Weather locations in Haiti

Haiti shares the Caribbean island of Hispaniola with the Dominican Republic, and its climate is tropical but marked by dramatic differences between a hot, dry south-west and a wet, forested north. Mountain ranges rising almost straight from the sea leave little room for gentle weather.

Main climate types

Almost the whole country is tropical savanna or monsoon, with a pronounced wet season. The arid south-west peninsula, around Les Cayes and Jeremie, receives as little as 700 millimetres a year and is effectively semi-arid, while the northern coast and the mountains behind Cap-Haitien are much wetter. Deforestation means rainfall runs off the hills quickly, and the risks of flash flooding are correspondingly high.

Temperatures

Port-au-Prince averages about 25 degrees in January and 27 degrees in July, with very little variation through the year and highs typically in the low 30s. In the mountains the air is cooler, and the highest ground of the Massif de la Selle can fall near 10 degrees at night in the winter months. The coast away from the hills feels consistently hot and humid.

Rainfall

About 70 per cent of the rain falls between May and October, with the wettest months generally September and October, at the peak of the Atlantic hurricane season. The dry season from December to April has rain only occasionally. Northern Haiti, on the Atlantic side, can take over 2,000 millimetres a year on its slopes, while the towns of the south-west peninsula get under 1,000.

When to go

The drier, cooler months from December to March are usually the most comfortable, when daytime heat is lower and the humidity less oppressive. That is also the busiest time for visitors and the most expensive. The coast between Cap-Haitien and Jacmel, and the hills around Les Cayes, are worth visiting at any time if you avoid the very wet months of September and October.