Climate of Valle del Cauca
Temperature, thermal floors, rainy seasons and best time to visit Valle del Cauca. Complete climate data by municipality.
The department of Valle del Cauca has one of the most pleasant climates in Colombia. Cali, its capital and third city of the country, is at 995 meters above sea level in the inter-Andean valley of the Cauca River and records an average temperature of 24 °C with a constant breeze that arrives from the Pacific through the Dagua river canyon. This phenomenon makes Cali, despite its low altitude for Andean standards, cooler than other cities at similar heights. The Vallecaucan Pacific —with Buenaventura as Colombia's main port— is one of the rainiest places in the world, with 8,000 mm annually. The Western mountain range drastically separates the warm and humid Pacific from the temperate and sunny Cauca valley.
THERMAL FLOORS OF VALLE DEL CAUCA
Temperature in Valle del Cauca varies by altitude. These are the department's thermal floors:
| Thermal Floor | Altitude | Temperature | Municipalities |
| Warm Pacific hyper-humid | 0 – 200 m | 26 – 30 °C | Buenaventura, Bahía Málaga |
| Temperate inter-Andean valley | 900 – 1,500 m | 22 – 26 °C | Cali, Palmira, Tuluá |
| Cold | 1,500 – 3,000 m | 12 – 18 °C | Sevilla, Caicedonia, El Dovio |
| Páramo | > 3,000 m | 5 – 12 °C | Las Hermosas Páramo, Los Farallones de Cali |
RAINY AND DRY SEASONS IN VALLE DEL CAUCA
Bimodal regime in the valley: rainy March–May and September–November, dry December–February and June–August. Cali receives 1,000–1,500 mm annually. Buenaventura receives 7,000–9,000 mm with no defined dry season. The Cali Fair (December 25–30) coincides with the dry season.
TEMPERATURE BY MUNICIPALITY IN VALLE DEL CAUCA
Average annual temperatures of the main municipalities of Valle del Cauca:
| Municipality | Average Temperature |
| Cali | 24 °C |
| Palmira | 24 °C |
| Buenaventura | 28 °C |
| Tuluá | 22 °C |
| Buga | 23 °C |
| Cartago | 24 °C |
| Jamundí | 24 °C |
| Sevilla | 18 °C |
BEST TIME TO VISIT VALLE DEL CAUCA
December–February and June–August: dry seasons in the valley. Cali Fair (December 25–30): the most important celebration. For Los Farallones de Cali and hiking: July–August. Buenaventura and the coast: no real dry season; January–February are the least rainy.