CLIMATE

The majority of the Dominican Republic enjoys beautifull tropical weatherall year round, with the average annual temperature hovering around 25°C degres (77° F). Some call the Dominican Republic's climate, "the endless summer", due to warm and sunny conditions experienced pretty much everywhere in the country, all year round.

There are slight variations between the summer and winter months. The so-called "cool" or winter season, runs from November to April. The humidity is relatively low during these months and it tends to cool down in the evenings much more than in the summer months. The coastal/beach regions generally experience highs of around 28°C (83°F) during the day and lows of about 20°C (68°F) in the evening. These mountainous interior of the country is considerably cooler, and on the highest mountain peaks the thermometer can sometimes drop below freezing point. On rare occasions frost can even be seen on the top of these peaks. The summer season in the Dominican Republic runs from May to October. Average daily highs for the coastal/beach regions rise to around 31°C (87°F) during the day, dropping down to about 22°C (72°F) at night. It is the higher humidity during this period that can nake it feel much hotter during this season.

Regardless of season, the coolest areas of the country is the Cordillera Central mountain region, around Jarabacoa and Constanza, where the average highs can hover around 16°C (61°F). The desert regions in the southwest of the country experience the highest average temperatures, at times soaring to over 40°C (104°F). The northern areas of the Dominican Republic experience their greatest rainfall between May and November. Torrential downpour-like conditions can certainly occur in all areas of the Dominican Republic but the majority of this type of rainfall occurs in short bursts. Other than major storms that may move through a particular region, most showers are short-lived and have the sun shining brightly within a half hour.

The differences between the summer and winter seasons are not always consistent. Regardless of what is "typical", the Dominican Republic, like anywhere, can experience abnormal weather patterns - weeks without any rain at all, whileother times there are patches of rainy and overcast weather for a several days at a time. But more often than not, visitors to the Dominican Republic can generally expect long periods of sunshine and blue skies, at any time of the year.

Dominican Republic is located in an area where hurricanes can occur. Officialy, the Carribean hurricane season ruens from beginnig of June to the end of November. Historically, most hurricane activity in the Dominican Republic's part of the Carribean has taken place in the months of August and September.

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