Climatology
This page presents Brazil's climate context for the current climatology, 1991-2020, derived from observed, historical data. Information should be used to build a strong understanding of current climate conditions in order to appreciate future climate scenarios and projected change. You can visualize data for the current climatology through spatial variation, the seasonal cycle, or as a time series. Analysis is available for both annual and seasonal data. Data presentation defaults to national-scale aggregation, however sub-national data aggregations can be accessed by clicking within a country, on a sub-national unit. Other historical climatologies can be selected from the Time Period dropdown list.
Observed, historical data is produced by the Climatic Research Unit (CRU) of University of East Anglia. Data is presented at a 0.5º x 0.5º (50km x 50km) resolution.
Brazil’s vast territory is home to an extraordinary mosaic of ecosystems, which parallel its climatic and topographic diversity. Brazil experiences equatorial, tropical as well as sub-tropical climates. The Amazon forest drives rainfall conditions across the South American continent, and is a critical factor to the planet’s energy balance. Brazil’s forest formations occupy most of the national territory, and include humid and seasonal forests, which appear most commonly in the Amazon and Atlantic Forest. Savannas are predominant in the Cerrado, but they also appear in other regions of the country, including the Amazon. Steppe savannah formations appear mainly in the Northeastern Caatinga and in the plateaus and prairies in the far southern areas of Brazil, in the Pampa biome. Campinaranas are found primarily in the Amazon and in the Rio Negro Watershed. Dominated by equatorial and tropical climates, northern and central Brazil receives frequent rainfall and experiences higher temperatures. Meanwhile, southern Brazil is characterized by a humid subtropical climate. Notably, northeast Brazil exhibits a semi-arid climate, receiving less than 700 mm per year of rain. Climate variability across the country is driven by the South American Monsoon System (SAMS), the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO), and the Inter Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ). Typically, early October marks the beginning of monsoon season in tropical Brazil. For the country’s austral summer (December to February), the Amazon Basin receives a significant increase of precipitation. The country experiences a rainfall gradient from the northwest to the south and east.