🇵🇾Paraguay

Paraguay lies entirely landlocked between 19° and 28°S in the heart of South America, spanning approximately 406,752 km² divided starkly by the Paraguay River into two profoundly different regions: the humid subtropical eastern region (Región Oriental), comprising roughly 40% of the territory, with Atlantic Forest remnants and 1,300–1,700 mm of annual rainfall, and the vast semiarid western Gran Chaco (Región Occidental), covering 60% of the country, with thorn forest and scrubland, fierce summer heat, and only 500–1,000 mm of rainfall concentrated in the November–April wet season. Topography is predominantly flat to gently rolling plains, with most of the east below 300 m and the Chaco sloping gently eastward toward the Paraguay River.

Asunción at 25°S on the eastern bank of the Paraguay River has January highs of 34°C with nights near 23°C and July highs of 22°C with lows near 14°C, with roughly 1,400 mm of rain distributed year-round but peaking November–March, plus oppressive summer humidity. Ciudad del Este in the far east near Iguazú Falls has January highs of about 33°C and July highs of 23°C with lows near 11°C, with over 1,700 mm.

Encarnación on the Paraná River records similar temperatures with 1,750 mm. The Gran Chaco interior around Mariscal Estigarribia endures extreme conditions: January highs averaging about 36°C with nights near 23°C, July highs of about 27°C with lows near 13°C, and only about 760 mm annually, with absolute maxima reaching 45–47°C.

The severe 2019–2021 drought in the Paraná basin drove the Paraná River to its lowest level in 77 years, disrupting river navigation. The severe late September–early October 2020 Asunción heatwave reached 42.8°C.

Recurrent massive wildfires in Paraguay during 2019–2020, concentrated in the Chaco, burned over 2 million hectares a year, fueled by severe drought and deforestation. The severe 1982–83 El Niño floods in the Paraná River basin inundated vast areas, affecting about 85,000 people in Paraguay. Chaco deforestation is among the fastest in the world: in 2001–2019 Paraguay's deforestation rate was the second highest in South America after Brazil's.

Our archive covers 6 Paraguayan cities with daily ERA5 reanalysis data going back to 1940. The hottest July afternoons are in San Lorenzo, with average highs around 22.7°C, while Ciudad del Este has the coldest January nights, with average lows near 22.4°C. Comparing the last decade against the 1940–1970 baseline, mean temperatures across these cities have risen by about 0.8°C.