Best vacations in Brazil

The weather in Brazil can vary immensely from one part of the country to another, simply because the country is so large and spans nearly half of the continent of South America.  There are many different climates represented in Brazil, and the weather in each region also depends on the time of year.  A little research can ensure that you plan your vacation for a time of year and location that ensures the best possible conditions.

The North of the country is mostly tropical, in fact, the Equator cuts through the mouth of the Amazon River, but below the Topic of Capricorn the weather is mostly temperate.  The Tropic of Capricorn crosses through Brazil at the latitude that crosses through the city of Sao Paulo.  Total, Brazil has six different climatic regions: the equatorial region, the tropical region, the semiarid region, the highland tropical region, the temperate region, and the subtropical region.

Along the equator, temperatures can get quite high, the average is around twenty-five degrees Celsius, but summer highs can include temperatures of up to forty degrees Celsius.  From one season to another there is very little change in weather around the equator.  The same is true for the temperate region, although the temperatures are not quite so high.

The regions south of the Tropic of Capricorn represent the country’s other weather extremes.  The winter in the south spans the months of June, July, and August, and there are quite often frosts as well as snowfalls on the high plateaus and mountainous areas in some states.  In the states of Rio Grande do Sul, Parana, and Santa Catarina, snow is actually quite common in the winter, and the states of Riod de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, Minas Gerais, and Espirito Santo also experience the occasional snow fall.  Cities like Brasilia and Belo Horizonte are elevated about one thousand meters, and so have temperatures that are much more moderate.  On the other hand, cities such as Recife, Rio de Janeiro, and Salvador are located on the coast and have warmer climates, but also have the luxary of enjoying constant trade winds.  Cities like Curitiba, Sao Paulo, Florianopolis, and Porto Alegre are comparable to the subtropical climates of the southern parts of the United States and Europe, and their temperatures can also fall below freezing in the winter.

Through out Brazil, there is generally a fairly high level of rainfall.  The average is between one thousand and one and a half thousand millimeters each year.  Most of this rain falls in the summer, which spans the months between December and April, especially south of the equator.  The Amazon region is known for being extremely humid and actually has a rainfall closer to two thousand millimeters to year, occasionally reaching as much as three thousand millimeters a year in parts of the western Amazon.  The rain forest also has a three to five month long dry season.
No matter what the time of year or the intended destination, it is possible to find a time to visit Brazil that will offer beautiful weather.