Climate and average weather in Santo António

In Santo António, the summers are warm, dry, and mostly clear and the winters are mild and partly cloudy.

Best: late May to mid September

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Santo António typically varies from 12°C to 24°C, and is rarely below 10°C or above 26°C. August is the hottest month of the year, while February is the coldest.

Based on the travel score, the best time of year to visit Santo António for warm-weather activities is from late May to mid September.

Hottest
Aug
24°
Coldest
Feb
12°
Wettest
Dec
83 mm
Driest
Jul
4 mm
Rain / yr
500 mm
91 wet days
Daylight
9.8–14.2 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
234 m
32.7°N
Clearest
Aug
39% cloud

Santo António 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 May to mid September.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

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

The hot season lasts 3.1 months, from June 30 to September 30, with daily high temperatures above 22°C. The hottest month of the year in Santo António is August, with an average high of 24°C and low of 19°C.

The cool season lasts 4.7 months, from December 1 to April 21, with daily high temperatures below 17°C. The coldest month of the year in Santo António is February, with an average low of 12°C and high of 15°C.

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

10°15°20°25°30°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan1613
Feb1512
Mar1613
Apr1713
May1914
Jun2116
Jul2318
Aug2419
Sep2319
Oct2118
Nov1815
Dec1714

Average hourly temperature in Santo António

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 August afternoons, near 24°C, and coldest before dawn in February, near 12°C.

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

Santo António 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
Jan16° / 13°518.410.14.9
Feb15° / 12°537.910.84.8
Mar16° / 13°5610.311.85.0
Apr17° / 13°478.612.85.4
May19° / 14°287.413.76.4
Jun21° / 16°133.514.17.5
Jul23° / 18°41.413.98.6
Aug24° / 19°72.513.28.6
Sep23° / 19°257.712.27.2
Oct21° / 18°6911.711.26.1
Nov18° / 15°641110.35.6
Dec17° / 14°8310.49.95.1

Chance of rain

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

Santo António gets about 500 mm of precipitation a year. On a typical day the chance of rain is some rain, but that rises and falls sharply with the seasons.

The wetter season lasts 8.0 months, from around Sep 14 to May 14, peaking in October at about 40% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Jul 18.

December is the wettest month by volume, with 83 mm over about 10 wet days; July is the driest, with 4 mm.

0%10%20%30%40%50%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwetterdrierwettermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetOct 20 · 40%Jul 18 · 3%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan278
Feb298
Mar3210
Apr299
May237
Jun124
Jul51
Aug93
Sep258
Oct3712
Nov3611
Dec3410

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Santo António collects about 500 mm of rain across 91 wet days — roughly 42 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. December is the wettest month with 83 mm, while July is the driest at just 4 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 43% of the year’s total.

0255075100JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec5153564728134725696483
Rainfall (mm)Rain days
Jan518
Feb538
Mar5610
Apr479
May287
Jun134
Jul41
Aug73
Sep258
Oct6912
Nov6411
Dec8310

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Santo António, 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 May 22 and lasts for 3.9 months, ending around September 16. The clearest month is August, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 72% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around September 17 and lasts for 8.1 months, ending around May 21. The cloudiest month is February, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 67% 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 23 · 78%Feb 21 · 32%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastcloudierclearercloudier
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan3466
Feb3367
Mar3763
Apr3565
May4258
Jun5347
Jul7129
Aug7228
Sep4753
Oct3664
Nov3565
Dec3466

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 21, brings about 14 h 12 min of light; the shortest, around December 20, only 9 h 48 min — a swing of roughly 4 h 24 min.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan10.18:156:19
Feb10.87:586:46
Mar11.87:257:10
Apr12.86:447:32
May13.76:147:54
Jun14.16:048:12
Jul13.96:158:12
Aug13.26:357:48
Sep12.26:567:08
Oct11.27:176:28
Nov10.37:446:02
Dec9.98:086:00

Sunny days

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

Santo António 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 19 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 3.9 months, from around May 20 to Sep 15. The sunniest month is July, with roughly 17 sunny days (bright).

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

0510152025JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgreyersunniergreyergloomymixedbrightbrilliantJul 2519 daysDec 23 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan4Gloomy
Feb5Gloomy
Mar6Gloomy
Apr5Gloomy
May7Gloomy
Jun11Mixed
Jul17Bright
Aug17Bright
Sep8Mixed
Oct5Gloomy
Nov4Gloomy
Dec4Gloomy

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 Santo António, how humid it feels changes dramatically over the year.

The more humid part of the year lasts 4.3 months, from around June 29 to November 7. The muggiest month is August, when the air feels humid, muggy or worse about 62% of the time.

The most comfortable stretch runs from around November 8 to June 28, and January is the most comfortable month — the air is dry or comfortable 100% of the time.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecJan 19 · 100%Aug 26 · 34%humiddrycomfortablecomfortablehumidcomfortable
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)Humid (%)Muggy (%)
Jan841500
Feb92800
Mar901000
Apr871210
May692920
Jun2959120
Jul662321
Aug137584
Sep340516
Oct1643374
Nov4639141
Dec673030

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 Santo António is steady company: average speeds sit near 11 km/hcalm — in every month of the year, with no meaningful windy or calm season.

05101520JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDeccalmlight breezeMar 8 · 12 km/hSep 16 · 9 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan11calm
Feb12calm
Mar12light breeze
Apr11calm
May11calm
Jun11calm
Jul11calm
Aug10calm
Sep10calm
Oct10calm
Nov11calm
Dec12calm

Hazard calendar for Santo António

In seasonPeak

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

Santo António 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 Santo António

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

Around early September, Santo António 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 Santo António for general outdoor tourist activities is from late May to mid September, with a peak score in the last week of July.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationJul 23 · 8.8

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
Mar5.0fair
Apr5.4fair
May6.4good
Jun7.5good
Jul8.6ideal
Aug8.6ideal
Sep7.2good
Oct6.1good
Nov5.6good
Dec5.1fair

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 Santo António for hot-weather activities is from early July to mid September, with a peak score in the second week of August.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationAug 9 · 7.4

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 Santo António, 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.

For a warm-season trip around August (highs near 24°C), the essentials are light clothes and sun protection. In the cold season around February (highs near 15°C), pack a warm layer and rain gear.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In August, Santo António sees daytime highs around 24°C and nights near 19°C. Pack sun protection. Worth having: light clothes.

Sea temperature near Santo António

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 24°C and coldest in March near 18°C.

It's comfortable for a long swim from May 30 to Dec 14 — about 6.5 months when the water holds above 20°C.

16°18°20°22°24°26°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDeccoolrefreshingwarmcomfortable to swim
Sea temperature (°C)Comfort
Jan19Cool
Feb18Cool
Mar18Cool
Apr18Cool
May19Cool
Jun21Refreshing
Jul22Refreshing
Aug23Refreshing
Sep24Refreshing
Oct23Refreshing
Nov21Refreshing
Dec20Cool

UV index (midday) in Santo António 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 Santo António peaks around July 15 at about 11 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near December 16 at about 3 (moderate).

The index reaches 3 or more — the level where the WHO recommends sun protection — in 11 months of the year.

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecModerateVery highExtremeVery highHighModerateJul 15UV 11Dec 16UV 3
UV index (midday)Level
Jan4Moderate
Feb5Moderate
Mar9Very high
Apr8Very high
May9Very high
Jun10Extreme
Jul11Extreme
Aug10Very high
Sep8Very high
Oct7High
Nov3Moderate
Dec3Moderate

Average hourly UV index in Santo António

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 July the burn window is concentrated in the middle of the day: about 8.5 hours a day reach index 3 (protection recommended), and 6.5 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)
Jan2.50
Feb4.50
Mar74
Apr74
May85
Jun8.56
Jul8.56.5
Aug85.5
Sep74
Oct5.51.5
Nov2.50
Dec00
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free dayFrost-free year round

Santo António 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. Santo António banks about 2,637 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around August.

01,0002,000JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°C·days)
Jan130
Feb107
Mar133
Apr148
May200
Jun260
Jul325
Aug358
Sep327
Oct284
Nov204
Dec162

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.

Santo António receives about 5.0 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — bright — with a clear seasonal swing between 2.6 and 7.3 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 6.2 months, from around Mar 18 to Sep 22. The brightest month is July, averaging about 7.3 kWh/m² (intense).

The dimmest month is December, down near 2.6 kWh/m² — roughly 64% less than the July peak.

012345678JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmerbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightintenseJul 147.3 kWhDec 182.6 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan2.8Moderate
Feb3.7Moderate
Mar5.0Bright
Apr5.9Bright
May6.7Intense
Jun7.2Intense
Jul7.3Intense
Aug6.7Intense
Sep5.4Bright
Oct4.0Bright
Nov3.0Moderate
Dec2.6Moderate

Where is Santo António?

Santo António sits at 32.7°N, 16.9°W, 234 m above sea level, in Portugal. The nearest listed city is Funchal, 1.0 km away.

Topography around Santo António

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Santo António has large variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 911 m around an average of 275 m above sea level; within 16 km, very significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 1,832 m; within 80 km, very significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 1,813 m.

The land around Santo António is covered by trees (43%) and artificial surfaces (42%) within 3 km, water (48%) and trees (39%) within 16 km, and water (93%) within 80 km.

3 km
911 m
16 km
1,832 m
80 km
1,813 m
treesshrubsgrasslandartificial surfaceswater
Nearby: Funchal 1.0 km · São Martinho 2.0 km · Câmara de Lobos 4.0 km · Caniço 9.0 km · Santa Cruz de la Palma 449 km · Los Llanos de Aridane 455 km · Tacoronte 468 km · La Laguna 468 km

Portugal travel facts

Travel advisory
Level 1
Exercise Normal Precautions
Power plugs
Type C / E / F
230 V · 50 Hz
Prices
≈ 60% of US
price level, 2025
GDP per capita
$32,082
2025
Happiness
6.0 / 10
World Happiness, 2025
Safe drinking water
95%
of population, 2024
Homicide rate
0.7
per 100k, 2022
Road deaths
8.2
per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group
High
World Bank
English
Very high
EF EPI 612
Religion
Catholic 68%not applicable 13%no religion 12%no response 2%

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 Santo António (32.6614°, -16.9348°, elevation 234 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. Topography is sampled from the Copernicus DEM GLO-90 elevation model (© ESA/Airbus) and ESA WorldCover 2021 land cover (CC BY 4.0).