Climate conditions in Honduras
The mountainous interior is much cooler than the coast. Tegucigalpa, at an altitude of 990 m, has a temperate climate, with temperatures ranging from 25 to 14 °C in January to 30 to 18 °C in May.
The coastal areas are much more humid and warmer, and the Gulf of Fonseca plain is torrid.
December and January are the coolest months. Precipitation also varies according to the regions.
In Tegucigalpa, the rainy season typically occurs from May to October, with a dry season from November to April that affects the entire country. In the months of September and October, it rains almost continuously, and floods are very frequent.
From November onwards, the pace and frequency of rainfall decrease drastically throughout the country, except for the northern coast and the Bay Islands, where rains continue for several more weeks.
The country is located in a tropical position 15 to 16 degrees north of the equator and experiences only two seasons, which are well defined: the dry season and the rainy season. The rainy season starts in May and extends until July, with a break in August, and it usually resumes in September until November when the dry season begins.
The dry season lasts until April or May.
- The average high temperatures throughout the country are 32 °C (90 °F), and the average low temperatures are 20 °C (68 °F).
- The annual average temperature in the interior of Honduras is 21 °C (70 °F).
- The average annual precipitation is 1000 mm (40 inches) in the mountains and 2500 mm (100 inches) in the valleys of the northern coast.
- The lower areas of the coastal region have an annual average of 27 °C (80 °F) with high humidity levels.
The Atlantic coastal zone generally has a tropical rainy climate, with an average temperature of 27 °C, an average high of 30 °C, and an average low of 20.7 °C. The rainy season starts in June and typically lasts until December.
The average annual rainfall is 2643 mm. The northern region, which includes the departments of Cortés and Yoro, receives an average annual rainfall of 1200 mm for almost 5 months of the year. The average humidity is 75%. The average annual temperature in this region is 26 °C, with a maximum of 30 °C and a minimum of 21 °C.
The southern zone of Honduras has a tropical savanna climate. In this zone, there is generally a dry season for six months or more. During the rainy season, the southern zone receives an average of 1680 mm of rainfall. The average temperature is 29.1 °C, with a maximum of 35 °C and a minimum of 23.4 °C.
The central zone, corresponding to the departments of Francisco Morazán, Comayagua, and La Paz, has an average temperature of 22.4 °C, with a maximum of 27.2 °C and a minimum of 17.4 °C. The average rainfall is approximately 1000 mm for over three months of the year.
| Tegucigalpa Climate | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Average high temperature (°C) | 23.8 | 25.2 | 26.6 | 27.5 | 27.1 | 25.3 | 24.5 | 25.0 | 24.4 | 24.1 | 23.4 | 23.4 | 25.0 |
| Average low temperature (°C) | 11.5 | 12.9 | 14.0 | 15.4 | 16.2 | 16.2 | 15.8 | 15.8 | 15.8 | 15.4 | 14.0 | 13.1 | 14.6 |
| Precipitation (mm) | 3.2 | 4.9 | 6.9 | 25.9 | 117.2 | 249.5 | 180.6 | 181.6 | 235.2 | 131.0 | 42.6 | 7.6 | 98.8 |
