDavidPedregal

Topography around Changuinola

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Changuinola has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 109 m around an average of 10 m above sea level; within 16 km, large variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 709 m; within 80 km, extreme variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 3,491 m.

The land around Changuinola is covered by trees (82%) within 3 km, trees (67%) within 16 km, and trees (58%) and water (38%) within 80 km.

3 km
109 m
16 km
709 m
80 km
3,491 m
treesgrasslandartificial surfaceswaterwetland
Nearby: Bocas del Toro 32 km · Puerto Viejo 36 km · Boquete 73 km · Puerto Limón 84 km · La Concepción 102 km · David 112 km · Pedregal 118 km · San Isidro 129 km

Panama travel facts

Travel advisory
Level 2
Exercise Increased Caution
Power plugs
Type A / B
110 V · 60 Hz
Prices
≈ 45% of US
price level, 2025
GDP per capita
$19,790
2025
Happiness
6.5 / 10
World Happiness, 2025
Homicide rate
11.7
per 100k, 2023
Road deaths
13.9
per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group
High
World Bank
English
Low
EF EPI 491
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 Changuinola (9.43°, -82.52°, elevation 12 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. 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).