Paramaribo month by month, at a glance
Hover each month for the summary. Click to pin it.
Nobody here talks about summer or winter: they talk about four seasons, two dry and two wet, alternating through the year. None of them is cold; the difference between the coolest and hottest month is three and a half degrees.
01 Four seasons, in this order
The local calendar runs like this: short rains from December to January, short dry season February to April, long rains from late April to August, and long dry season August to November. The data confirms it fairly precisely.
The wet peak is in May and June, with 306.6 and 295.6 millimetres spread over twenty-two rainy days each. The minimum is in September and October, with 90.3 and 86.5 millimetres.
In total, a little over 2,100 millimetres fall each year across some 190 rainy days. This is a wet destination by definition: the question is not whether it will rain but how much and how often.
Key moments at a glance
86.5 mm over twelve days, with highs of 32.1 degrees.
An average high of 28.7 degrees: the year's thermal respite.
306.6 mm spread over twenty-two days.
295.6 mm and twenty-two rainy days out of thirty.
02 The two dry seasons are not interchangeable
The long dry season, September to November, is the most reliable for rain, but it is also the hottest: in September and October the average high reaches 32 degrees and lows do not fall below 25.
The short dry season, February to April, rains somewhat more — between 130 and 215 millimetres a month — but is clearly more bearable: March has an average high of 28.7 degrees, the lowest reading of the year.
If you plan to walk a lot around the old quarter, March is the better bet. If you are interested in heading out to the rivers and the interior, October is safer even if the heat presses harder.
03 How it rains here
Rain arrives in intense showers that usually last a short while and clear afterwards. In the wet months there are twenty or twenty-two days with precipitation, but that does not mean twenty days indoors.
What does change is the ground. With 300 millimetres a month, interior tracks get complicated, some river trips are adjusted and mud becomes part of the day. In the city, though, the effect is far smaller.
Humidity stays high all year, around seventy-five per cent. That, on top of a constant thirty degrees, is what really sets the pace: you walk more slowly and stop more often.
Temperature decides nothing here: three and a half degrees separate the coolest month from the hottest.
04 What to pack
Light, quick-drying clothes, footwear you can afford to soak and something genuinely waterproof for the downpours: an umbrella helps little when it comes down with wind.
Repellent all year, without exception. And sun protection in the wet months too: cloud filters less than it seems at this latitude.
One practical detail: interiors tend to have strong air conditioning, so a thin long-sleeved layer is welcome in restaurants and transport.
05 In short
Go in September or October for minimum rain, or in February and March if you prefer less heat. Avoid May to July, and treat December and January as a wet but short in-between season.
