Climate in Argentina

What Weather Can You Expect in Argentina?

Argentina is one big, long country and as you might expect, the weather changes markedly from north to south, so you can find everything from steamy rainforest climates to arid deserts.

The Four Corners of Argentina

Very roughly, you can divide Argentina into four sections: a long strip which follows the Andes down the western side of the country, and the rest into roughly equal thirds. The 'long strip' is fairly arid, particularly in the north-west around Salta and in the south around El Calafate, although central areas such as Mendoza and Bariloche see a fair amount of rain and snow in the winter.

For the rest of the country, starting at the top: you have the humid, sub-tropical north-east around Iguazu Falls, a more temperate area from roughly Buenos Aires southwards, and then the chillier and wetter southern tip, from around Rio Gallegos down into Tierra del Fuego.

Wine Country

Argentina's wine country has a largely Mediterranean climate, becoming more arid up in the north-west as you get into the area around Salta. Temperatures can depend on altitude but are pleasant year-round, so the main thing is to avoid the rains which come in their summer (Nov-Mar), although these rains also become lighter further south around Mendoza.

Patagonia

Although it's all Patagonia, you'll see quite a difference between the north around Bariloche, which has much warmer summers (temperatures around 25°C from Nov-Mar) but quite wet winters, and the south down around El Calafate where things are largely dry all year, but where daytime temperatures struggle to get much over 5-10°C even in summer. Even further south in Tierra del Fuego it's colder still and you'll find rain on average every other day no matter what time of year you visit - it's truly stunning but you'll want to make sure you pack a waterproof...