Climate and average weather in La Rinconada

In La Rinconada, the weather is cool, wet, and mostly cloudy and remarkably steady, with daytime highs holding near cool levels all year. The wettest stretch peaks around January.

Best: late April to mid September

Over the course of the year, the temperature in La Rinconada typically varies from -5°C to 10°C, and is rarely below -7°C or above 13°C. November is the hottest month of the year, while July is the coldest.

Based on the travel score, the best times of year to visit La Rinconada for warm-weather activities are from late April to mid September and early November to mid November.

Hottest
Nov
10°
Coldest
Jul
-5°
Wettest
Jan
201 mm
Driest
Jun
18 mm
Rain / yr
1166 mm
232 wet days
Daylight
11.1–12.9 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
5,022 m
14.6°S
Clearest
Jul
40% cloud

La Rinconada is town in Peru, considered highest elevated human settlement in the world.

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

La Rinconada 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 late April to mid September.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

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

Temperatures in La Rinconada stay fairly even through the year, without a distinct hot or cool season. The warmest month is November, with an average high of 10°C and low of -1°C; the coolest is July, with an average low of -5°C and high of 8°C.

Days typically run about 11°C warmer than nights, with the widest day–night swing (around 13°C) in July.

-10°-5°10°15°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan90
Feb90
Mar90
Apr9-1
May9-3
Jun8-4
Jul8-5
Aug9-5
Sep9-3
Oct9-2
Nov10-1
Dec90

How hot and cold La Rinconada 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 coldest nights, wind chill pulls the feels-like down to about -8°C (around July 22), with roughly 365 freezing days a year (feels-like at or below 0°C), worst in July.

-10°-5°10°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Feels-like high (°C)Air high (°C)Feels-like low (°C)Air low (°C)
Jan99-20
Feb99-20
Mar99-20
Apr99-3-1
May99-5-3
Jun88-7-4
Jul88-8-5
Aug99-8-5
Sep99-6-3
Oct99-4-2
Nov1010-3-1
Dec99-20

Average hourly temperature in La Rinconada

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 November afternoons, near 10°C, and coldest before dawn in July, near -5°C.

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

La Rinconada weather by month

Every month at a glance. Click a month for its detailed page.

MonthHigh / Low (°C)Rainfall (mm)Wet daysSnow daysDaylight (hours)Travel score
Jan / -0°20129.117.212.80.9
Feb / -0°18526.315.312.50.9
Mar / -1°13927.611.912.11.1
Apr / -1°77216.811.71.4
May / -3°3512.12.911.31.7
Jun / -4°186.22.311.21.7
Jul / -5°196.83.111.21.6
Aug / -5°3211.14.311.51.6
Sep / -3°5918.47.711.91.4
Oct / -2°10222.910.112.31.4
Nov10° / -1°11622.79.212.71.5
Dec / -0°18427.814.212.91.1

Chance of rain

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

La Rinconada gets about 1166 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 7.1 months, from around Sep 19 to Apr 21, peaking in February at about 95% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Jun 14.

January is the wettest month by volume, with 201 mm over about 29 wet days; June is the driest, with 18 mm. Some of the cold-season precipitation falls as snow.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%110%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwetterdrierwettermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetFeb 10 · 95%Jun 14 · 20%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan9429
Feb9426
Mar8928
Apr7021
May3912
Jun216
Jul227
Aug3611
Sep6018
Oct7423
Nov7723
Dec8928

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, La Rinconada collects about 1166 mm of rain across 232 wet days — roughly 97 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. January is the wettest month with 201 mm, while June is the driest at just 18 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 49% of the year’s total, and some of the cold-season precipitation falls as snow.

050100150200250JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec201185139773518193259102116184
Rainfall (mm)Rain daysSnow days
Jan2012917
Feb1852615
Mar1392812
Apr77217
May35123
Jun1862
Jul1973
Aug32114
Sep59188
Oct1022310
Nov116239
Dec1842814

Snow in La Rinconada

Average snowy days through the year, the snow-season span, and estimated snowfall — for ski trips and the perennial 'will there be snow at Christmas?' question.

La Rinconada averages about 105 snowy days a year. Snow falls only in scattered spells rather than a settled season.

January is snowiest, with roughly 17 days of snow and an estimated 90 cm of snowfall. Over the year that adds up to an estimated 440 cm of snow.

05101520JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecJan 15
Snow daysSnowfall (cm)
Jan1790
Feb1576
Mar1248
Apr725
May311
Jun27
Jul311
Aug418
Sep823
Oct1034
Nov934
Dec1463

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In La Rinconada, 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 April 23 and lasts for 5.1 months, ending around September 25. The clearest month is July, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 77% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around September 26 and lasts for 6.9 months, ending around April 22. The cloudiest month is January, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 97% 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%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecJul 19 · 77%Jan 1 · 1%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastcloudierclearercloudier
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan397
Feb397
Mar793
Apr2575
May5842
Jun7228
Jul7723
Aug6733
Sep4357
Oct1882
Nov991
Dec397

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 January 1, brings about 12 h 54 min of light; the shortest, around June 12, 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)
Jan12.85:246:10
Feb12.55:386:07
Mar12.15:445:50
Apr11.75:485:28
May11.35:545:14
Jun11.26:045:12
Jul11.26:075:20
Aug11.55:575:27
Sep11.95:355:30
Oct12.35:135:33
Nov12.75:025:44
Dec12.95:086:00

Sunny days

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

La Rinconada averages about 6 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 0 and 17 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 4.6 months, from around Apr 27 to Sep 14. The sunniest month is July, with roughly 16 sunny days (bright).

The greyest month is February, down near 0 sunny days — about 99% fewer than the July peak.

05101520JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgreyersunniergreyergloomymixedbrightJul 817 daysFeb 110 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan0Gloomy
Feb0Gloomy
Mar1Gloomy
Apr3Gloomy
May11Mixed
Jun15Bright
Jul16Bright
Aug12Mixed
Sep6Gloomy
Oct3Gloomy
Nov1Gloomy
Dec0Gloomy

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 La Rinconada, the air stays dry or comfortable essentially all year. Even in January, the muggiest month, it feels humid or worse only about 0% of the time — humidity is not something you need to plan around here.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdry
Dry (%)
Jan100
Feb100
Mar100
Apr100
May100
Jun100
Jul100
Aug100
Sep100
Oct100
Nov100
Dec100

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 La Rinconada is steady company: average speeds sit near 6 km/hcalm — in every month of the year, with no meaningful windy or calm season.

051015JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDeccalmlight breezeAug 12 · 7 km/hApr 7 · 6 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan6calm
Feb6calm
Mar6calm
Apr6calm
May6calm
Jun6calm
Jul7calm
Aug7calm
Sep7calm
Oct6calm
Nov6calm
Dec6calm

Hazard calendar for La Rinconada

In seasonPeak

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

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

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

Best time to visit La Rinconada

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

Around late August, La Rinconada 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. In La Rinconada it holds close to 1.8 all year, so any month is about as good as another for general outdoor tourist activities.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDectemperaturecloudsprecipitation

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
Jan0.9poor
Feb0.9poor
Mar1.1poor
Apr1.4poor
May1.7poor
Jun1.7poor
Jul1.7poor
Aug1.6poor
Sep1.4poor
Oct1.4poor
Nov1.4poor
Dec1.1poor

The beach/pool score favors clear, rainless days with daytime highs between 24°C and 34°C. La Rinconada rarely gets warm enough to lift this score — no time of year really suits hot-weather activities here.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDectemperaturecloudsprecipitation

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 Rinconada, 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 Rinconada packs about the same all year — highs hold near 10°C. Across the year the things worth having are a warm layer, rain gear and sun protection.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In November, La Rinconada sees daytime highs around 10°C and nights near -1°C. Pack a warm layer, rain gear and sun protection. About 23 days see rain.

UV index (midday) in La Rinconada 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 Rinconada peaks around January 23 at about 20 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near June 23 at about 10 (extreme).

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

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecExtremeJan 23UV 20Jun 23UV 10
UV index (midday)Level
Jan20Extreme
Feb20Extreme
Mar18Extreme
Apr15Extreme
May12Extreme
Jun10Extreme
Jul10Extreme
Aug13Extreme
Sep15Extreme
Oct17Extreme
Nov18Extreme
Dec17Extreme

Average hourly UV index in La Rinconada

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 January the burn window is concentrated in the middle of the day: about 9.5 hours a day reach index 3 (protection recommended), and 8 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)
Jan9.58
Feb97.5
Mar8.57
Apr86.5
May7.55.5
Jun75
Jul75
Aug86
Sep8.56.5
Oct8.57
Nov97.5
Dec97.5
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free day

In La Rinconada the chance of a frost-free day peaks at only about 43%, so there is no reliable frost-free growing season — frost is a risk in any month.

0%25%50%75%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Frost-free chance (%)Frost nights
Jan3831
Feb4128
Mar3431
Apr1730
May331
Jun130
Jul031
Aug031
Sep230
Oct1231
Nov3130
Dec4031

Growing degree days

Degree days (base 10°C)

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 Rinconada banks about 0 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around January.

050100150200JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°C·days)
Jan0
Feb0
Mar0
Apr0
May0
Jun0
Jul0
Aug0
Sep0
Oct0
Nov0
Dec0

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 Rinconada receives about 5.6 kWh/m² a day of solar energy — bright — and it stays remarkably steady, holding between 5.0 and 6.3 kWh/m² all year. For solar panels, output here is a flat line, not a seasonal wave.

01234567JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmoderatebrightintenseNov 46.3 kWhJun 205.0 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan5.7Bright
Feb5.5Bright
Mar5.4Bright
Apr5.4Bright
May5.3Bright
Jun5.0Bright
Jul5.2Bright
Aug5.7Bright
Sep6.1Intense
Oct6.3Intense
Nov6.2Intense
Dec5.8Bright

Where is La Rinconada?

La Rinconada sits at 14.6°S, 69.4°W, 5,022 m above sea level, in Peru. The nearest listed city is San Miguel, 119 km away.

San MiguelJuliacaAyaviriPunoSorataIsla del SolIlaveCopacabana

Topography around La Rinconada

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around La Rinconada has large variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 1,196 m around an average of 4,993 m above sea level; within 16 km, very significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 2,375 m; within 80 km, extreme variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 5,196 m.

The land around La Rinconada is covered by bare terrain (45%) and grassland (30%) within 3 km, grassland (67%) and bare terrain (26%) within 16 km, and grassland (64%) and trees (26%) within 80 km.

3 km
1,196 m
16 km
2,375 m
80 km
5,196 m
treesshrubsgrasslandcroplandartificial surfacesbare terrainsnow and icewater
Nearby: San Miguel 119 km · Juliaca 122 km · Ayaviri 126 km · Puno 148 km · Sorata 153 km · Isla del Sol 159 km · Ilave 163 km · Copacabana 176 km

Peru travel facts

Travel advisory
Level 2
Exercise Increased Caution
Power plugs
Type A / B / C
220 V · 60 Hz
Prices
≈ 51% of US
price level, 2025
GDP per capita
$9,684
2025
Happiness
6.0 / 10
World Happiness, 2025
Safe drinking water
49%
of population, 2024
Homicide rate
8.6
per 100k, 2021
Road deaths
13.6
per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group
Upper middle
World Bank
English
Moderate
EF EPI 519
Religion
Catholic 76%Evangelical Christian 16%no religion 5%other religions 3%

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 Rinconada (-14.6313°, -69.4464°, elevation 5,022 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. UV index is derived from CAMS (Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service) clear-sky UV data — contains modified Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service information. Topography is sampled from the Copernicus DEM GLO-90 elevation model (© ESA/Airbus) and ESA WorldCover 2021 land cover (CC BY 4.0).