Climate Puerto Rico
Let's face it, in Puerto Rico, as in the rest of the Caribbean, it's hot all year round! Two seasons dominate: the dry season, very pleasant, which extends from November to May; and the wet season, from June to October, more trying, with numerous storms and the possibility of tropical cyclones passing through between September and October. Between the two, temperatures vary little and stabilize around an average of 26°C in San Juan, a little further south in the country. The difference between one and the other lies mainly in the level of rainfall recorded. Nevertheless, even during the wet season, the sun shines generously, after often brief but intense showers. Temperatures then seem warmer due to the high humidity. If you are planning to visit the central region of the country, you should know that it is cooler there than on the coast, whatever the season.
In Puerto Rico, it's hot all year round
Puerto Rico has a subtropical climate. Temperatures range from 25°C to 31°C on the coast. Overall, from May to October, the humidity level increases and the air becomes more stifling; from December to March, it rains much less and the temperatures are cooler. In the central mountainous region, depending on the altitude, they can even drop below 10°C. The coldest peak gives rise to an annual festival. The sea temperature varies between 23°C and 24°C in the dry season, and between 26°C and 30°C in the wet season.
The northeast trade winds blow almost all year round, but especially from November onwards, during the so-called "dry" season, bringing some rain to the north. Between May and October, on the other hand, the whole archipelago is more or less wet. Annual rainfall reaches about 1,525 mm/year in San Juan (north), while it rises to 4,570 mm/year at the peak of El Yunque (east) and falls to 915 mm/year in Ponce (south). It is worth noting the peculiarity of the southern zone, between Guanica and Ponce, which has little or no rainy season.
The hurricane season
Like the entire Caribbean region, Puerto Rico is not immune to hurricanes. They can occur between June and November, but most of the time they occur in September/October.
Efficient weather stations and powerful radars allow us to report their formation and trajectory. When a hurricane is approaching, the population is immediately alerted and informed about the safety instructions and preventive measures to be followed, primarily through radio, television and the Internet. The plans put in place by the civil prevention advocate the evacuation of the population residing in flood-prone and high-risk areas to the nearest cyclone shelters.
Unfortunately, despite the precautions taken, major hurricane disasters such as Hugo in 1989, Luis in 1995 and George in 1998 have resulted in loss of life. More recently, Hurricane Maria in 2017 caused the death of 3,000 people. With its passage to Category 5, the highest on the Saffir-Simpson scale, Maria ranks as the most powerful hurricane to hit Puerto Rico since San Felipe Segundo, in 1928, with sustained winds of 280 km/h and a central atmospheric pressure of less than 908 hPa, making Maria the tenth most intense Atlantic hurricane since reliable records were created.
Cyclone, hurricane or typhoon?
Cyclone, hurricane and typhoon actually mean the same thing. According to the terms of Météo France, it is in all cases a "swirling phenomenon in tropical regions, accompanied by violent winds whose speed is greater than or equal to 64 knots, that is to say 118 km/h". It is just the name that changes according to the regions of the world. In the Atlantic and North Pacific, these storms are called "hurricanes", in the northwestern Pacific they are called "typhoons" and in the Indian Ocean they are called "tropical cyclones" or "cyclonic storms".
