April Weather in Santa Cruz Verapaz GuatemalaDaily high temperatures are around 82°F, rarely falling below 75°F or exceeding 88°F. Daily low temperatures increase by 3°F, from 57°F to 60°F, rarely falling below 53°F or exceeding 63°F. For reference, on April 27, the hottest day of the year, temperatures in Santa Cruz Verapaz typically range from 60°F to 82°F, while on January 18, the coldest day of the year, they range from 53°F to 73°F. The figure below shows you a compact characterization of the hourly average temperatures for the quarter of the year centered on April. The horizontal axis is the day, the vertical axis is the hour of the day, and the color is the average temperature for that hour and day. Iringa, Tanzania (8,771 miles away) is the far-away foreign place with temperatures most similar to Santa Cruz Verapaz (view comparison). CloudsThe month of April in Santa Cruz Verapaz experiences very rapidly increasing cloud cover, with the percentage of time that the sky is overcast or mostly cloudy increasing from 40% to 68%. The clearest day of the month is April 1, with clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy conditions 60% of the time. For reference, on June 13, the cloudiest day of the year, the chance of overcast or mostly cloudy conditions is 92%, while on January 27, the clearest day of the year, the chance of clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy skies is 75%. PrecipitationA wet day is one with at least 0.04 inches of liquid or liquid-equivalent precipitation. In Santa Cruz Verapaz, the chance of a wet day over the course of April is rapidly increasing, starting the month at 9% and ending it at 17%. For reference, the year's highest daily chance of a wet day is 62% on September 14, and its lowest chance is 4% on February 18. RainfallTo show variation within the month and not just the monthly total, we show the rainfall accumulated over a sliding 31-day period centered around each day. The average sliding 31-day rainfall during April in Santa Cruz Verapaz is increasing, starting the month at 0.6 inches, when it rarely exceeds 1.5 inches, and ending the month at 1.6 inches, when it rarely exceeds 3.4 inches or falls below 0.1 inches. SunOver the course of April in Santa Cruz Verapaz, the length of the day is gradually increasing. From the start to the end of the month, the length of the day increases by 23 minutes, implying an average daily increase of 48 seconds, and weekly increase of 5 minutes, 39 seconds. The shortest day of the month is April 1, with 12 hours, 18 minutes of daylight and the longest day is April 30, with 12 hours, 41 minutes of daylight. The latest sunrise of the month in Santa Cruz Verapaz is 5:56 AM on April 1 and the earliest sunrise is 18 minutes earlier at 5:38 AM on April 30. The earliest sunset is 6:14 PM on April 1 and the latest sunset is 5 minutes later at 6:19 PM on April 30. Daylight saving time is not observed in Santa Cruz Verapaz during 2024. For reference, on June 20, the longest day of the year, the Sun rises at 5:32 AM and sets 13 hours, 2 minutes later, at 6:34 PM, while on December 21, the shortest day of the year, it rises at 6:23 AM and sets 11 hours, 13 minutes later, at 5:36 PM. The figure below presents a compact representation of the sun's elevation (the angle of the sun above the horizon) and azimuth (its compass bearing) for every hour of every day in the reporting period. The horizontal axis is the day of the year and the vertical axis is the hour of the day. For a given day and hour of that day, the background color indicates the azimuth of the sun at that moment. The black isolines are contours of constant solar elevation. MoonThe figure below presents a compact representation of key lunar data for April 2024. The horizontal axis is the day, the vertical axis is the hour of the day, and the colored areas indicate when the moon is above the horizon. The vertical gray bars (new Moons) and blue bars (full Moons) indicate key Moon phases. The label associated with each bar indicates the date and time that the phase is obtained, and the companion time labels indicate the rise and set times of the Moon for the nearest time interval in which the moon is above the horizon.
HumidityWe base the humidity comfort level on the dew point, as it determines whether perspiration will evaporate from the skin, thereby cooling the body. Lower dew points feel drier and higher dew points feel more humid. Unlike temperature, which typically varies significantly between night and day, dew point tends to change more slowly, so while the temperature may drop at night, a muggy day is typically followed by a muggy night. The chance that a given day will be muggy in Santa Cruz Verapaz is essentially constant during April, remaining within 1% of 1% throughout. For reference, on June 10, the muggiest day of the year, there are muggy conditions 7% of the time, while on January 26, the least muggy day of the year, there are muggy conditions 0% of the time. WindThis section discusses the wide-area hourly average wind vector (speed and direction) at 10 meters above the ground. The wind experienced at any given location is highly dependent on local topography and other factors, and instantaneous wind speed and direction vary more widely than hourly averages. The average hourly wind speed in Santa Cruz Verapaz is essentially constant during April, remaining within 0.1 miles per hour of 4.5 miles per hour throughout. For reference, on January 13, the windiest day of the year, the daily average wind speed is 4.8 miles per hour, while on September 14, the calmest day of the year, the daily average wind speed is 3.4 miles per hour. The hourly average wind direction in Santa Cruz Verapaz throughout April is predominantly from the east, with a peak proportion of 52% on April 30. Growing SeasonDefinitions of the growing season vary throughout the world, but for the purposes of this report, we define it as the longest continuous period of non-freezing temperatures (≥ 32°F) in the year (the calendar year in the Northern Hemisphere, or from July 1 until June 30 in the Southern Hemisphere). Temperatures in Santa Cruz Verapaz are sufficiently warm year round that it is not entirely meaningful to discuss the growing season in these terms. We nevertheless include the chart below as an illustration of the distribution of temperatures experienced throughout the year. Growing degree days are a measure of yearly heat accumulation used to predict plant and animal development, and defined as the integral of warmth above a base temperature, discarding any excess above a maximum temperature. In this report, we use a base of 50°F and a cap of 86°F. The average accumulated growing degree days in Santa Cruz Verapaz are rapidly increasing during April, increasing by 555°F, from 1,260°F to 1,815°F, over the course of the month. Solar EnergyThis section discusses the total daily incident shortwave solar energy reaching the surface of the ground over a wide area, taking full account of seasonal variations in the length of the day, the elevation of the Sun above the horizon, and absorption by clouds and other atmospheric constituents. Shortwave radiation includes visible light and ultraviolet radiation. The average daily incident shortwave solar energy in Santa Cruz Verapaz is essentially constant during April, remaining within 0.2 kWh of 6.6 kWh throughout. TopographyFor the purposes of this report, the geographical coordinates of Santa Cruz Verapaz are 15.367 deg latitude, -90.433 deg longitude, and 4,659 ft elevation. The topography within 2 miles of Santa Cruz Verapaz contains very significant variations in elevation, with a maximum elevation change of 1,552 feet and an average elevation above sea level of 4,763 feet. Within 10 miles contains very significant variations in elevation (6,145 feet). Within 50 miles also contains extreme variations in elevation (9,806 feet). The area within 2 miles of Santa Cruz Verapaz is covered by trees (53%) and cropland (45%), within 10 miles by trees (52%) and cropland (40%), and within 50 miles by trees (52%) and cropland (32%). Data SourcesThis report illustrates the typical weather in Santa Cruz Verapaz, based on a statistical analysis of historical hourly weather reports and model reconstructions from January 1, 1980 to December 31, 2016. Temperature and Dew PointThere are 3 weather stations near enough to contribute to our estimation of the temperature and dew point in Santa Cruz Verapaz. For each station, the records are corrected for the elevation difference between that station and Santa Cruz Verapaz according to the International Standard Atmosphere , and by the relative change present in the MERRA-2 satellite-era reanalysis between the two locations. The estimated value at Santa Cruz Verapaz is computed as the weighted average of the individual contributions from each station, with weights proportional to the inverse of the distance between Santa Cruz Verapaz and a given station. The stations contributing to this reconstruction are:
To get a sense of how much these sources agree with each other, you can view a comparison of Santa Cruz Verapaz and the stations that contribute to our estimates of its temperature history and climate. Please note that each source's contribution is adjusted for elevation and the relative change present in the MERRA-2 data. Other DataAll data relating to the Sun's position (e.g., sunrise and sunset) are computed using astronomical formulas from the book, Astronomical Algorithms 2nd Edition , by Jean Meeus. All other weather data, including cloud cover, precipitation, wind speed and direction, and solar flux, come from NASA's MERRA-2 Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis . This reanalysis combines a variety of wide-area measurements in a state-of-the-art global meteorological model to reconstruct the hourly history of weather throughout the world on a 50-kilometer grid. Land Use data comes from the Global Land Cover SHARE database , published by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Elevation data comes from the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) , published by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Names, locations, and time zones of places and some airports come from the GeoNames Geographical Database . Time zones for airports and weather stations are provided by AskGeo.com . Maps are © OpenStreetMap contributors. DisclaimerThe information on this site is provided as is, without any assurances as to its accuracy or suitability for any purpose. Weather data is prone to errors, outages, and other defects. We assume no responsibility for any decisions made on the basis of the content presented on this site. We draw particular cautious attention to our reliance on the MERRA-2 model-based reconstructions for a number of important data series. While having the tremendous advantages of temporal and spatial completeness, these reconstructions: (1) are based on computer models that may have model-based errors, (2) are coarsely sampled on a 50 km grid and are therefore unable to reconstruct the local variations of many microclimates, and (3) have particular difficulty with the weather in some coastal areas, especially small islands. We further caution that our travel scores are only as good as the data that underpin them, that weather conditions at any given location and time are unpredictable and variable, and that the definition of the scores reflects a particular set of preferences that may not agree with those of any particular reader. Please review our full terms contained on our Terms of Service page. |