Discover the best time of year, based on historical climate, temperature, and precipitation.
The best weather in Havana is from January, February, March. — consistent weather climate
⛈Hot & rainy
| Score | 87 | 91 | 91 | 87 | 73 | 63 | 64 | 60 | 62 | 76 | 84 | 87 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Climate | Pleasant | Pleasant | Pleasant | Hot & dry | Hot & dry | Hot & rainy | Hot & dry | Hot & rainy | Hot & rainy | Hot & dry | Pleasant | Pleasant |
| Temperature | 20–26°C | 20–28°C | 21–29°C | 22–31°C | 23–31°C | 24–31°C | 25–32°C | 25–33°C | 25–31°C | 24–30°C | 22–28°C | 21–27°C |
| Feels like | 20–27°C | 21–29°C | 22–30°C | 24–33°C | 26–35°C | 28–36°C | 29–38°C | 30–38°C | 29–37°C | 27–33°C | 24–30°C | 22–29°C |
| Precipitation | 42mm 8 days | 27mm 5 days | 22mm 5 days | 36mm 6 days | 92mm 11 days | 134mm 14 days | 82mm 10 days | 117mm 12 days | 125mm 14 days | 92mm 13 days | 53mm 9 days | 42mm 8 days |
| Sunshine | 9.6h ☀︎ 88% | 10.4h ☀︎ 91% | 11.0h ☀︎ 92% | 12.1h ☀︎ 96% | 12.0h ☀︎ 90% | 10.8h ☀︎ 80% | 12.3h ☀︎ 92% | 11.7h ☀︎ 90% | 10.6h ☀︎ 86% | 10.1h ☀︎ 87% | 10.0h ☀︎ 91% | 9.6h ☀︎ 89% |
| Wind | E · 22 km/h | E · 23 km/h | E · 23 km/h | E · 22 km/h | E · 20 km/h | E · 18 km/h | E · 18 km/h | E · 18 km/h | E · 17 km/h | E · 20 km/h | E · 22 km/h | E · 21 km/h |
| Humidity (%) | 73% | 72% | 68% | 68% | 72% | 78% | 75% | 76% | 79% | 77% | 75% | 76% |
| Day length | 10.9h | 11.4h | 12.0h | 12.7h | 13.3h | 13.5h | 13.4h | 12.9h | 12.3h | 11.6h | 11.0h | 10.7h |
Cuban and international jazz musicians fill clubs and theaters across the city in December, when dry, mild weather makes…
The Festival of New Latin American Cinema brings filmmakers, critics and film lovers to Havana's theaters throughout Dec…
This cigar-industry gathering draws collectors and connoisseurs to Havana each February for tastings, factory visits and…
Conventional travel wisdom crowns February as Havana's golden month, but January quietly steals the prize: it delivers virtually identical balmy, dry Caribbean weather while sparing you the surging tour crowds and bottlenecked avenues of late winter.
Stand on the sea wall of the Malecón in January and the Atlantic sends a cool, salted spray over the stone while classic sedans rattle past against faded pastel facades. Most guidebooks point straight to February as the ideal moment to land in Cuba's storied capital, seduced by a hair's breadth of drier air. But they miss the lived reality on the ground. By February, the city tightens with organized tour groups, cigar delegates, and inflated private lodging rates. January offers the exact same gift—crisp morning air, gentle sunshine that never suffocates, and dry evenings made for wandering—with enough elbow room to actually hear the city's spontaneous rhythm.
Havana in January is the city operating at its most gracious. Daytime temperatures rest around 26 degrees, bringing a soft warmth that lets you traverse the stone alleys of Habana Vieja from breakfast until dusk without breaking into an exhausted sweat. Sea breezes sweep unobstructed off the straits and through the colonnades of Centro Habana, keeping humidity at bay. You can sit on the perimeter of Plaza Vieja under an open sky, lingering over a glass of dark rum, and watch daily life unfold rather than dodging tour flag-bearers.
February remains lovely from a purely meteorological standpoint, but the character of the city changes. As international visitors flood in for events like the Habanos Festival, upscale enclaves in Miramar and historic quarters in Habana Vieja fill to capacity. The streets grow louder, vintage taxi hires become stiffer negotiations, and the relaxed intimacy of midwinter recedes. If you want Havana at its easiest and most atmospheric, January delivers nearly the exact dry, sunlit conditions of February while retaining the breathing room to wander aimlessly.
March retains much of winter's charm with exceptionally dry conditions. The skies over Castillo del Morro stay clear for days on end, and the Atlantic retains just enough coolness to temper the afternoon sun. Foot traffic thins out after the February peak, making March one of the smoothest months to explore the grand mansions of Vedado or watch the sunset over the harbor. It feels relaxed, settled, and comfortably warm.
By April, however, you will notice the first true signs of the tropical summer pushing north. The breeze calms, the sun gains an unforgiving edge by midday, and the apparent temperature climbs past 30 degrees. The trade-off is a distinct drop in visitor numbers. If you take your walking tours along Paseo del Prado before noon and retreat behind thick colonial shutters during the hottest hours, April rewards you with an unhurried, local cadence before the rains arrive.
By late May, the Caribbean atmosphere shifts entirely. The dry, open days give way to heavy tropical moisture, and from June through October, Havana becomes an intense test of endurance. High temperatures hover in the low thirties, but thick tropical humidity makes it register closer to 38 degrees on the skin. Walking through dense urban blocks like Centro Habana during the early afternoon feels suffocating; the asphalt traps the heat, and air movement stalls entirely between crumbling masonry.
Rain in these months does not arrive as polite coastal mist. It drops in torrential tropical downpours—heavy, sky-clearing squalls that overwhelm street drains in minutes and send pedestrians scrambling beneath the nearest portico. August and September are the stickiest, quietest months for foreign travel, punctuated by quiet neighborhood life and occasional hurricane watches across the western Caribbean. If you visit in this window, adapt to the Cuban schedule: rise early, disappear into air-conditioned galleries or take shelter during the blistering midday furnace, and return to the Malecón only after sunset, when the entire city migrates to the wall to catch whatever draft rolls off the water.
November marks the definitive break in the weather. The heavy tropical rains taper off sharply, trade winds return from the northeast, and the oppressive blanket of moisture lifts from the coast. But word is well and truly out: November is the most heavily visited month on the calendar. Cruise passengers, package tours, and independent travelers descend in droves, filling the narrow sidewalks of Habana Vieja and pushing city logistics to their limits. The weather is undeniably pleasant, but the city feels crowded and perpetually booked out.
December brings a far more dynamic atmosphere as crowd pressures ease slightly and cultural life surges. The city hosts the Havana Film Festival, filling classic art-deco movie houses along Calle 23 in Vedado with cinephiles from across the Americas. Later in the month, the Havana International Jazz Festival takes over theaters and open-air courtyards, sending brass riffs and improvised percussion echoing down moonlit avenues. Evenings in December are dry, cool, and undeniably electric, setting the stage for January's sublime winter calm.