🇨🇴Colombia

Colombia spans 4°13′S–13°23′N as the only South American country with both Caribbean and Pacific coasts, dominated by the three-pronged Andes — Cordillera Occidental, Central, and Oriental — running south to north and rising to 5,775 m at Pico Cristóbal Colón in the isolated Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta.

This produces extreme thermal-floor stratification: tierra caliente below 1,000 m, templada 1,000–2,000 m, fría 2,000–3,000 m, páramo and ice above. Köppen regimes include equatorial rainforest Af in the Pacific Chocó and Amazon basin (among the wettest regions on Earth), tropical savanna Aw across the Llanos and Caribbean lowlands, oceanic temperate Cfb in the Andean highlands (Bogotá, Medellín), and tundra or ice-cap ET/EF on the high cordilleras and the few remaining tropical glaciers.

Bogotá at 2,640 m averages 14°C year-round with 800 mm of rain; Medellín at 1,500 m enjoys a balmy eternal spring at 22°C; Cali is tropical at 24°C; Cartagena is hot Caribbean at 28°C with 1,000 mm; Quibdó in the Chocó receives 8,000–13,000 mm annually, ranking among the wettest spots on Earth. Leticia in the southern Amazon records 26°C with 3,200 mm; the Llanos savanna experiences a sharp April–November wet season.

ENSO produces marked inter-annual rainfall variations across Colombia, driving alternating wet and dry periods. Strong El Niño events generate drought conditions and reduced Pacific coastal rainfall, as recorded in 2010 and 2015, while strong La Niña events generate increased flooding and trigger mass movement events, including major mudslides in the Mocoa region during 2010–2011 and again in 2017.

The Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) and Caribbean low-level jet establish Colombia's regional rainfall patterns. Andean glaciers have undergone significant retreat since 1980, losing over 60 percent of their ice-covered area. Ongoing coastal erosion affects settlements including Cartagena and numerous communities in the Pacific lowlands.

Our archive covers 1 Colombian cities with daily ERA5 reanalysis data going back to 1940. The warmest July averages occur in Bogotá, around 16.1°C, while Bogotá records the coldest January nights near 8.6°C. Comparing the last decade against the 1940–1970 baseline, mean temperatures across these cities have risen by about 1°C.