Climate and Average Weather Year Round in Punta Arenas Chile

In Punta Arenas, the summers are cool, extremely windy, and mostly cloudy and the winters are very cold, dry, windy, and partly cloudy. Over the course of the year, the temperature typically varies from 31°F to 58°F and is rarely below 24°F or above 65°F.

Based on the tourism score, the best time of year to visit Punta Arenas for warm-weather activities is from late December to mid February.

The warm season lasts for 3.8 months, from November 22 to March 15, with an average daily high temperature above 54°F. The hottest month of the year in Punta Arenas is January, with an average high of 58°F and low of 45°F.

The cold season lasts for 3.1 months, from May 22 to August 27, with an average daily high temperature below 43°F. The coldest month of the year in Punta Arenas is July, with an average low of 32°F and high of 40°F.

The clearest month of the year in Punta Arenas is September, during which on average the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 45% of the time.

The cloudiest month of the year in Punta Arenas is May, during which on average the sky is overcast or mostly cloudy 59% of the time.

A wet day is one with at least 0.04 inches of liquid or liquid-equivalent precipitation. The chance of wet days in Punta Arenas varies throughout the year.

The wetter season lasts 6.1 months, from November 23 to May 26, with a greater than 22% chance of a given day being a wet day. The month with the most wet days in Punta Arenas is March, with an average of 8.5 days with at least 0.04 inches of precipitation.

The drier season lasts 5.9 months, from May 26 to November 23. The month with the fewest wet days in Punta Arenas is September, with an average of 4.9 days with at least 0.04 inches of precipitation.

Among wet days, we distinguish between those that experience rain alone, snow alone, or a mixture of the two. The month with the most days of rain alone in Punta Arenas is March, with an average of 8.5 days. Based on this categorization, the most common form of precipitation throughout the year is rain alone, with a peak probability of 28% on March 20.

Rainfall

To show variation within the months and not just the monthly totals, we show the rainfall accumulated over a sliding 31-day period centered around each day of the year. Punta Arenas experiences some seasonal variation in monthly rainfall.

Rain falls throughout the year in Punta Arenas. The month with the most rain in Punta Arenas is March, with an average rainfall of 1.4 inches.

The month with the least rain in Punta Arenas is September, with an average rainfall of 0.7 inches.

The length of the day in Punta Arenas varies extremely over the course of the year. In 2024, the shortest day is June 20, with 7 hours, 32 minutes of daylight; the longest day is December 21, with 16 hours, 58 minutes of daylight.

The earliest sunrise is at 5:11 AM on December 13, and the latest sunrise is 3 hours, 49 minutes later at 8:59 AM on June 24. The earliest sunset is at 4:30 PM on June 16, and the latest sunset is 5 hours, 42 minutes later at 10:12 PM on December 28.

Daylight saving time (DST) is observed in Punta Arenas during 2024, starting in the spring on September 8 and ending in the fall on April 6.

The figure below presents a compact representation of key lunar data for 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.

We 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 perceived humidity level in Punta Arenas, as measured by the percentage of time in which the humidity comfort level is muggy, oppressive, or miserable, does not vary significantly over the course of the year, remaining a virtually constant 0% throughout.

This 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 Punta Arenas experiences significant seasonal variation over the course of the year.

The windier part of the year lasts for 5.5 months, from October 3 to March 20, with average wind speeds of more than 16.2 miles per hour. The windiest month of the year in Punta Arenas is November, with an average hourly wind speed of 17.9 miles per hour.

The calmer time of year lasts for 6.5 months, from March 20 to October 3. The calmest month of the year in Punta Arenas is May, with an average hourly wind speed of 14.7 miles per hour.

The predominant average hourly wind direction in Punta Arenas is from the west throughout the year.

Punta Arenas is located near a large body of water (e.g., ocean, sea, or large lake). This section reports on the wide-area average surface temperature of that water.

The average water temperature experiences some seasonal variation over the course of the year.

The time of year with warmer water lasts for 3.1 months, from December 26 to March 30, with an average temperature above 48°F. The month of the year in Punta Arenas with the warmest water is February, with an average temperature of 49°F.

The time of year with cooler water lasts for 4.0 months, from June 17 to October 16, with an average temperature below 43°F. The month of the year in Punta Arenas with the coolest water is August, with an average temperature of 42°F.

To characterize how pleasant the weather is in Punta Arenas throughout the year, we compute two travel scores.

The tourism score favors clear, rainless days with perceived temperatures between 65°F and 80°F. Based on this score, the best time of year to visit Punta Arenas for general outdoor tourist activities is from late December to mid February, with a peak score in the second week of January.

The beach/pool score favors clear, rainless days with perceived temperatures between 75°F and 90°F. Based on this score, the best time of year to visit Punta Arenas for hot-weather activities is from late January to early February.

Methodology

For each hour between 8:00 AM and 9:00 PM of each day in the analysis period (1980 to 2016), independent scores are computed for perceived temperature, cloud cover, and total precipitation. Those scores are combined into a single hourly composite score, which is then aggregated into days, averaged over all the years in the analysis period, and smoothed.

Our cloud cover score is 10 for fully clear skies, falling linearly to 9 for mostly clear skies, and to 1 for fully overcast skies.

Our precipitation score, which is based on the three-hour precipitation centered on the hour in question, is 10 for no precipitation, falling linearly to 9 for trace precipitation, and to 0 for 0.04 inches of precipitation or more.

Our tourism temperature score is 0 for perceived temperatures below 50°F, rising linearly to 9 for 65°F, to 10 for 75°F, falling linearly to 9 for 80°F, and to 1 for 90°F or hotter.

Our beach/pool temperature score is 0 for perceived temperatures below 65°F, rising linearly to 9 for 75°F, to 10 for 82°F, falling linearly to 9 for 90°F, and to 1 for 100°F or hotter.

Definitions 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).

The growing season in Punta Arenas typically lasts for 5.2 months (156 days), from around October 26 to around March 31, rarely starting before October 1 or after November 21, and rarely ending before March 1 or after April 26.

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.

This 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 experiences extreme seasonal variation over the course of the year.

The brighter period of the year lasts for 3.1 months, from November 4 to February 9, with an average daily incident shortwave energy per square meter above 4.8 kWh. The brightest month of the year in Punta Arenas is December, with an average of 5.8 kWh.

The darker period of the year lasts for 4.1 months, from April 18 to August 23, with an average daily incident shortwave energy per square meter below 1.6 kWh. The darkest month of the year in Punta Arenas is June, with an average of 0.6 kWh.

For the purposes of this report, the geographical coordinates of Punta Arenas are -53.155 deg latitude, -70.911 deg longitude, and 98 ft elevation.

The topography within 2 miles of Punta Arenas contains only modest variations in elevation, with a maximum elevation change of 371 feet and an average elevation above sea level of 96 feet. Within 10 miles contains only modest variations in elevation (2,051 feet). Within 50 miles contains large variations in elevation (3,976 feet).

The area within 2 miles of Punta Arenas is covered by water (41%), shrubs (19%), artificial surfaces (14%), and trees (11%), within 10 miles by water (65%) and trees (26%), and within 50 miles by water (54%) and trees (26%).