Santa Maria climate — normals and trends
Santa Maria (Argentina) has a cold semi-arid climate (BSk) under the Köppen-Geiger classification. Its mean annual temperature is 12.4 °C and it receives 279 mm of precipitation per year.
These figures are normals computed over 86 complete calendar years, from 1940 to 2025, using ERA5 reanalysis data from the Copernicus programme.
The warmest month is January (16.1 °C on average) and the coldest is July (7.3 °C). Rainfall peaks in January.
Santa Maria averages 50 frost days, 1 hot days (≥ 30 °C) and 60 rainy days per year.
Santa Maria has warmed by +1.3 °C between 1940 and 2025, or +0.15 °C per decade. This trend is statistically significant.
The hottest day of the period reached 34.0 °C (on 26 December 1997) and the coldest -17.5 °C (on 27 June 2016).
Data from ERA5 reanalysis (Copernicus Climate Change Service), redistributed under a CC-BY 4.0 licence. Normals are recomputed whenever the archive is updated.
Climate normals · ERA5
Santa MariaCatamarca
- coords
- -26.69°, -66.05°
- period
- 1940–2025 · 86 yrs
Mean daily temperature
12.4°C
Average daily high
19.8°C
Average daily low
6.4°C
Annual rainfall
279mm
Sunshine / day
11.0h
Mean relative humidity
53%
Average peak wind
10.6km/h
Seasonal range
8.8°C
Frost days (< 0 °C)
50 d/yr
Hot days (≥ 30 °C)
1 d/yr
Rainy days (≥ 1 mm)
60 d/yr
Annual snowfall
2.9 cm
Average feels-like high
17.8 °C
Average feels-like low
4.1 °C
Average peak gust
35.6 km/h
Tropical nights (≥ 20 °C)
0 d/yr
Solar radiation
20.9 MJ/m²
Has the climate changed?
One stripe per year, 1940 to 2025
+1.3 °C
since 1940
+0.2 °C per decade · r² = 0.38 · p = < 0.001
Trend fitted by linear regression (ordinary least squares) on annual means. A trend is shown only when it is statistically significant (p < 0.05).
A climograph overlays rainfall (bars) and temperature (line): the standard reading in climatology, where you can see at a glance whether the warm season is also the dry one.
Records for the period
Hottest day
34.0 °C
26 December 1997
Coldest day
-17.5 °C
27 June 2016
Wettest day
81 mm
6 January 1949
Windiest day
25.2 km/h
23 August 1963
Strongest gust
97.2 km/h
27 July 2004
Hottest feels-like
34.0 °C
26 December 1997
Coldest feels-like
-22.4 °C
27 June 2016
Snowiest day
12.1 cm
25 June 2016
Sunniest day
13.6 h
1 December 1940
Normals computed over complete calendar years 1940–2025.
A specific year
Pick a year and see how it compares to normal — warmer, drier or more extreme than usual?
Across the whole year
Month by month
| High | vs. normal | Precipitation | vs. normal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 22.4 °C | +0.5 °C | 29 mm | -45 mm |
| Feb | 25.4 °C | +4.0 °C | 55 mm | -1 mm |
| Mar | 21.8 °C | +0.6 °C | 19 mm | -16 mm |
| Apr | 20.3 °C | +0.3 °C | 3 mm | -9 mm |
| May | 20.4 °C | +2.2 °C | 0 mm | -4 mm |
| Jun | 15.6 °C | -1.0 °C | 0 mm | -2 mm |
| Jul | 18.0 °C | +1.7 °C | 1 mm | -2 mm |
| Aug | 16.9 °C | -0.9 °C | 6 mm | +3 mm |
| Sep | 21.0 °C | +1.9 °C | 1 mm | -8 mm |
| Oct | 21.4 °C | +0.5 °C | 8 mm | -6 mm |
| Nov | 22.8 °C | +1.2 °C | 5 mm | -19 mm |
| Dec | 22.8 °C | +0.6 °C | 47 mm | +4 mm |
The year's extremes
What was the weather like that day?
Your birthday, a wedding, a memorable trip: discover the actual weather for any date since 1940.
Frequently asked questions
What is the climate of Santa Maria?
Santa Maria has a cold semi-arid climate (Köppen BSk). Over 1940-2025, the average annual temperature is 12.4 °C and it receives 279 mm of precipitation per year.
What is the hottest day ever recorded in Santa Maria?
The hottest day measured in Santa Maria between 1940 and 2025 was 26 December 1997, reaching 34.0 °C.
What is the coldest day in Santa Maria?
The coldest day measured in Santa Maria between 1940 and 2025 was 27 June 2016, at -17.5 °C.
Does it snow in Santa Maria?
Yes. Santa Maria gets on average 2.9 cm of snow per year and has around 50 frost days.
Has the climate of Santa Maria warmed?
Yes: Santa Maria warmed by +1.3 °C between 1940 and 2025, a statistically significant trend.
What is the wettest day in Santa Maria?
The wettest day measured in Santa Maria between 1940 and 2025 was 6 January 1949, with 81 mm of rain in 24 hours.
What was the windiest day in Santa Maria?
The windiest day measured in Santa Maria between 1940 and 2025 was 23 August 1963, with winds reaching 25.2 km/h.
What is the warmest month in Santa Maria?
The warmest month in Santa Maria is January (16.1 °C on average); the coldest is July (7.3 °C).
How much does it rain in Santa Maria?
Santa Maria receives on average 279 mm of precipitation per year, spread over about 60 rainy days.
Is it sunny in Santa Maria?
Santa Maria gets on average 11.0 hours of sunshine per day, roughly 4,015 hours per year over 1940-2025.
What is the biggest single-day snowfall in Santa Maria?
The heaviest 24-hour snowfall measured in Santa Maria between 1940 and 2025 was 25 June 2016, with 12.1 cm.
Are there tropical nights in Santa Maria?
Almost never: tropical nights (temperature staying above 20 °C) are virtually non-existent in Santa Maria.
What was the most extreme apparent temperature in Santa Maria?
In Santa Maria, between 1940 and 2025, the highest apparent temperature reached 34.0 °C on 26 December 1997, and the lowest was -22.4 °C on 27 June 2016.
Compare Santa Maria with another city
Pick a second city: its normals will be set against these, indicator by indicator.
Nearby cities
The climate around Santa Maria