BEST TIME OF THE YEAR TO VISIT ECUADOR: GREAT MAP of 7 CLIMATE ZONES: Rain-drenched
to semi-desert; tropically hot jungle to eternal
glaciers BEST GRAPHS & CHARTS
Best Time of the Year to Visit Ecuador
THE
COMBINED INFLUENCES OF THE ANDES, THE HUMBOLDT AND THE
PANAMA CURRENTS CREATE 9 DISTINCT CLIMATE ZONES IN
ECUADOR.
Additionally, the coast of Ecuador
is a transition zone from the word's wettest tropical region - the Chocó in Colombia - and the coastal desert
that starts in Peru and progresses to the word's driest
desert in Chile. This results in a tropical wet climate
at the border with Colombia, a seasonally wet savannah climate
at just North of Guayaquil and a semi arid climate near
the border with Peru. The map at the bottom of this page
shows 9 major climate zones, but at a micro detail, there
are many more climate zones, such as the permanent polar conditions
on the snow-capped mountains, high elevation semi-deserts
in some valleys in the Andes, etc.
Climate per Region
The climate conditions in the different regions and
climate zones may
be totally independent from each other, as the pictures
beneath clearly show. On the left one can see the snow-capped
mountains of Altar, Cayambe, Cotapaxi and Chimborazo above
the clouds on the same day from the airplane during the
dry season in the Andes, that ranges from July - September.
Only in the dry season from Dicembre to March, can one see so many volcanoes on
the same day. At the right, a picture take the previous
day of the sign of the Cuyabeno lodge half covered by water,
due to the highest elevation of Cuyabeno Lake during the
wet season that we have ever observed in the 25 years of
its existence. In Galapagos the wet season is from
December through May. So, there is NO BEST TIME OF
THE YEAR TO VISIT
ECUADOR! There will always be an area where the weather
is pleasant while at the same time in another region it
may be unpleasantly hot or where it is raining cats and
dogs
.
Antisana, Cotopaxi, Chimborazo and Cayambe in the sun, above
the clouds on the same day. This only happens occasionally
during the dry season in the Andes. 2014-07-23.
Amazon wet season: highest level of Lake Cuyabeno as far
as we can remember on 2014-07-22.
For detailed information with graphs and tables on climate and weather
in Ecuador:
As theweather andclimate in Ecuador vary greatly
with elevation and region,
you need different clothing for different regions. Depending
on where you travel, you have to be prepared for hot weather
in the western lowlands and
Galapagos
National Park,
with thin shirts, shorts and light trousers. For the central
Andes
valley, the
Andes flanks and
Cuyabeno,
be sure to take a light sweater or buy one locally, because
the evenings may turn chilly. If you plan to go up in the
highlands above 3500 m, be sure you bring adequately warm
clothing, because - depending on elevation - temperatures
may turn wintery cold. Be prepared for rainfall everywhere,
so bring a nylon poncho and/or water-coated light rain jacket.
WARNING: You will be on the Equator. UV radiation is extremely
high everywhere you go and you need to protect you adequately,
even if you are dark-skinned. Always where a hat, not just
a baseball cap, and please, don't wear sandals or bear feet
when you come from abroad. I have seen such horribly painful
feet on people who covered everything but their feet. Your
feet get the most direct sunlight as they are exposed horizontally
to the sun!
Always put on high grade sun block (don't forget the edges
of your ears). Accustom your skin to the sunlight
by exposing it for no more than an hour the first day and
add an hour everyday afterwards. Don't be fooled by an overcast
sky, you can still get sun burn. Be particularly aware in
the highlands, where the UV is even higher!; and on the
water (Cuyabeno, Galapagos), because on the water, the UV
effect is greater. Also beware of wind, as it also tends
to increase the sun burning of your skin.
Best Time to Visit the Andes
In the Andean
highlands the climate is spring-like with pleasant
weather with temperatures that may run up to about 25 degrees
Celsius, while cooling off to about 15 degrees at night
in
Otavalo,
Cuenca
and
Quito,
which vary in elevation from 2300 - 2900 m. Often the mornings
are sunny, while in the afternoon the sky becomes covered
with clouds and rainfall may force you to take shelter in
one of the many great in the colonial centers of these great
cities.
In the Central Andes valley, predominate spring-like weather
conditions resulting from the higher elevation and a rain
shadow form the much higher surrounding mountains. In some
valleys, with extreme rain shadow effect, the predominant
weather conditions may be dry to semi-arid, though
with moderate temperatures due to the high elevation. The
area of the "Mitad del Mundo" is a good example.
The most moist weather conditions predominate on the external
Andes flanks where the tropical winds are forced up; as
they rise, rain is forced from the clouds to extremely high
annual rainfalls of up to 5 m in the area of Pastaza. In
those areas, the temperatures are much lower due to the
higher elevation and weather conditions are very rainy indeed.
In the extreme elevations, above 3500 m, the climate becomes
cold and several mountains in Ecuador are permanently snow-capped.
Best Time to Visit the Coastal lowlands
The
northwest Pacific coast of Ecuador has a wet tropical seasonal
climate, with a rainy season from May through December.
Along the coast, annual rainfall quickly drops from North
to South, as the climate transitions from the some of the
wettest regions in the World, the Choco region in Colombia
to the Peruvian desert coast. The reason why the South is
desert dry is because the Humboldt current is a cold current
from Antarctica, and as a result they carry little moisture.
As winds have to rise up to the steep Andes Mountains, there
is hardly any moisture in the air and rainfall is almost
absent at lower elevations.
Best Time to Visit the Amazon lowlands
The climate
of the Amazon rainforest in Ecuador is characterized by
an average of about 3000 mm of rainfall per year and an
average temperature of 23° C. However, these values are
very coarse and temperatures are lower in the foothills
of the Andes. What is important however, is the fact that
the Ecuadorian Amazon is located right on the Equator and
runs right through the
Cuyabeno Faunistic
Reserve.
As a result its "dry seasons" have lower rainfall than the
rest of the year, but even then, rain showers occur and
it never becomes totally dry. Therefore, more moist-dependent
tropical species of plants and animals can live in the Amazon
of Ecuador than anywhere else, with the
Cuyabeno Wildlife
Reserve
having the greatest recorded biodiversity in the world.
The guides of our
Ecuador Amazon
rainforest lodge,
the Cuyabeno Lodge, are widely known for the knowledge about
birds as well as other
Amazon Jungle
Animals
and
Amazon Rain
forest Plants.
The maps below show you the climate types and annual average
rainfall of Ecuador.
Local Concept of the Climate and weather in Ecuador
It
is interesting to see that in the tropics very few Latin
Americans distinguish between climate and weather and they
use the two words for both meanings. (Just for our Latin
American friends: climate means the generally prevailing
weather conditions of a region, as temperature, air pressure,
humidity, precipitation, sunshine, cloudiness, and winds,
throughout the year, averaged over a series of years, while
weather represents the atmospheric conditions at a specific
moment at a specific place). Also, the seasons are interpreted
differently. The dry season is called verano (summer) and
the wet season invierno (winter); these indications are
completely unrelated to summer and winter on either the
northern or southern hemispheres. Seasons may be named accordingly,
whenever a dry/wet period occurs. In fact, a very common
expression is "hace verano/invierno" ("it's summer/winter")
to indicate that the sun is shining or that it is raining.
So, in Ecuador, the climate changes by the hour
.
PARKS & TRIBES Travel Agency
Street: Las Casas,
Side street: Jose Coudrin, 2 blocks above the Occidental Highway
Cantón Quito, Prov. Pichincha, Parroquia
Belisario Quevedo