What is the weather like in Buenos Aires?
September 17, 2006 by Alan Seabright · 4 Comments
Current Weather in Buenos Aires and Five Day Forecast
On the banner below you will find the current weather right now in Buenos Aires, usually updated on an hourly basis. Importantly, it includes the humidity percentage as well as the temperature, which you should pay attention to in Buenos Aires – it can be a very humid city, which makes it seem a lot hotter and stickier than the temperature suggests on a summer’s day, especially in such a big and busy city.
To get more up to the minute information on the weather in Buenos Aires, including a forecast for the next 5 days, please click on the banner to be taken to the Weather Underground Buenos Aires page.
What weather to expect in Buenos Aires at different times of the year
In general, the climate in Buenos Aires is mild all year round, with no major extremes of temperature or conditions. However, some people may find the summer months too hot and humid (Dec-Feb; average highs of 28C/83F, average lows of 17C/63F), or the winter months a little cold (Jun-Aug; average highs of 15C/59F, average lows of 7C/47F), obviously depending on what kind of weather you are used to at home.
Few will argue that spring is the best time to visit Buenos Aires (Sep-Nov; average highs of 22C/72F, average lows of 14C/57F), which is closely followed by autumn/fall (Mar-May; average highs of 22C/72F, average lows of 14C/57F).
Spring into action and visit Buenos Aires
During spring, the wonderful jacaranda trees that are found throughout much of Buenos Aires burst into a striking purple blossom, which ends up carpeting the streets to wonderful effect. It is also a great time to walk around the many lush parks of the Palermo barrio, and in other green areas of the city such as Plaza San Martin and Parque Lezama. The porteños (“people of the port”, i.e. citizens of Buenos Aires), relieved that winter is over, are also generally at their happiest during spring, and these are two of many excellent reasons why this is the best time to visit the city. The sky is bright, crisp and blue (like the Argentine Flag), people are already sunbathing in the parks as if summer has arrived, and yes, most people do seem to have a ‘spring’ in their step. Why, in such conditions, it seems like a good idea would be to get out and take one of our Private Walking Tours of Buenos Aires!
[Photo credit: blmurch @ flickr / License: CC BY 2.0]
Summer can be overbearing, but less crowded
The summer months can feel overbearingly hot at times, largely because of the lack of a breeze inside the city (despite its name basically meaning “Good Winds”) to relieve the heat and high humidity levels, and therefore many porteños disappear off on holiday to the beaches of either Mar del Plata (on the Atlantic coast of Buenos Aires province, a few hours south of the city) or Punta del Este (north across the river estuary in Uruguay, also on the Atlantic coast, but with slightly warmer waters), usually for the much of the month of January or February. This can make a midsummer visit to Buenos Aires less crowded, which could be of interest to some, if you don’t mind the hotter city weather.
Autumn means the Argentine football (soccer) season is kicking off
During the fall, the new Argentine football (soccer) season starts, so if you are interested in watching a heated Boca Juniors or River Plate game, this is a good time to visit to guarantee that they will be playing. Also, the weather is comparable to spring, even if the people are not quite as happy – which is understandable – they are getting ready for their winter hibernation after all.
Pack warm for winter
Winter in Buenos Aires is generally fine if you don’t mind a little chill, but come prepared: make sure you pack a coat (or plan on buying one of Argentina’s famous leather coats on arrival), and maybe even a hat and gloves. It is also the perfect time of year to enjoy some Buenos Aires café culture, safely warm inside a beautiful old cafe or bar, enjoying your café con leche con medialunas (latte coffee with croissants) or chocolate con churros (thick hot chocolate with long, thin Spanish donuts for dipping) and playing the age-old local game of people watching.
It rains the least in winter here (an average of around 2 inches per month, compared to 4 inches per month in summer, and usually somewhere in between the two during spring and autumn).
In fact, it does not rain much at all year-round in Buenos Aires. Granted, when it does rain, you’ll know about it – sometimes “raining cats and dogs” stuff that turns the streets momentarily into rivers! But the good news is there isn’t much in the way of prolonged rain or continued light drizzle etc here – you get all of your rain in one big storm, usually lasting no more than a few hours, and often shorter. And that’s it – soon the sun will be out again and the blue skies will be back.
To sum up, really any time of the year is good to come to Buenos Aires, in regards to the weather and climate, but as stated above, spring and autumn are probably your best bets.