Cultural Sidebar #9 - Weather, Seasons, and Climate in Costa Rica

Shocker: Costa Rica is generally pretty warm. However, Costa Rica has a ton of geographical and topographical diversity, so this can vary quite a bit. In my Peace Corps cohort alone, we have volunteers located in every corner of the country. I’d say the majority of us are located in hot and tropical sites. But on the other hand, there are areas in Costa Rica which are much more mountainous. For example, in the province of Cartago, temperatures can be quite a bit cooler. It’s never going to snow in Costa Rica, but not everywhere is a tropical, sunny paradise one hundred percent of the time.

Because of the large variation in weather and geography, seasonal patterns differ drastically depending on where in the country you are. So, I can really only speak to the Valle Central area around San Jose, where most of the population resides. This is not the hottest part of the country, but it doesn’t ever get that cold here either. Technically, they have an invierno (winter) and verano (summer), but in reality, this is simply a case of dry versus wet season. Since I arrived in the Central Valley in July, we’ve been in the rainy season, which is as close as this area will have to winter. Yet, I don’t believe a single day’s high temperature has failed to reach 70 degrees Fahrenheit in the 5+ months I've been here. However, when it rained, it poured. Flooding was ubiquitous around the country, and I couldn't leave the house for months without bringing both an umbrella and a rain jacket. December marks the beginning of “summer” here, and although temperatures might be slighter higher now, the main difference is that there’s much less lluvia (rain) and much more sol (sun).

Temperature-wise, it’s very comfortable year-round, and like I mentioned, I haven’t been cold since I arrived. I can certainly understand why expats and/or snowbirds would settle in this part of the country. But, although I’m not particularly homesick thus far into my service, variation of weather is perhaps the thing I miss the most from home. I really enjoy running in the fall and winter when the air is a little crisper, and that’s just not something I’ll be able to experience in Costa Rica. In fact, I’d say that I was inspired to write this sidebar because of how weird it’s been to go through the Christmas season in a climate so warm. Everyone has Christmas decorations up (as they have since September), but I couldn't be further away from a winter wonderland. (The temperature is hovering at around 80 degrees this Christmas Eve.) I hope all of y’all in the States bundle up and stay warm. In the meantime, I’m looking forward to getting some more Vitamin D as the Costa Rican summer approaches. ¡Feliz Nochebuena!