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What's the Weather like in Costa Rica?

Costa Rica’s Climate

Costa Rica has a great variety of microclimates, which the tourist can, in a short distance and time, feel the different types of environments, which will in turn have a positive impact on their travel experience.

Costa Rica’s location in the region of the Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn is defined as the Tropical Zone and it confers tropical characteristics to its ecological environment: forests, waterways, soil, and climate.

The flora and the fauna that has adapted in these conditions are therefore typically tropical. The tropical climate of Costa Rica is modified by various factors such as the topography (the arrangement of the mountains, plains and plateaus), the situation, with respect to the continent (isthmic conditions), the oceanic influence (the winds or the marine breezes, the temperature of the marine currents), and the general circulation of the atmosphere (IGN 2005).

The interactions of local geographical, atmospheric, and oceanic factors are the main criteria to regionalize the country climatically. The northwest-southeast orientation of the mountain system divides Costa Rica into two watersheds: Pacific and Caribbean. Each one of these watersheds, present their own regimen of precipitation and temperature with particular characteristics of special and temporal distribution (Manso et al., 2005).

Precipitation regimens (Pacific and Caribbean), the elevation and orientation of the mountains, together with the predominating winds and the influence of the oceans, make it possible to differentiate seven large regions: North Pacific, Central Pacific, South Pacific, Central Region, Northern Area, Northern Caribbean Region and Southern Caribbean Region.

("Roca Bruja", Santa Rosa National Park, North Guanacaste)

Source: National Meteorlogist Institute (IMN)

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