South America Climate – March 2026 Update
Top 5 Countries: Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Peru, and Chile
This is a 4BYO aggregate. NOAA does not publish a standalone continental land series for South America, so we average country anomalies in our coverage. See methodology.
This month in numbers
South America experienced a significantly warmer April 2026, with a 1-month anomaly of +0.54°C compared to the 1961–1990 average. The warming trend is even more pronounced over longer periods, with a 3-month anomaly of +0.77°C and a 12-month rolling anomaly of +1.17°C. Globally, April 2026 was the joint third-warmest April on record, with average surface air temperatures 0.52°C above the 1991-2020 average.
Hottest & coolest countries
Within South America, Brazil climate page, Colombia climate page, and Peru climate page were notably warmer in April, with anomalies of +1.08°C, +1.03°C, and +1.00°C respectively. In contrast, Argentina climate page experienced a cooler month, with an anomaly of -0.44°C.
What's driving change?
The current ENSO state is Neutral, with an anomaly of +0.11°C for February-April 2026. However, forecasts indicate a likely emergence of El Niño from May–July 2026 (61% chance) and persistence through at least the end of the year ENSO tracker. This transition to El Niño conditions is expected to bring hotter and drier conditions to parts of the region, amplifying humanitarian risks. In April, severe storms brought giant hail, flash floods, and destructive winds to multiple regions of Argentina. Brazil also experienced heavy rainfall and flooding, particularly in the northern and southern states. Meanwhile, parts of northern South America experienced abnormal dryness. continues to be a concern, particularly in the Amazon, where forest degradation outpaced deforestation between August 2025 and April 2026.
Looking ahead
The developing El Niño is expected to bring an increased risk of heat stress, agricultural drought, and wildfires to parts of the region in the coming months.
Generated by Gemini from climate data and web sources
Temperature – Average
South America – Monthly Temperature – All Years
Each line represents one year of monthly temperature in °C.
4BYO continent aggregate · equal-weight mean of 8 country monthly absolute temperatures (OWID/CRU TS).
Shifting Seasons
Weakly seasonalSouth America is weakly seasonal - temperature barely changes across the year (3.9°C range) and rainfall is fairly even. The clearest climate signal here is overall warming: monthly temperature has risen in every month.
Baseline vs recent monthly temperature climatology. Biggest warming: Sep (+1.4°C). The warmest month has shifted from Feb to Jan.
4BYO continent aggregate · OWID/CRU TS country monthly temperatures.
Member countries (8)
These are the country snapshots aggregated into the South America series.
Hottest & Coolest in South America this Month
1-month anomaly vs 1961–1990 across the 8 members we cover. Click a name to open its profile.
Data Sources
- 4BYO aggregate (NOAA does not publish a standalone continental land series for this region)
- Two-baseline model — comparison baseline 1961–1990; native baseline 1961-1990. Methodology →
Data Sources
Data Sources for South America
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 South America changing?
South America 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 South America come from?
Climate data for South America comes from Our World in Data, sourcing Copernicus ERA5 and HadCRUT5 (national temperature anomaly), 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 South America climate data cover?
The South America climate profile covers Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Peru and surrounding areas. Aggregated from country snapshots - NOAA does not publish a SA continental series
How often is the South America climate update refreshed?
The South America 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.