Santa Cruz climate — normals and trends
Santa Cruz (Chile) has a warm-summer mediterranean climate (Csb) under the Köppen-Geiger classification. Its mean annual temperature is 14.5 °C and it receives 714 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 (21.3 °C on average) and the coldest is July (8.2 °C). Rainfall peaks in June.
Santa Cruz averages 8 frost days, 28 hot days (≥ 30 °C) and 54 rainy days per year.
The mean temperature of Santa Cruz has changed by -0.4 °C between 1940 and 2025, or -0.05 °C per decade. This trend is statistically significant.
The hottest day of the period reached 39.1 °C (on 12 January 1941) and the coldest -5.3 °C (on 7 July 1960).
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 CruzO'Higgins Region
- coords
- -34.64°, -71.37°
- period
- 1940–2025 · 86 yrs
Mean daily temperature
14.5°C
Average daily high
21.2°C
Average daily low
8.7°C
Annual rainfall
714mm
Sunshine / day
10.5h
Mean relative humidity
70%
Average peak wind
11.3km/h
Seasonal range
13.1°C
Frost days (< 0 °C)
8 d/yr
Hot days (≥ 30 °C)
28 d/yr
Rainy days (≥ 1 mm)
54 d/yr
Annual snowfall
0.4 cm
Average feels-like high
20.9 °C
Average feels-like low
7.2 °C
Average peak gust
29.7 km/h
Tropical nights (≥ 20 °C)
0 d/yr
Solar radiation
19.6 MJ/m²
Has the climate changed?
One stripe per year, 1940 to 2025
-0.4 °C
since 1940
-0.1 °C per decade · r² = 0.07 · p = 0.016
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
39.1 °C
12 January 1941
Coldest day
-5.3 °C
7 July 1960
Wettest day
117 mm
27 May 1986
Windiest day
32.8 km/h
5 June 1992
Strongest gust
105.8 km/h
13 June 2000
Hottest feels-like
38.0 °C
12 January 1941
Coldest feels-like
-8.9 °C
7 July 1960
Snowiest day
5.7 cm
15 July 2017
Sunniest day
14.2 h
16 December 2025
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 | 30.6 °C | +1.6 °C | 1 mm | -3 mm |
| Feb | 29.9 °C | +1.4 °C | 0 mm | -4 mm |
| Mar | 26.0 °C | -0.1 °C | 26 mm | +19 mm |
| Apr | 20.7 °C | -0.7 °C | 30 mm | -4 mm |
| May | 17.0 °C | +0.2 °C | 103 mm | -18 mm |
| Jun | 13.3 °C | -0.5 °C | 126 mm | -52 mm |
| Jul | 15.1 °C | +1.5 °C | 69 mm | -82 mm |
| Aug | 15.9 °C | +0.7 °C | 114 mm | +10 mm |
| Sep | 18.5 °C | +1.0 °C | 89 mm | +26 mm |
| Oct | 22.4 °C | +1.7 °C | 14 mm | -17 mm |
| Nov | 25.2 °C | +0.6 °C | 4 mm | -9 mm |
| Dec | 28.5 °C | +0.9 °C | 9 mm | +2 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 Cruz?
Santa Cruz has a warm-summer mediterranean climate (Köppen Csb). Over 1940-2025, the average annual temperature is 14.5 °C and it receives 714 mm of precipitation per year.
What is the hottest day ever recorded in Santa Cruz?
The hottest day measured in Santa Cruz between 1940 and 2025 was 12 January 1941, reaching 39.1 °C.
What is the coldest day in Santa Cruz?
The coldest day measured in Santa Cruz between 1940 and 2025 was 7 July 1960, at -5.3 °C.
Does it snow in Santa Cruz?
Almost never: Santa Cruz sees virtually no snow, with about 8 frost days per year.
Has the climate of Santa Cruz warmed?
Between 1940 and 2025, no statistically significant temperature trend emerges in Santa Cruz.
What is the wettest day in Santa Cruz?
The wettest day measured in Santa Cruz between 1940 and 2025 was 27 May 1986, with 117 mm of rain in 24 hours.
What was the windiest day in Santa Cruz?
The windiest day measured in Santa Cruz between 1940 and 2025 was 5 June 1992, with winds reaching 32.8 km/h.
What is the warmest month in Santa Cruz?
The warmest month in Santa Cruz is January (21.3 °C on average); the coldest is July (8.2 °C).
How much does it rain in Santa Cruz?
Santa Cruz receives on average 714 mm of precipitation per year, spread over about 54 rainy days.
Is it sunny in Santa Cruz?
Santa Cruz gets on average 10.5 hours of sunshine per day, roughly 3,833 hours per year over 1940-2025.
What is the biggest single-day snowfall in Santa Cruz?
The heaviest 24-hour snowfall measured in Santa Cruz between 1940 and 2025 was 15 July 2017, with 5.7 cm.
Are there tropical nights in Santa Cruz?
Almost never: tropical nights (temperature staying above 20 °C) are virtually non-existent in Santa Cruz.
What was the most extreme apparent temperature in Santa Cruz?
In Santa Cruz, between 1940 and 2025, the highest apparent temperature reached 38.0 °C on 12 January 1941, and the lowest was -8.9 °C on 7 July 1960.
Compare Santa Cruz with another city
Pick a second city: its normals will be set against these, indicator by indicator.
Nearby cities
The climate around Santa Cruz