Costa Rica is inside the tropical zone marked by plus or minus 23 1/2 degrees of the equator. This gives it a different set of seasons than the four of the north and south hemesphere. The tilt of the earth as it rovolves around the sun does play the main role as in the north and south. Costa Rica is between 8 degrees and 11 degrees north.
Costa Rica contains many mountains (volcanoes). Your elevation influences your sourounding temperature and humidity. If the temperature is 82 ° at the beach, it could be 70 ° at 1600 feet, 66 ° at 2600 feet, 58° at 3600 feet, 54 ° at 6000 feet, and 46° at 9000 feet. So if you are in San Jose feeling very hot and plan on going up to see a volcano, you my need to bring your jacket. Unless temperatures in the 40's sound very good to you. There are even hotels higher up in elevation for you to spend some time. So not only can you escape the cold of winter in Costa Rica, you can also escape the heat of summer if you stay out of the valleys.
The rainy season starts in May and lasts until December. The dry season is January to April. The Pacific coast has rain during rainy season. This includes San Jose. The Atlantic coast is reversed. It is "dry" during rainy season. "Dry" is a relative term. The trade winds and mountains are what enable one coast to be dry while the other is wet.
The tempurature in San Jose averages about 70°. The average monthly rainfalls are less than 1 inch per month for January through March. November, December and April have less than 10 inches. September and October average around 16 inches. This is all for San Jose 1886 to 1888.
San Jose in July; rains builds quickly but the skys quickly return to sunny.
A beautiful morning in the Poas mountains (volcano) of Costa Rica. This is a coffee plantation town.
Coffe grows under the mountain sun in Costa Rica.
Looking down from the mountains at rain. In this case, the rain never made it up the mountain.
Rain comes down hard in San Jose.
Rain comes fast and hard in Costa Rica. The weather can go from sunny to rain to sunny in a matter of hours.
People in Costa Rica are always ready with umbrellas and rain gear with the weather turns wet.
