🇭🇹Haiti

Haiti occupies the western third of Hispaniola between 18°02′ and 20°06′N in the Greater Antilles, covering approximately 27,750 km² and sharing the island with the Dominican Republic to the east. The terrain is dominated by a rugged mountain backbone including the Massif de la Selle rising to Pic la Selle at 2,680 m—the country's highest peak—the Massif de la Hotte with Pic Macaya at 2,347 m, the Chaîne des Matheux, the Massif du Nord, and the long Tiburon southern and Nord-Ouest peninsulas separated by the Gulf of Gonâve.

The central Plaine du Cul-de-Sac hosts the capital Port-au-Prince at sea level on a major strike-slip fault. The climate is tropical maritime, with tropical savanna Aw prevailing on the leeward southern and Cul-de-Sac coasts, tropical monsoon Am and rainforest Af on the wetter windward northern slopes, and tropical highland Cwb above approximately 1,000 m.

Port-au-Prince averages 25°C in January and 29°C in July with 1,350 mm of rainfall concentrated in two seasons from April to May and August to October. Cap-Haïtien on the wet north coast is slightly cooler at 25°C in winter and 28°C in summer with 1,420 mm spread from March to November, while Jacmel on the south coast records 24°C in January and 28°C in July with 1,330 mm annually.

The high mountain interior including Forêt des Pins and Pétion-Ville is significantly cooler, with annual mean temperatures of 17 to 20°C and the highest peaks occasionally dropping below 5°C. The Cul-de-Sac valley is exceptionally dry at around 1,000 mm.

Haiti sits squarely in the Atlantic hurricane belt and has been struck repeatedly by severe storms including Hurricane Hazel in 1954, the severe 2004 floods, Hurricane Jeanne in September 2004 that inundated Gonaïves, the severe Category-4 Hurricane Matthew in October 2016 that made a direct hit on the Tiburon Peninsula killing over 1,000 people, and Hurricane Irma in 2017. Severe deforestation leaving only 1.5% forest cover has amplified every flood and landslide, while intensifying multi-year droughts and recurrent severe coral bleaching are central climate concerns.

Our archive covers 12 Haitian cities with daily ERA5 reanalysis data going back to 1940. The warmest July averages occur in Port-au-Prince, around 32.8°C, while Pétionville records the coldest January nights near 18.7°C. Comparing the last decade against the 1940–1970 baseline, mean temperatures across these cities have risen by about 1.1°C.