Costa Rica · 9.93°N 84.08°W · monthly climate normals, judged against the Tropical preset (mean 24–33 °C75–91 °F, anything but the monsoon)
No month in San José fits the Tropical preset (mean 24–33 °C75–91 °F, anything but the monsoon) — it is too cold. The table below shows which holiday types do fit.
The monsoon runs May to November, with 232–400 mm9.1–16 in a month and peaking in October at 400 mm16 in. The mean temperature barely moves through the year, 20–21 °C68–70 °F, warmest in March.
Figures are 30-year monthly averages (WorldClim 2.1 monthly normals 1970–2000) for the 0.25° grid cell at 9.93, -84.08 — a climate guide, not a forecast.
Pick the weather you like and every month is judged against it — temperature above the month names, rain below.
No month fits a Tropical holiday here.
Open San José on the interactive map ↗ the same verdict for every place on Earth, any month
Reading the chart. Gold is good: the month fits what you picked. Any other colour names the reason it doesn't — the temperature bar can be too cold or too hot, the rain bar too dry, too rainy or monsoon. A faded gold bar is a half that fits while the other half fails; a gold month name means both fit.
What the verdicts mean. Temperature is the monthly mean, judged against the preset's band (mean 24–33 °C75–91 °F for Tropical). Rain is judged by each month's class within San José's own year rather than raw millimetres: dry under 60 mm2.4 in, showers 60–100 mm2.4–3.9 in, rainy from 100 mm3.9 in and 35 % of the wettest month. Too rainy is a rainy-season month the preset doesn't allow. Monsoon is the heaviest kind of rainy season — 180 mm7.1 in or more (120 mm4.7 in near the yearly peak) in a climate whose wettest month is at least three times its driest — so every monsoon month is rainy season too; the label says which kind. Full rules on the method page.
| Month | Rain | Mean | Season | Tropical verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 481.9 | 2067 | dry | too cold |
| February | 401.6 | 2068 | dry | too cold |
| March | 481.9 | 2170 | dry | too cold |
| April | 1124.4 | 2170 | showers | too cold |
| May | 29612 | 2170 | monsoon | too cold |
| June | 32813 | 2169 | monsoon | too cold |
| July | 27211 | 2169 | monsoon | too cold |
| August | 33613 | 2068 | monsoon | too cold |
| September | 39215 | 2068 | monsoon | too cold |
| October | 40016 | 2067 | monsoon | too cold |
| November | 2329.1 | 2067 | monsoon | too cold |
| December | 1044.1 | 2067 | showers | too cold |
| Looking for | Rule | Months that fit |
|---|---|---|
| Warm | mean 14–24 °C57–75 °F, dry or showers | December to April |
| Tropical | mean 24–33 °C75–91 °F, anything but the monsoon | |
| Beach | mean 24–33 °C75–91 °F, dry or showers | |
| Cool | mean 0–14 °C32–57 °F, anything but the monsoon | |
| Snow | mean below 0 °C32 °F, any rain |
Yes. The monsoon runs May to November, with 232–400 mm9.1–16 in a month and peaking in October at 400 mm16 in. Outside it, January to March is dry.
The mean temperature barely moves through the year, 20–21 °C68–70 °F, warmest in March. Annual rainfall totals about 2,608 mm103 in.
The nearest destinations that do fit the Tropical preset in the months San José doesn't:
The interactive map colours the whole world by how it fits your picks in any month, and shows this chart for any place you tap.