Costa Rica Climate
Top 5 Cities: San José, Alajuela, Cartago, Heredia, and Liberia
This month in numbers
Costa Rica experienced an average temperature of 23.83°C in April 2026, marking an anomaly of +0.4°C compared to the 1961–1990 baseline. This ranks as the 31st warmest April in 86 years of records. Globally, April 2026 was the 2nd warmest April for land temperature on record, with an anomaly of +1.1°C. The three-month period from February to April 2026 saw an average temperature of 23.5°C, an anomaly of +0.6°C, ranking as the 12th warmest such period on record.
What changed
The past three months (February-April 2026) in Costa Rica were notably warmer, ranking as the 12th warmest on record. This trend aligns with the country's long-term warming, which shows an increase of +0.74°C compared to the 1961–1990 baseline. Costa Rica's 1-month and 3-month temperature anomalies place it among the cooler regions within the broader North America group, ranking 221st and 222nd respectively out of 234 regions globally.
What’s driving change?
The warming trend in Costa Rica is influenced by and the anticipated return of El Niño. The current ENSO state is Neutral, with a weekly Niño 3.4 SST anomaly of +0.9°C. However, forecasts indicate a strong likelihood of El Niño developing from May to July 2026 and persisting through the end of the year, with a 79% probability for June-August and 87% for July-September [/climate/enso]. El Niño typically brings warmer and drier conditions to Mexico and Central America, increasing drought risk during the rainy season. This aligns with projections from the Instituto Meteorológico Nacional (IMN) for an irregular start to Costa Rica's rainy season, with rainfall totals potentially 10% to 30% below normal for much of the year, especially from September through November.
Costa Rica has also been battling wildfires, particularly in Guanacaste province, with incidents reported in the Lomas Barbudal Biological Reserve and Santa Rosa National Park in April. These fires, often human-caused, are exacerbated by dry conditions and strong winds, which are typical during the dry season that extends through April. On April 11, heavy rains led to flooding in residential areas of Limon on the Caribbean coast, with up to 40 mm of rain falling in a short period. Additionally, an unusual crater collapse and lake surge occurred at Poás Volcano on April 10, releasing ash into the air and causing the crater lake level to rise by about three meters.
Looking ahead
With El Niño highly likely to emerge in the coming months, Costa Rica can anticipate a hotter and drier second half of the year, with potential impacts on water availability and agriculture.
Generated by Gemini from climate data and web sources
Loading climate data...
Data Sources
Data Sources for Costa Rica
Every figure on this page is sourced from official, openly published climate datasets. Anomalies are calculated against the 1961–1990 baseline (temperature) and 1991–2020 (rainfall, sunshine, frost) — see the Methodology & Sources page for the complete dataset list and update calendar.
FAQs
FAQs
How is the climate in Costa Rica changing?
Costa Rica is warming in line with the rest of the world. The page above shows the latest monthly temperature anomaly versus the 1961-1990 baseline, the long-term annual trend, and the region's rank in the historical record. The trend rate is shown as °C per decade in the headline panel; you can also see the warmest and coolest years on file.
Where does the climate data for Costa Rica come from?
Climate data for Costa Rica comes from Our World in Data, sourcing Copernicus ERA5 and HadCRUT5 (national temperature anomaly) and the Global Carbon Project via Our World in Data (CO₂ emissions), refreshed every month, when the upstream temperature and rainfall data are refreshed.
What is the climate baseline used on this page?
Anomalies on this page are calculated against the 1961-1990 climatological baseline, which is the standard reference period used by the Met Office, NOAA, IPCC and most national climate services. Some panels also show the source-native 1901-2000 (NOAA) or 1991-2020 (WMO) baselines for verification. See Methodology & Sources for the full reference.
Which areas does the Costa Rica climate data cover?
The Costa Rica climate profile covers San José, Alajuela, Cartago, Heredia and surrounding areas. Temperature, rainfall and emissions data for Costa Rica
How often is the Costa Rica climate update refreshed?
The Costa Rica climate update is refreshed monthly, typically a few days after the previous month closes and the upstream provider (Met Office HadUK-Grid, NOAA Climate at a Glance, Copernicus ERA5 or the Global Carbon Project) publishes its update. See the Climate Rankings for cross-region comparisons.