Ecuador
7 cities
Climate overview
Ecuador spans 1°27′N–5°00′S in equatorial South America with three mainland regions plus the Galápagos: the coastal Costa lowlands (Guayaquil, Manta), the Sierra running through the country as a double Andean cordillera with the stratovolcanoes Chimborazo (6,263 m, the point on Earth's surface farthest from Earth's centre), Cotopaxi, Tungurahua, Cayambe, and Sangay, and the Oriente Amazon basin sloping east into the rainforest. This produces extreme thermal-floor stratification and major Köppen regimes: tropical rainforest Af in the Oriente, tropical savanna Aw, hot semi-arid BSh and hot desert BWh on the southern coast (Santa Elena, Manabí), oceanic temperate Cfb in the Sierra valleys (Quito at 2,850 m, Cuenca, Loja), and tundra/ice ET/EF on the high stratovolcanoes; the Galápagos straddle the Equator with arid BWh / BSh at sea level cooled by the Humboldt and Cromwell currents.
Quito at 2,850 m has highs of 20–22°C and nights around 8–9°C year-round with about 1,100 mm rainfall distributed across two wet seasons; Guayaquil is warm tropical, with highs of 30–32°C and nights of 20–23°C, with about 1,200 mm concentrated January–April; Esmeraldas on the northern Pacific coast receives roughly 600 mm annually; the Oriente region is hot and receives over 3,000 mm; Chimborazo's summit maintains permanent glaciation; the Galápagos at sea level have highs of 26–31°C and nights of 20–23°C, with around 575 mm annually.
ENSO produces significant climate variations: strong El Niño events (1982–83, 1997–98, 2023) generate increased coastal rainfall and warm Pacific sea-surface temperatures, while La Niña episodes tend to bring drier conditions. The 2016 Pedernales earthquake and recurring volcanic activity at Cotopaxi and Tungurahua have affected regional populations. Andean glaciers have undergone rapid retreat, with Cotopaxi losing a large share of its ice cover since 1976. Galápagos coral bleaching events have been documented.
Our archive covers 7 Ecuadorian cities with daily ERA5 reanalysis data going back to 1940. The hottest July afternoons are in Portoviejo, with average highs around 29.2°C, while Cuenca has the coldest January nights, with average lows near 11.6°C. Comparing the last decade against the 1940–1970 baseline, mean temperatures across these cities have risen by about 1.4°C.
How the climate has shifted in Ecuador
Average across 7 cities with full ERA5 coverage: 1940–1970 baseline vs the last decade (2016–2025).
- Annual mean temperature
- 21.3°C→22.7°C
- Days above 30°C per year
- 43 days→83 days+40
- Frost days per year
- 0 days→0 days+0
- Tropical nights (≥20°C) per year
- 193 nights→240 nights+47
Warmest year in the record so far: 2023.
What's unusual right now
From a snapshot of the world's largest cities updated each hour. Today's mean temperature compared with each city's long-term average for the same calendar date (ERA5 climatology, 1940 onward). Last 30 days uses each city's rolling daily-mean vs its monthly average. Not a global ranking.