September 8, 2026
Everyone tells you Medellín has the weather of eternal spring, and it is true in the only way that matters: the temperature does not change. What changes is the rain, and the rain is what decides whether your day at Guatapé, your morning in Comuna 13 or your paragliding flight happens as planned. We run tours in this city every day of the year, which means we plan around the sky every day of the year. This is what each month is really like, with the national weather service’s numbers rather than adjectives, and an honest answer to the question everyone asks us: when should I come?
The short version
Come in any month; the temperature will be the same. If you want the most dry days, aim for January and February or for July and August, which are the two dry seasons. If you want the city at its most alive, come for the Feria de las Flores in the first days of August or for the Christmas lights between late November and mid-January, and book your hotel early for both. If you want fewer people and lower prices, September and the weeks after the lights are quiet. April, May, October and November are the wet seasons, and they are still good months if you do the important things in the morning, which is the rule for every month here anyway.
Why the temperature never moves
Medellín sits at 1,479 meters, six degrees north of the equator, in a valley. Altitude takes the tropical heat off and the latitude removes the seasons, so the monthly average stays between 21 and 22.5 degrees all year according to the meteorological institute’s long-term averages for the Olaya Herrera station, and a typical day runs from about 16 degrees at dawn to 26 in the afternoon. There is no month to avoid for heat and no month to avoid for cold. What you do need to know is that the places you visit from the city are not at the city’s altitude: the international airport in Rionegro sits at 2,142 meters and feels several degrees cooler when you land, Parque Arví is at 2,400 to 2,600 meters and wants a jacket, Guatapé is at 1,925 meters, and Santa Fe de Antioquia, an hour west, averages 27 degrees and feels like a different country. A day out of Medellín can cross three climates before lunch.
Two rainy seasons, two dry ones
Medellín’s rain follows the equatorial pattern of two wet seasons and two drier ones. The first rains build through March and peak in April and May; the second, heavier season runs from September through November, with October the wettest month of the year at 221 millimeters spread over 25 days with rain. Between them come the dry seasons: December to February is the driest stretch, with January at 61 millimeters and 12 days with some rain, and June to August is a second, lighter dry spell that locals call the veranillo, when July gets 119 millimeters but also the most sunshine of the year, about 200 hours in the month. Over a year the station records roughly 1,670 millimeters, and there is at least some rain on more than 220 days, which is the number to understand: rain here is not a season you can dodge, it is an afternoon habit you can plan around. Most days, wet season or dry, the morning is clear and the shower comes after two in the afternoon, often hard, often short.
Medellín weather month by month
| Month | Rain | Days with rain | What it means for you |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 61 mm | 12 | The driest month. Christmas lights until mid-month, Colombian school holidays, full hotels in the first two weeks. |
| February | 76 mm | 13 | Dry, quiet and cheaper. The best month for Guatapé, paragliding and long days out. |
| March | 121 mm | 17 | The first rains arrive in the afternoons. Mornings still reliable. |
| April | 163 mm | 21 | First wet season. Semana Santa crowds when Easter falls here. Plan mornings, keep museums for the afternoon. |
| May | 200 mm | 24 | The wettest of the first season. Green, cool evenings, few tourists. |
| June | 148 mm | 18 | Rain eases. School holidays begin mid-month and the city fills with Colombian families. |
| July | 119 mm | 16 | The sunniest month. The Feria de las Flores begins in the last days of July. |
| August | 154 mm | 20 | The Feria and the Desfile de Silleteros in the first days of the month; showers return in the second half. |
| September | 172 mm | 22 | Second wet season begins. The quietest month for visitors. |
| October | 221 mm | 25 | The wettest month of the year. Early starts, indoor afternoons. |
| November | 151 mm | 21 | Still wet until the lights go on in the last days of the month. |
| December | 88 mm | 15 | Dry season returns. The lights, the December parties, and the busiest fortnight of the year from the 20th. |
Rain and days with rain are the climatological averages published by IDEAM, Colombia’s meteorological institute, for the Olaya Herrera airport station inside the city. Individual years move around them: an El Niño year runs drier and warmer, a La Niña year wetter, and neither changes the temperature enough to notice.
The best time to visit, depending on what you want
For dry days. January, February, July and the first half of August. February is the quiet one.
For the Feria de las Flores. Ten days around the turn of July and August; the 2026 edition ran from July 31 to August 9 and ended with the Desfile de Silleteros. Book the hotel months ahead.
For the lights. Medellín’s Christmas lights are the most famous in Colombia: eight million LED bulbs along the river and in parks across the city, switched on at the end of November and left on until the second week of January, from six in the evening to midnight. The 2025 edition ran from November 28 to January 12.
For fewer people and lower prices. September, early October, the first three weeks of November, and mid-January to March once the holidays end.
For Guatapé. Any dry-season morning; in the wet seasons, the same rule with more insistence: climb before ten and take the boat before the afternoon shower. Our Guatapé guide has the order of the day.
For paragliding. Flights at San Félix are cancelled by rain and low cloud; the dry seasons give you the best odds, and any month gives you a decent one if you book the first slot of the day.
What the rain actually does to your plans
Very little, if the plan is built around it. Comuna 13 is a morning place in every month, for the crowds as much as the sky. Guatapé’s rock is climbed before ten. The Metrocable runs in the rain and the view from the cabin is better with the clouds sitting on the hills. Downtown, the Museo de Antioquia and Casa de la Memoria are afternoon places, which is exactly when the rain comes. Parque Arví gets muddy after a wet week and its cable stops on Tuesdays regardless of the weather. What the rain does ruin is a schedule that puts the outdoor thing at three in the afternoon in October, and a traveler without a light rain jacket. Carry one every day, in every month; the locals do. Our guide to things to do in Medellín is ordered around exactly this.
Holidays, crowds and prices
The weather is only half of timing. Colombian school holidays run from mid-June into July and from December to late January, and in those weeks the country travels to Medellín. Colombia also has eighteen public holidays a year, most of them moved to a Monday, and each puente sends the city to Guatapé, Santa Fe de Antioquia and Jardín on the same Saturday morning. Semana Santa is a full week of travel: in 2027 it runs from March 21 to March 28. The Feria in early August and the fortnight from December 20 are the two moments hotels sell out; September and February are the two moments they discount. If you can choose freely, a Tuesday-to-Thursday stay in February is the version of Medellín with the shortest queues and the clearest skies.
What to pack for Medellín
Clothes for 24 degrees, not for the tropics: light layers, one sweater or light jacket for the evenings and for the airport, Arví and Guatapé, a compact rain jacket or umbrella every month, walking shoes with grip for the wet pavements and the rock, and sunscreen, because the sun at 1,500 meters near the equator burns faster than it feels. Leave the heavy coat and the heat-wave wardrobe at home. If your trip continues to Cartagena, pack for both, and read our Colombia itinerary for how the cities fit together.
Questions travelers ask
What is the best month to visit Medellín?
February for dry weather and few people, early August for the Feria de las Flores, December for the lights and the parties. There is no bad month; the temperature is the same in all twelve.
When is the rainy season in Medellín?
Twice a year: April to May and September to November, with October the wettest month. Even then the rain is mostly afternoon showers, and mornings are usually clear.
Does Medellín get cold?
No. The monthly average stays between 21 and 22.5 degrees all year and nights drop to around 16. The airport, Arví and Guatapé are higher and cooler; bring one jacket.
Is December a good time to visit Medellín?
Yes, and the most crowded. The dry season is back, the Christmas lights run from the end of November to mid-January, and the fortnight from December 20 is the busiest of the year. Book early and expect Colombian families everywhere.
Does the weather cancel tours?
Paragliding, yes, when it rains or the cloud sits low, which is why the first slot of the day is the safe one. Everything else runs; Guatapé, Comuna 13 and the city tours go out in every month, timed so the outdoor part happens before the afternoon shower.
Plan it with us
We run tours in Medellín in every month of the year, private or shared, in English or Spanish, with hotel pickup, and we time them around the weather so you do not have to. Write to us on WhatsApp with your dates, or see everything we run in the city on our Medellín tours page.
