Climate
La Paz has an unusual subtropical highland climate (Cwc with areas of ETw, according to the Köppen climate classification) with subpolar oceanic characteristics (the average temperature of the warmest month is lower than 10 °C). Some parts of the city, such as the place where the statistics below were taken, have an alpine or tundra climate with a winter dry season. The whole city has humid summers, dry winters and cool to chilly temperatures throughout the year.
Owing to the altitude of the city, temperatures are consistently cool throughout the year, though the diurnal temperature variation is typically large. The city has a relatively dry climate, with rainfall occurring mainly in the slightly warmer months of November to March.
The two cloudiest months of the year; both in late summer - February and March, both receive a low daily average of 5.0 hours of sunshine. Conversely, the two sunniest months of the year; both in winter - June and July, both receive an abundant daily average of 9.0 hours of sunshine.
The seasonally uneven distribution of the year's annual precipitation, often results in destructive mudslides experienced in summer, due to the copious amount of precipitation typically observed throughout the season. The wettest month is January while the driest month is June, the city receiving a monthly average of 130 mm (5.1 in) and 5 mm (0.2 in) of precipitation respectively.
| Climate data for La Paz, Bolivia | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 27 (81) |
20 (68) |
26 (79) |
30 (86) |
30 (86) |
23 (73) |
22 (72) |
21 (70) |
23 (73) |
22 (72) |
22 (72) |
22 (72) |
30 (86) |
| Average high °C (°F) | 12 (54) |
13 (55) |
13 (55) |
13 (55) |
13 (55) |
12 (54) |
12 (54) |
13 (55) |
13 (55) |
14 (57) |
15 (59) |
14 (57) |
13 (55) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 8 (46) |
8 (46) |
8 (46) |
7 (45) |
6 (43) |
5 (41) |
5 (41) |
6 (43) |
7 (45) |
8 (46) |
8 (46) |
8 (46) |
7 (45) |
| Average low °C (°F) | 3 (37) |
3 (37) |
3 (37) |
2 (36) |
0 (32) |
−2 (28) |
−2 (28) |
−1 (30) |
0 (32) |
2 (36) |
3 (37) |
3 (37) |
1 (34) |
| Record low °C (°F) | 0 (32) |
0 (32) |
−2 (28) |
−2 (28) |
−11 (12) |
−11 (12) |
−10 (14) |
−10 (14) |
−7 (19) |
−3 (27) |
−3 (27) |
−5 (23) |
−11 (12) |
| Precipitation mm (inches) | 114 (4.49) |
107 (4.21) |
66 (2.6) |
33 (1.3) |
13 (0.51) |
8 (0.31) |
10 (0.39) |
13 (0.51) |
28 (1.1) |
41 (1.61) |
48 (1.89) |
94 (3.7) |
575 (22.64) |
| Avg. precipitation days (≥ 0.1 mm) | 21 | 18 | 16 | 9 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 9 | 9 | 11 | 18 | 124 |
| Mean monthly sunshine hours | 186 | 141 | 155 | 180 | 248 | 270 | 279 | 248 | 210 | 186 | 180 | 186 | 2,469 |
| Source #1: Weatherbase | |||||||||||||
| Source #2: BBC Weather (sunshine,and precipitation data only). | |||||||||||||
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—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)