September 11, 2026
Cali’s weather is the easiest in Colombia to describe and the one visitors most often get wrong. It is warm every day of the year, about 30 degrees in the afternoon and 19 at night, with no summer and no winter; what changes is the rain, which comes in two seasons and mostly in the afternoon, and how much of it you get depends, more than anywhere else in the country, on which side of the city you are standing. This page gives you the numbers as Colombia’s weather service publishes them, station by station, month by month, and then what they mean for the things you came for: the viewpoints, the river days, the whales and the dancing.
The rest of the city, what is open after the August 2026 earthquake, the airport, safety and where to stay are in our Cali guide; the thirteen things to do, with hours, are in our guide to things to do in Cali.
The short version
Every month is warm: the 1991 to 2020 averages at the Universidad del Valle station, inside the city at 996 meters, put the afternoon high between 29 and 31 degrees and the night low between 19 and 20 in every month of the year. Rain comes in two seasons, March to May and October to November, and the two drier stretches are June to September and December to February; July and August are the driest months, at about 60 and 47 millimeters, and April and November the wettest, at about 197 and 172. The city gets more rain than the airport and less than the hills: 876 millimeters a year at Alfonso Bonilla Aragón in Palmira, 1,458 at the university and 1,732 at Pichindé, above the city on the road to the Farallones. Rain falls mostly in the afternoon and evening, so viewpoints and hikes are morning things and museums and the pool are for three o’clock. The whales are off the Pacific from July to October, which is also the driest season, and the Feria de Cali falls in the last week of December, when the second rains have eased. In 2026, IDEAM expects a very strong El Niño to make the October and November rains lighter than these averages and the afternoons hotter.
The numbers, month by month
These are IDEAM’s climatological normals for 1991 to 2020 at the Universidad del Valle automatic station, which is the one inside the city, published in the national open-data portal. Rain is the monthly total in millimeters, days are the average number of days with rain, the highs and lows are the average daily maximum and minimum in degrees Celsius, and sun is the average hours of bright sunshine per day.
| Month | Rain | Days | High | Low | Sun |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 101 | 9 | 30.2 | 19.5 | 5.5 |
| February | 111 | 9 | 30.4 | 19.7 | 5.1 |
| March | 147 | 13 | 30.2 | 19.9 | 4.8 |
| April | 197 | 15 | 29.8 | 19.8 | 4.7 |
| May | 170 | 13 | 29.5 | 19.9 | 4.3 |
| June | 88 | 9 | 29.8 | 19.5 | 5.0 |
| July | 59 | 6 | 30.5 | 19.2 | 5.5 |
| August | 47 | 6 | 31.3 | 18.9 | 6.0 |
| September | 99 | 9 | 31.1 | 19.2 | 5.0 |
| October | 141 | 13 | 30.0 | 19.3 | 5.0 |
| November | 172 | 14 | 29.2 | 19.4 | 4.5 |
| December | 126 | 10 | 29.4 | 19.7 | 4.9 |
| Year | 1,458 | 125 | 30.1 | 19.5 | 5.0 |
Relative humidity at the same station runs between 66 percent in August and 75 percent in May, and the mean temperature over the 1981 to 2010 period was 24.5 degrees, with November the coolest month at 23.9 and August the warmest at 25.1. That is the whole range: a degree and a bit across the year. Cartagena is hotter and wetter in the air; Bogotá is eleven degrees colder; Medellín, five hundred meters higher, is two or three degrees cooler with the same two rainy seasons.
Which side of the city you sleep on
Cali lies against the western range, and the mountains make the weather. Air off the Pacific rises over the Farallones and drops its water on the way down, so the rain thins from the hills to the flat of the valley: at Pichindé, 1,637 meters up the road toward the Farallones, IDEAM’s normals give 1,732 millimeters a year and 137 days with rain; at the Universidad del Valle, 996 meters, 1,458 and 125 days; at IDEAM’s own Cali office, at 983 meters nearer the center, 1,173; and at the airport in Palmira, 970 meters and out on the valley floor across the Cauca, 876 millimeters and 98 days. The four stations are within thirty kilometers of each other and the wettest gets twice the rain of the driest. For a visitor the rule is simple: the hotels in the west and south, San Antonio, El Peñón and the road to Pance, are in the wetter, cooler, greener part; the north and the airport are drier and hotter; and any day that starts with cloud on the Farallones will probably end with rain on the west of the city and none on the airport road.
The day’s clock
Because the temperature barely changes across the year, the day matters more than the month. Mornings are the gift: clear, 20 degrees at seven, the Farallones sharp against the sky, which is why the Zoológico, the botanical garden and the Cerro de las Tres Cruces are morning places and why the locals climb before six. The heat builds to 30 or 31 by early afternoon and the cloud builds with it; in the rainy months the storm breaks between three and six, hard and short, and the streets run for an hour. Then comes the thing Caleños talk about the way other cities talk about their views: the evening breeze, which arrives off the western range in the late afternoon, cools the city by several degrees and is the reason the Bulevar del Río and the San Antonio park fill up at dusk. Nights are 19 to 20 degrees and the salsotecas do not need air conditioning to be worth going to. Plan the viewpoints for the morning or the last hour of light, the museums and the market for the afternoon, and never a hike after two.
Two rainy seasons, two dry ones
Cali follows the Andean pattern of two wet seasons and two drier ones, and the university’s numbers show it cleanly. The first rains build through March, peak in April at 197 millimeters over 15 days, and ease through May; June is the transition, at 88; then July, August and the first half of September are the driest stretch of the year, 59 and 47 millimeters in July and August with only six days of rain in each and six hours of sunshine a day in August, the sunniest month. The second rains arrive in the second half of September, peak in October and November at 141 and 172 millimeters, and December eases to 126, with the Feria de Cali built into its last week. January and February are the second dry season, drier in practice than 101 and 111 millimeters sound, because the rain falls on about nine afternoons a month. None of these months is a bad month: even April’s 197 millimeters fall on 15 afternoons, which leaves 15 dry days and 30 dry mornings.
The 2026 twist: El Niño
In its release of September 10, 2026, IDEAM reported El Niño conditions in the Pacific for the fourth rolling quarter in a row, a probability above 90 percent of a very strong event in the last quarter of 2026 and the first of 2027, and a 75 percent probability that it becomes the most intense since 1950; the World Meteorological Organization had put the chance of El Niño persisting to February 2027 at close to 100 percent a week earlier. IDEAM’s expected effects are less rain than normal in the Pacific, Andean and Caribbean regions, air temperatures above normal, lower rivers and reservoirs, more vegetation fires and more heat. For Cali that means the October and November rains of 2026 should be lighter than the table above, the afternoons hotter, and the first months of 2027 drier and warmer still; it also means lower rivers, which is a point for the San Cipriano day, and a caution about the sun and about drinking enough water, which is not a joke at 31 degrees. We read the monthly IDEAM releases and change this paragraph when they change.
What the weather does to the things you came for
Cristo Rey and the viewpoints: morning or the last hour before sunset in any month; in the rainy seasons the afternoon cloud sits on the hills and the view goes with it. The Zoológico and the Jardín Botánico: at opening, nine in the morning, all year. The San Cipriano river: the water is clearest and the swimming best in the dry months, June to September and January to February; in April, May, October and November the river runs high after storms and our guides decide on the day. The whales: the humpbacks are off Buenaventura from July to October, which is also Cali’s driest season, so the two best reasons to come in August coincide. The Feria de Cali, December 25 to 30: dry, hot and outdoors, which is the point. Salsa: indoors, at night, unaffected by anything but your shoes. The Farallones and the hill trails: dry-season mornings only; the city’s risk office closes access to the Tres Cruces hill in heavy rain, as it did in February 2025, and after the August 2026 earthquake the hillsides are more fragile than usual, so ask us before you plan a climb in a wet month.
The altitude question
Cali is at about 1,000 meters: IDEAM’s stations in the city sit at 983 and 996 meters and the airport at 970. That is low enough that altitude is not a factor in how you feel, unlike Bogotá at 2,600, and high enough to take the edge off the coast’s humidity; Colombia’s official tourism portal describes the city, closer to sea level than Bogotá or Medellín, as warmer and more humid than both, and its country-wide seasons, drier from December to March and from July to August, rainiest in April and May and in October and November, are the national version of the table above. What the altitude does not take the edge off is the sun: at four degrees north of the equator, 1,000 meters up and with four to six hours of bright sunshine a day, the midday sun burns fair skin quickly, and the hat matters more than the umbrella.
What to pack for Cali
Light clothes for 30 degrees and something with sleeves for the salsotecas and the evening breeze; a real hat and sunscreen, which are the two things people forget; a small umbrella or a light rain shell from March to May and October to November, and comfortable shoes that can get wet, because a Cali storm floods the crossings for an hour. For the river day, a swimsuit, a dry change and sandals that stay on your feet; for the whales, a windbreaker and motion-sickness tablets, because the Pacific is open water. For the hills, trousers and shoes with grip. Nothing warmer than a light sweater unless you are going up to Kilómetro 18 or the coffee region, where 1,500 to 2,000 meters means a jacket at night.
What we do differently
Our Cali days are built on the clock this page describes: the viewpoints and the zoo before the heat, the market and La Tertulia in the afternoon, the salsa after the breeze, and the river and whale days set by the season rather than the calendar. Every tour picks up at your hotel with a vehicle that waits, so an afternoon storm is something you watch from inside, and if the day’s weather makes a plan wrong we move the plan, not the price. The numbers on this page are IDEAM’s, dated, and we change them when IDEAM does.
Questions travelers ask
What is the weather like in Cali, Colombia?
Warm all year: afternoons of 29 to 31 degrees and nights of 19 to 20 in every month, by IDEAM’s 1991 to 2020 averages. Rain comes in two seasons, March to May and October to November, mostly in the afternoon; July and August are the driest months.
What is the best month to visit Cali?
July, August or the first half of September for the driest weather, the most sunshine and the whales; the last week of December for the Feria. Every month works for the city itself.
How hot does Cali get?
The average daily high is 30 degrees, and the hottest months, August and September, average 31; individual afternoons run higher. Nights stay near 19 all year, so it cools off.
Does it rain a lot in Cali?
About 1,460 millimeters a year inside the city and 880 at the airport, on 125 and 98 days respectively, almost all of it in afternoon and evening storms. April and November are the wettest months, July and August the driest.
What is the altitude of Cali?
About 1,000 meters above sea level; IDEAM’s stations in the city are at 983 and 996 meters and the airport at 970. Altitude is not something you feel in Cali.
Is Cali humid?
Moderately: relative humidity averages 66 to 75 percent across the year, well below the Caribbean coast. The heat is dry enough that the evening breeze makes a real difference.
What is the weather in Cali in December?
December averages 126 millimeters of rain on 10 days, highs of 29 and lows of 20, as the second rainy season eases; the Feria de Cali, December 25 to 30, is built for hot afternoons and warm nights, and in an El Niño year like 2026 it should get them.
Plan it with us
Every tour we run in Cali picks up at your hotel, and our transfers from the airport in Palmira are operated by Safe Transfers by Cielo.Travel. Write to us on WhatsApp with your dates, or start with our Cali tours page, and we will tell you what the season means for your days.
Sources
The facts on this page were checked on September 11, 2026 against the following sources: IDEAM’s climatological normals on datos.gov.co; IDEAM’s release on El Niño of September 10, 2026; the official tourism portal’s page on climate and seasons; El País on the February 2025 closure of the Tres Cruces hill; and the Feria de Cali confirmation as reported in the Colombian press in September 2026. The four IDEAM stations used are Universidad del Valle, IDEAM Sede Cali, Pichindé and Aeropuerto Alfonso Bonilla Aragón, all for the 1991 to 2020 period except the mean temperature, which the dataset gives for 1981 to 2010.
