Weather locations in French Guiana

French Guiana sits on the northern shoulder of South America, just south of the equator, and is a department of France with a climate that is tropical throughout. Long, hot and humid throughout the year, it has no winter at all and only a short dry season, which comes from the trade winds rather than from any change of season. Nearly everyone lives on the narrow coastal strip.

Main climate types

The whole territory is classed as tropical rainforest, and its affinities with Amazonia are close enough that the ecosystem is really transitional. The coastal strip, where nearly the entire population lives, is slightly drier than the interior. The Guiana Shield, a plateau cut deep by the Oyapock and Maroni rivers, rises to about 900 metres and forms the country's heartland. Most of the gold mining is in the interior.

Temperatures

Cayenne has January means near 26 degrees Celsius and July about 26 as well, so the seasonal difference is only about two degrees. The equatorial position and the surrounding ocean hold temperatures almost flat. Daytime highs are more likely to touch 30 degrees than not, while nights rarely fall below 23. Humidity stays above 80 percent for most of the year, and the heat is relieved mainly by the wind off the Atlantic.

Rainfall

Annual rainfall runs at about 2,500 millimetres along the coast and more than 3,000 inland, with rain recorded on something like 200 days a year. There is no true dry season. A relatively drier period comes from August to November, when the north-east trade winds strengthen and bring clearer weather, and a distinctly wetter one runs from December to February. The interior gets the most rain of all.

When to go

The trade-wind months from July to November are the most tolerable, being slightly less humid and offering more sunshine. Visitors wanting dry weather should aim for August to October. The rest of the year brings heavy, frequent rain, and the coastal strip has occasional days of heavy squall.