Lonely Planet™ · Thorn Tree Forum · 2020

type of rainny days

Country forums / Central America / Guatemala

Hello! Im arriving to guatemala in 4 days and i've been checking out the weather forecast and they put rain every single day till the end of the month. Does it mean the sun wont show up there neither a few minutes on between rains? What i mean is, when it rains there, is it rainning non stop from morning till night? (Like in europe) Or perhaps there's some heavy rain here and there and in between its sunny? Checking in the internet is a bit depressing cause honestly the rain symbol is the only thing appearing for every day. Also, do u know any realiable website i could check out? Thank u very much!!

go back and look at it again. pay attention to the percents. Typically they are talking about thunderstorms which are the same the world over, short lived events.

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It depends on where you're staying but in our experience the mornings are usually clear and beautiful and the rain can start sometime in the afternoon or evening. The exception is when a tropical depression/storm or hurricane passes over or nearby and can dump extra moisture. You can watch for that here: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/

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Try to find a website that gives you an overview of what the day looks like. But of course October is still the rainy season and November is the start of the dry season. Although this year with El Nino I read Guatemala has been too dry...
I have had great weather early November. Still a few showers and some muddy hikes but lots of sun.
Maybe this website helps: https://weatherspark.com/#!dashboard;q=antigua%20guatemala

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The previous answers are correct for typical years, but this year has not been typical. This year is looking like a few years ago when it was overcast every day -- the sun might appear for a few hours every day or we'd get a sunny day every few days. However, although overcast, it didn't rain heavily every day. Often it would rain on & off during the day, and occasionally it would rain all day. That's life!

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You are traveling in the rainy season in the tropics. Take an umbrella. Its gonna rain. But hey, its tropical rain!

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In the the tropics the weather is chance of rain everyday till Dec,,,but the weatherman is at the beach...

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We live in Antigua, so take this as only applicable to that area. Antigua sits in a valley so we very commonly see storms pass right around our city when the surrounding areas are getting soaked. Many times the forecast has sounded full of dreary doom - 95% or 100% chance of rain - and we get absolutely nothing. Mornings are almost always clear and pleasant. When it rains the temperature cools off nicely, so my favorite thing is to go out walking after a rainstorm.

Just because you see rain forecast every day doesn't mean that will be the reality at all. Yesterday we were supposed to be getting a huge amount of rain, and I think it sprinkled for a few minutes and that was that.

I use this site for our weather forecast: http://www.wunderground.com/cgi-bin/findweather/getForecast?query=14.55854130,-90.73902130&sp=ISACATEP4&MR=1

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Have traveled many times in Guat in rainy season. Bring a nice light weight pancho with you at all times so your are prepared. It can be a short rain or a heavy long one you just never know. i got trapped in a restaurant once for hours in Antigua while a deluge occurred. The streets just ran with a river of water. We just ate and drank more. At last it let up.

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Thank u very much!! I guess i am prepared to get some rain and cloudy skies, but i hope it isnt overcast day after day like in europe in this season, it gets a bit depressing sometimes. In any case im not changing my flight, and im eager to discover Guatemala!

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the first step to avoiding rain is to not go during rainy season.

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Take seasonal weather predictions/trends with a grain of salt. I was once chased by cool rainy weather from Honduras to Belize for a week in January. I couldnt take it anymore so invoked weather underground which informed weather in interior Guatemala to be superior thus I departed for parts west. Another time I went to Nicaragua in Sept-Oct and it didnt rain drop one. So there you have it.

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I am currently in Guatemala and we are having heavy rains for the next couple of days due to a tropical depression.

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Rainy season is overrated. I would not worry about it, but that is good that you are doing a lot of research ahead of time.

If you can, you may want to bring some waterproof hiking boots with you and a light rain jacket. Umbrellas can be purchased from 15 quetzals and up all over the place. You can even get an emergency rain poncho for only 5q or maybe less from many tiny stores if you get caught in a storm unexpectedly. Guatemala does not have monsoons or Noah's Ark type of flooding, for the most part. However, the weather anywhere is unpredictable. South Carolina in the USA just had rain and flooding that was supposedly the worst in a thousand years.

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Seal with white background October 19, 2015

The U.S. Embassy reports that the Guatemalan disaster relief agency, CONRED (Coordinadora Nacional para la Reducción de Desastres), has declared an Institutional Orange Alert due to heavy rains and the danger of continued flooding and landslides. The Orange Alert indicates that CONRED is expecting, and prepared to deploy disaster response resources. CONRED advises the public to avoid all travel by road, if not urgent. The low pressure systems in both coastal zones may cause more raining for the next 48 or 72 hours especially for the south, west and central areas of Guatemala. The road between Solola and Panajachel is also experiencing unusually heavy flow in waterfalls which may completely obstruct both lanes and has resulted in several landslides. There has also been a landslide at Km. 39.9 on the road from Antigua towards San Lucas. The Guatemalan Ministry of Education has ordered all public schools closed from October 19 to 23 to protect the safety of the students.

The U.S. Embassy recommends that all U.S. citizens continue to monitor the situation through the CONRED website and local media reports. For up to date reports on traffic conditions in English and Spanish, U.S. citizens may also refer to INGUAT (the Guatemalan Tourist Agency) at http://www.inguat.gob.gt, 2421-2810 or 1500. All U.S. citizens should review their emergency preparedness and keep on hand emergency phone numbers, including the Guatemalan CONRED 24 hour hotline 1566.

For further information:

See the State Department's travel website for the Worldwide Caution, Travel Warnings, Travel Alerts, and Country Specific Information.

Enroll in the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP) to receive security messages and make it easier to locate you in an emergency.

Contact the U.S. Embassy in Guatemala, located at Avenida Reforma 7-01, Zona 10, Guatemala Ciudad, Guatemala, at +502-2326-4000, 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 8:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Friday. After-hours emergency number for U.S. citizens is +502-2331-2354.

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Like i said, we are having some heavy rains right now.

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Dang... heck of a day to be arriving. Some of the worst flooding in a while throughout the country and more forecast for the week. Looks like few places left untouched. Maybe a good time to splurge on a fancy hotel in GC and break out the wine and Netflix.

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that rain was not "overrated" on my opinion.

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