Peru weather information for travel

Generally speaking, May through October is the dry season; November through April is the rainy season, and the wettest months are January through April. In mountain areas, roads and trek paths may become impassable. Peru's climate, though, is markedly different among its three vastly different regions. The coast is predominantly arid and mild, the Andean region is temperate to cold, and the eastern lowlands are tropically warm and humid.

On the desert coast, summer (Dec-Apr) is hot and dry, with temperatures reaching 25° to 35°C (77°-95°F) or more along the north coast. In winter (May-Oct), temperatures are much milder, though with high humidity. Much of the coast, including Lima, is shrouded in a gray mist called garúa. Only extreme northern beaches are warm enough for swimming.

In the highlands from May to October, rain is scarce. Daytime temperatures reach a warm 20° to 25°C (68°-77°F), and nights are often quite cold (near freezing), especially in June and July. Rainfall is very abundant from December to March, when temperatures are slightly milder--18° to 20°C (64°-68°F) dropping only to 15°C (59°F) at night. The wettest months are January and February. Most mornings are dry, but clouds move in during the afternoon and produce heavy downpours.

Though the Amazon jungle is consistently humid and tropical, with significant rainfall year-round, it, too, experiences two clearly different seasons. During the dry season (May-Oct), temperatures reach 30° to 35°C (86°-100°F) during the day. From November to April, there are frequent rain showers (which last only a few hours at a time), causing the rivers to swell, and temperatures are similarly steamy.