🇨🇼Curaçao

Curaçao lies at 12°10′N as a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, approximately 65 km off the Venezuelan coast in the southern Caribbean (Leeward Antilles). The island covers 444 km² of low rolling limestone tableland rising to Sint Christoffelberg at 372 m in western Christoffelpark. It experiences a hot semi-arid (BSh) climate with arid (BWh) patches on the southwestern coast, atypically dry for a Caribbean island because persistent ENE trade winds shed moisture before reaching the southern latitudes and Venezuelan coastal aridity influences the region.

Willemstad averages 26°C in January and 29°C in September with only around 550 mm rainfall sharply concentrated in an October–December rainy fringe linked to late-season tropical waves. Daily maxima rarely exceed 33°C thanks to constant trade-wind ventilation. Relative humidity is moderate at 75% by Caribbean standards.

The island lies south of the main Atlantic hurricane belt and direct hits are rare, with Hurricane Tomas (2010) and Tropical Storm Bret (2017) among few notable strikes. ENSO and Caribbean SST anomalies modulate the rainy season. Freshwater scarcity is structural — Curaçao relies almost entirely on desalination. Sea-level rise and coral bleaching threaten northern and eastern coasts.

Our archive covers 1 Curaçaoan cities with daily ERA5 reanalysis data going back to 1940. The warmest July averages occur in Willemstad, around 27°C, while Willemstad records the coldest January nights near 24.8°C. Comparing the last decade against the 1940–1970 baseline, mean temperatures across these cities have risen by about 0.7°C.