Discover the best time of year, based on historical climate, temperature, and precipitation.
The best time to visit Pasto is July, August, September, when the weather, flight prices, and crowds align. — some variation climate
🌦Cool & rainy
Contains affiliate links.
Contains affiliate links.
Contains affiliate links.
| Score | 53 | 51 | 48 | 49 | 52 | 59 | 71 | 74 | 76 | 52 | 49 | 50 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Climate | Cool & rainy | Cool & rainy | Cool & rainy | Cool & rainy | Cool & rainy | Cool & rainy | Cool & rainy | Cool & rainy | Cool & rainy | Cool & rainy | Cool & rainy | Cool & rainy |
| Temperature | 10–17°C | 11–17°C | 11–17°C | 11–17°C | 11–18°C | 10–17°C | 10–18°C | 9–18°C | 10–19°C | 10–18°C | 11–17°C | 11–17°C |
| Feels like | 10–18°C | 10–19°C | 10–18°C | 10–19°C | 10–19°C | 9–18°C | 9–19°C | 8–20°C | 8–20°C | 10–19°C | 10–18°C | 10–18°C |
| Precipitation | 320mm 28 days | 347mm 26 days | 434mm 30 days | 433mm 28 days | 389mm 26 days | 267mm 21 days | 163mm 15 days | 150mm 15 days | 131mm 15 days | 345mm 27 days | 392mm 30 days | 491mm 30 days |
| Sunshine | 6.8h ☀︎ 56% | 6.2h ☀︎ 51% | 5.3h ☀︎ 44% | 5.5h ☀︎ 45% | 6.3h ☀︎ 52% | 7.5h ☀︎ 62% | 9.0h ☀︎ 74% | 9.1h ☀︎ 75% | 8.9h ☀︎ 74% | 6.3h ☀︎ 52% | 5.5h ☀︎ 46% | 5.8h ☀︎ 48% |
| Wind | N · 8 km/h | N · 8 km/h | N · 8 km/h | N · 7 km/h | SE · 7 km/h | SE · 7 km/h | SE · 7 km/h | SE · 8 km/h | SE · 9 km/h | NE · 8 km/h | N · 8 km/h | N · 8 km/h |
| Humidity (%) | 86% | 87% | 88% | 87% | 85% | 83% | 78% | 77% | 76% | 85% | 90% | 90% |
| Day length | 12.1h | 12.1h | 12.1h | 12.1h | 12.2h | 12.2h | 12.2h | 12.2h | 12.1h | 12.1h | 12.1h | 12.0h |
| Tourist Crowds | High season | Shoulder season | High season | Shoulder season | Low season | Low season | Shoulder season | High season | Low season | Low season | Shoulder season | High season |
Held in early January when Pasto's cool highland air is at its driest, this UNESCO-recognized carnival fills the streets…
Pasto summons hundreds of thousands of revelers into damp, cloud-heavy mountain chill every January for its great carnival, yet the high Andean basin does not actually show its best face until the dry, sunlit window between July and September.
Cradled in the high Atriz Valley under the brooding cone of the Galeras volcano, San Juan de Pasto feels less like modern Colombia and more like a fiercely independent highland realm. Founded in the 1530s among the indigenous Pastos, this southern capital sits in a cool mountain bowl where cold Andean air tangles constantly with rising moisture. Most travelers learn its name solely because of the seismic eruption of street theater that is the Blacks and Whites' Carnival in early January. But arriving then means taking your festive chaos with heavy cloud cover and sodden mountain breezes. If you want to see the volcanic ridges sharp against deep blue skies and walk the stone squares without a damp wool ruana glued to your back, the calendar demands a very different calculation.
For the first week of January, Pasto transforms into an open-air whirlwind of talcum powder, black cosmetic grease, and towering papier-mâché floats during the Blacks and Whites' Carnival. The celebration consumes every corner of the historic center, from the crowded paving stones of Plaza de Nariño to the sprawling amphitheater of Plaza del Carnaval. It is a thrilling, centuries-old rite of communal catharsis where social hierarchies dissolve in dust and laughter, and it remains the single cultural event that puts this southern city on the global map.
Yet you must understand what you are stepping into climatically. The highland air hovers around a brisk seventeen degrees, and the mountain afternoon is far from dry, with steady, drenching showers that turn airborne cosmetic powder into a wet paste on your skin. Crowds are at the absolute limit of what the city can comfortably absorb, flights into the valley book out months ahead, and quiet wandering is entirely off the table. Come for January if you want an uninhibited, unrepeatable street party, but do not expect to see the surrounding peaks or enjoy an easy stroll.
Once the carnival stages are disassembled, the valley settles into months of persistent, heavy rainfall. As the seasons shift through March, April, and May, rain sweeps across the Atriz Valley in intense afternoon downpours that routinely turn steep downtown alleys into rushing flumes. The sun becomes a fleeting guest, peering through gray cloud banks for barely five hours a day before the sky closes down again.
These are months for retreating indoors with a hot cup of highland coffee or seeking shelter beneath the carved porticos around Plaza de Nariño. Galeras remains entirely blanketed in mist, visible only as an ominous shadow on the occasional clear dawn before the fog rolls over its crater rim. If you arrive now, you will feel the genuine, quiet rhythm of a southern working city unbothered by tourism, but outdoor excursions and crater viewpoints are consistently washed out by cold, thumping rain.
June marks the great turning point in the southern highlands. While the rain does not vanish overnight, the heavy afternoon deluges begin to fragment into shorter, manageable showers, and daily sunshine jumps considerably. The air stays delightfully crisp, holding steady around eighteen degrees in the daytime and dropping sharply at nightfall.
The city begins to shake off its rain-slicked inertia. Outdoor vendors reclaim the sidewalks, and the dramatic mountain rim surrounding the Atriz Valley emerges from the clouds for entire afternoons. June is not yet the driest time of year, but it offers a fresh, energizing atmosphere where you can navigate the city without clutching an umbrella at every corner.
This is Pasto at its undisputed finest. Beginning in July and peaking in August and September, the Andean storm patterns relent, dropping rainfall to its lowest levels of the year. The heavy ceiling of gray mist lifts to reveal crisp, cobalt skies and an astonishing nine hours of direct sunshine per day. Daytime temperatures nudge up to a comfortable nineteen degrees, and the air carries an invigorating, dry mountain freshness.
During these months, Galeras stands out in sharp, volcanic relief against the skyline, beckoning hikers and road travelers up into the high paramo. Walking between the historic churches and across Plaza de Nariño feels leisurely rather than hurried, and evening chills are crisp and dry rather than bone-gnawing and damp. Even with domestic travelers arriving for regional mid-year holidays, the city never feels choked the way it does during the January carnival. If your goal is to experience the raw beauty, food, and highland character of Nariño without battling downpours, book your ticket for August or September.
By October, the dry spell snaps abruptly. Moist air returns to the cordillera, ushering in the wettest, dark-skied quarter of the calendar year. November and December are particularly sodden, with December receiving the heaviest cumulative rainfall of any month in the valley, delivered in long, relentless downpours that keep the city under heavy umbrellas.
Despite the dreary weather, December sees crowds begin to surge as the holiday season unfolds and anticipation for the upcoming carnival starts to electrify the streets. Christmas lights trace the colonial facades, but navigating the mountain chill requires serious water-resistant layers. Unless you are arriving early to secure a foothold for the January festivities, these end-of-year months demand patience with gray skies, muddy roads, and relentless damp.