Climate averages 1991–2020
Calama weather
in March.
A warm, very dry month: the joint 5th warmest and the 10th driest of the year. Meets the pleasant-weather rule
Long-term climate patterns, not a forecast for a particular trip.
March is a warm month in Calama: daytime highs average 24.5°C and nights cool to about 7.7°C. By daytime temperature it is the joint 5th warmest of the 12 months.
Expect about 5.6 mm of rain on roughly 1 day, which makes March a very dry month (the 10th driest of the 12 months). Daylight, from sunrise to sunset, lasts about 12 h 14 min on an average March day.
The nearest other city in this atlas is Antofagasta (201 km away). In March its highs average 22.3°C, 2.2°C cooler than Calama, with 3.5 mm of rain.
Among the 40 cities listed in Chile, Calama ranks 20th of 40 for the warmest March highs and 13th of 40 for the driest March (rainfall, lowest first). The mean March high of those 40 cities is 23.9°C; Calama is 0.7°C warmer than that mean.
From March to April, average highs fall by 0.9°C to 23.6°C, and monthly rainfall falls from 5.6 mm to 2.0 mm.
The annual picture
March in context
Monthly rainfall
Average total · mmAverages from hourly ERA5 reanalysis data. Actual weather varies from year to year. How these numbers are calculated
Every month, side by side
Calama climate table
| Month | Average highHigh / low | Average low | Rainfall mm/month | Rain days ≥1 mm/day | Daylight hours/dayDaylight h/day |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 24.8°C9.5°C | 9.5°C | 8.7 | 2.3 | 13.313 h |
| February | 24.6°C9.4°C | 9.4°C | 11 | 2.7 | 12.913 h |
| March, selected | 24.5°C7.7°C | 7.7°C | 5.6 | 1.0 | 12.212 h |
| April | 23.6°C5.0°C | 5.0°C | 2.0 | 0.3 | 11.612 h |
| May | 21.8°C2.8°C | 2.8°C | 4.5 | 0.5 | 11.111 h |
| June | 20.6°C1.6°C | 1.6°C | 3.5 | 0.3 | 10.811 h |
| July | 20.3°C1.3°C | 1.3°C | 3.3 | 0.6 | 10.911 h |
| August | 21.9°C2.0°C | 2.0°C | 2.5 | 0.4 | 11.311 h |
| September | 23.3°C3.3°C | 3.3°C | 0.6 | 0.2 | 11.912 h |
| October | 24.5°C4.9°C | 4.9°C | 0.1 | 0.1 | 12.613 h |
| November | 25.0°C5.8°C | 5.8°C | 0.1 | 0.0 | 13.213 h |
| December | 25.2°C7.5°C | 7.5°C | 1.3 | 0.3 | 13.513 h |
Rainfall is the average of the 30 separate monthly totals. A rain day is a local calendar day with at least 1 mm of precipitation. Daylight is the calculated sunrise-to-sunset length, not measured sunshine.
Compare places
March in nearby cities
- Antofagasta in MarchChile · 201 kmHigh 22.3°C · Low 16.2°C · 3.5 mm rain
- Alto Hospicio in MarchChile · 272 kmHigh 24.2°C · Low 16.6°C · 1.2 mm rain
- Iquique (approximate) in MarchChile · 280 kmHigh 27.0°C · Low 20.1°C · 0.4 mm rain
- Tarija in MarchBolivia · 444 kmHigh 21.7°C · Low 13.6°C · 163 mm rain
- Potosí in MarchBolivia · 459 kmHigh 13.3°C · Low 4.0°C · 108 mm rain
- Arica in MarchChile · 465 kmHigh 26.6°C · Low 19.2°C · 3.8 mm rain
- San Ramón de la Nueva Orán in MarchArgentina · 477 kmHigh 27.3°C · Low 20.2°C · 185 mm rain
- Tacna in MarchPeru · 513 kmHigh 26.5°C · Low 18.0°C · 14 mm rain
Read the numbers correctly
Climate, not a promise.
These patterns help compare months. They cannot tell you the weather on a specific day of your trip.
Sources, method and limitsHow these numbers are made (what the highs, lows and rain days mean, the sources and the model cell used for Calama) is explained once on the Calama year overview and on the Sources, method and limits page.