Montevideo month by month, at a glance
Hover each month for the summary. Click to pin it.
The first reflex when planning a trip is to ask when the dry season falls. In Montevideo that question has no answer, because there isn't one: it rains practically the same amount all twelve months of the year.
01 Rain does not mark seasons
The 1991-2020 normals settle it: the driest month is May, with 83.4 millimetres, and the wettest is April, with 111.1. Between the annual minimum and maximum there are twenty-eight millimetres of difference.
The annual total is around 1,143 millimetres, spread almost flat. No month drops below eighty or exceeds a hundred and twenty, so choosing your month by rainfall is choosing at random.
What you should assume is that rain can fall on any visit, as a short shower and often with wind off the estuary behind it. That is not a reason to change dates; it is a reason to pack a jacket.
Key moments at a glance
Highs of 27.0 degrees, mild water and carnival in the street.
111.1 mm, the annual maximum, with highs of 22.0 degrees.
83.4 mm: the annual minimum, and still almost three a day.
An average high of 14.7 degrees and 93.2 mm of rain.
02 What does change is temperature
The thermometer does draw four clearly separated seasons. January is the hottest month, with an average high of 27.8 degrees and a low of 18.8; July is the coldest, with 14.7 and 7.3. Thirteen degrees separate the top of the year from the bottom.
The annual mean sits at 21.4 degrees for highs and 13.1 for lows. It is a climate without extremes: neither January's heat nor July's cold forces your hand, but the difference decides whether the day's plan is indoors or outdoors.
Light separates the year even more sharply than temperature. January accumulates 294.5 hours of sunshine and June barely 126: less than half. In a city whose main public space is a coastal avenue, that changes the whole trip.
03 Summer and the water
From December to March the city moves to its edge. The urban beaches are genuinely used, the rambla fills up in the afternoon and the estuary water reaches its mildest in February and March, once the air has stopped pressing.
January brings an effect worth knowing: many people leave for the eastern coast, and Montevideo runs at half speed. That makes it comfortable to walk and a little flatter for going out at night.
Carnival takes up much of that stretch: it starts in mid-January and runs to late February, lasting some forty days. There is an opening parade, the llamadas parade with its drum lines and the tablados scattered across the neighbourhoods. If that is why you are coming, February is the month.
04 Winter is spent indoors
From June to August the cold is not severe - the average high never drops below 14.7 degrees - but everything else piles up: little light, high humidity and wind off the river. It feels worse than the figure.
In those months the city retreats indoors: covered markets, cafés, theatres, museums. It is the season when Montevideo looks most like a European capital in winter and least like a beach city.
It has one clear advantage: nobody is there. Prices drop, central accommodation is available without booking months ahead, and the rambla, with a coat on, still walks just as well. This is the city's cheap trip.
05 What to pack, and in short
Always bring a light waterproof layer and something windproof, whatever month you travel: there is no dry month and the estuary wind is constant. In winter, add a real coat; in summer, sun protection and long sleeves for the evening.
If you want the best balance, go between October and December or in March: temperatures of 20 to 26 degrees, long days and the city running at its normal pace. If you are coming for carnival, February. If you are looking for the dry month, there isn't one: choose by temperature.
