What’s the Weather in Your Corner of Latin America?

When I first arrived to Mexico City about 5 years ago, I remember sitting in my hotel room setting up dates with some random Tinder gals but with a shit ton of rain pouring outside.

Over the course of the next week or so, things went well.

Found an apartment to move into.

Had some dates.

But, among all of my activity, I found it annoying to be dealing with so much rain.

Especially during the afternoons where it'd just be pouring like hell and I'd be standing around for a few hours waiting for the rain to stop.

Or, if lucky, perhaps I'd have my umbrella on me.

Still, I wasn't any stranger to rain sometimes pouring on my plans for any particular day.

In a few years before, I remember living in Barranquilla of Colombia and similarly having some heavy rain near the last few months of my time there.

With a hurricane coming in the months after as you can see here: Hurricane Matthew.

Consequently, there were no shortage of days where I'd be in a taxi and there would be an arroyo (flash flood) blocking the next street over.

Until it would be safer to drive forward, we'd just have to sit in the taxi and wait however long it took for the rain and the flash flood to be less extreme.

Here's a video of one here.

Similarly, I remember living in Guatemala and the rain being a nuisance around the summer months also.

I did a lot of hiking in those days but, in contrast to Mexico or Colombia, I was always VERY lucky that it usually never poured when hiking out there in Guatemala.

There was one trip I did that you can read about here where, if it had rained, we'd probably have been fucked.

The trip would've been fucking hell (and it was already a difficult hike to begin with).

Now, to be fair, I've never been too inconvenienced by the weather in Latin America most of the time.

When I have, it's usually the rain.

In a lot of countries in Latin America, you have to be conscious of if it is the rainy season or not before you come down here for a short trip.

If you are like and plan on living in Mexico City for over 5 years, then it doesn't matter as much, does it?

Granted, you don't want to set yourself up in a city where you'd hate the weather.

But for those shorter trips, being conscious of the weather is much more important because it could completely fuck your trip over.

For example, let's say you wanted to fuck a lot of women on Tinder in Mexico City or Barranquilla.

You'll just be here for a week or two and then head back home after some fun.

Then, when you get here, you find the rain to be fucking up your plans.

As I wrote here, I once had a date set up with this one chick I got to know well in Mexico City but the rain had her cancelling the first date.

While not much of a problem for me because I have plenty of time here and we did hookup afterwards, I can see how this would be more annoying for the man who is here on limited time.

It might not just be that she doesn't want to get wet while meeting you but also it could be infrastructure issues as I said before.

Like if she was going to grab an umbrella but finds flash flooding in the streets and just decides to not head out then.

In more extreme situations, perhaps you have a hurricane heading for your city in some place like Puerto Rico or the Dominican Republic.

And, outside of rain, the weather can have its importance in other ways.

For example, let's say you take a trip to a city that doesn't have enough sun.

Personally, I'm OK living in a city without too much sun.

Obviously, I'd prefer one with plenty of sun but I can get by fine without too much of it some days.

Regardless, not doing your research about the weather regarding this aspect can make a gringo not enjoy his time somewhere.

For example, I've met plenty of other gringos in my travels around Latin America over the years.

When I lived in Bolivia, I knew of a man named Alex who was British but naturalized as a Bolivian if I remember right (had a Bolivian parent or something).

He was familiar with "the Andean region" so to speak.

And we both worked for the same NGO in Cochabamba.

Near the end of my time in Cochabamba, I took a quick trip to Peru before going to Argentina afterwards.

Out of curiosity, I asked him for some tips on Peru in general.

And, though I wasn't going to Lima, he didn't know that yet and told me that it probably won't be too nice to visit.

Why not?

Because, if I remember right, I was going to Peru around the month of August more or less.

The Peruvian capital doesn't get much sunshine during the months of August and September from what he told me.

While I can't confirm that from personal experience as I haven't been to Lima as of 2022, I took his word for it.

Enjoyed Cusco and other spots in the south of the city anyhow.

And that was that.

The Point

At the end of the day, it's a factor you should consider before making plans to travel to any specific part of the world (in Latin America or elsewhere).

Consider the weather!

As I wrote in another article here, long term expats should definitely be mindful of which part of Latin America has ideal weather for them.

Some prefer that "eternal spring" climate like Medellin.

Others enjoy the blazing heat of Asuncion.

And I'm sure maybe some gringos wouldn't mind grey skies, rain and so on.

But even short term travelers should consider the weather of the place before going over there.

Is it the rainy season?

Any heightened risk of hurricanes?

Is the place not going to have enough sun for you during the months you will be there?

It's a simple tip but something to keep in mind so that your short term trip isn't ruined because you didn't plan well for it by doing something as easy as check the weather.

Now, to be fair, how should you go about checking the weather before your trip?

For one, you can always enjoy some videos of "chicas del clima" where sexy women give weather reports down here.

For those curious, here's a link here to articles I wrote on that subject.

Chica del clima video

But, more seriously, you should join Expat Facebook groups and just ask the question: what's the weather like in the city you are going to for the months you will be there?

Of course, you could just google it also.

But I prefer asking because personal experience can be more revealing of certain nuances that you might not have realized ahead of time.

Like perhaps you think "a little bit of rain" will be OK but didn't know how shit the infrastructure will be and the problem of more dangerous street floods.

Or, like in the case of Mexico City as I wrote here, you have some parts of the city that are colder than others and most apartments in Mexico City don't have AC (so you might want to buy a fan when you get down here at some Walmart or something).

Those little details are not as easily found by just googling the information.

You could find those details online perhaps if written on some blog like this article I wrote on AC in Mexico City or whatever but you'd have to do a little more digging obviously.

So why not start anyhow by asking other expats who actually live wherever you are going and can give more nuanced tips?

Plus, it gets you going to introducing yourself and maybe you'll be able to reach out to some cool people living wherever you are going that can help you enjoy the city more.

That's how I see it anyhow.

Got anything to add?

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Thanks for reading.

Best regards,

Matt