Climatology
This page presents Nicaragua'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. Data for specific coordinates can be downloaded for in the Data Download page.
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.
Nicaragua has a tropical climate with little seasonal variation in temperature, which ranges between 21˚C-27˚C, and two distinct rainfall seasons: a ‘wet’ season’ (May-October) and a ‘dry’ season (November-April). A dry period called the ‘Canícula’ regularly interrupts the wet season during late July and early August. From July to October the country is subject to increased rainfall intensity and strong winds resulting from its geographic location in the path of Pacific cyclones and Atlantic hurricanes. El Niño Southern Oscillation fluctuations during June and August bring relatively warmer and drier or colder and wetter conditions, respectively.
- Since the 1960s, mean annual temperatures have increased by 0.9˚C (a rate of 0.2-0.4˚C per decade).
- Increasing year to year variations in temperature have been observed. Variations in the onset and duration of the Canícula has also been observed.
- Total rainfall has decreased by 5-6% per decade since 1960, mainly due to lower wet season rainfalls.
- Since the 1960s, there has been an increased proportion of rainfall occurring in heavy events (by approximately 2.2 events per decade). Increased intensity of hurricanes has been observed.