<p>Tropical climates usually aren't subject to typical extratropical seasons and are instead characterized by rainy/dry seasons.  However, if you define the &quot;summer&quot; and &quot;winter&quot; using the typical nothern/southern hemisphere convention, rather than by local vernacular in the region, then the answer is yes.  According to the <a href="https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/data-access/land-based-station-data/land-based-datasets/global-historical-climatology-network-monthly-version-4" rel="noreferrer">Global Historical Climatology Network–monthly (GHCNm) dataset</a>, a set of monthly climate summaries from thousands of weather stations around the world, there are areas in South America near the equator that appear to satisfy this condition. However, these places are really just warm all year long and have little difference in the hottest and coolest months.  See below images from <a href="https://twitter.com/Climatologist49/" rel="noreferrer">Brian Brettschneider</a>.  I think <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balsas,_Maranh%C3%A3o" rel="noreferrer">Balsas, Maranhao, Brazil</a> is a good candidate:</p>
<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/UZ25W.png" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/UZ25W.png" alt="warmest day of year" /></a></p>
<p>...</p>
<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/hFRhI.png" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/hFRhI.png" alt="coldest day of year" /></a></p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-07-04T03:56:45.353Z
Well, if it's the #1 warmest, then by definition it is also the #12 coldest.
f.thorpe
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-07-04T03:58:28.687Z
oh yes, it's simply redundant and I was trying to read more into it :-)
uhoh
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-07-04T06:43:12.490Z
Interesting that the coldest month is very consistent, with the clear dividing line, but the warmest month is not - presumably because the rainy season reduces temperatures in the “summer”, shifting the warmest month earlier (or later)?
Tim
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-07-04T14:47:44.360Z
@Tim Look at India, and to a lesser extent, the portion of Southeast Asia north of the equator. While north of the equator, the Indian subcontinent's and Southeast Asia's warmest month is March or April rather than July or August. The South Asia monsoon starts in June and lasts until September. The Sahel and Central America also have rainy seasons that prevent July and August from being the warmest months of the year. The Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) moves north and south and back again over the course of a year, and reaches its northernmost location in August.
David Hammen
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-07-05T13:38:02.453Z
Equatorial South America has a really bizarre "coldest month of the year".
RonJohn
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-07-06T12:21:19.510Z
Interesting that part of the Arctic has February colder than January, I'd expect the coldest day of the year to be earlier poleward due to the effect of the solar night.  Apparently the frozen Arctic Ocean (I suppose) is more important.  Why are the ice caps not applicable?
gerrit
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-07-06T12:36:38.360Z
@gerrit It's caused by the influence of Arctic Ocean which warms up slower than the land, whereas ice has a higher albedo than the ocean where more heat is being reflected. On Wikipedia this is also described under [seasonal lag](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seasonal_lag).
Toby Mak
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-07-06T13:29:21.683Z
@TobyMak Yes, apparently the seasonal lag due to the ocean wins over the effect of the solar night (on the map we can still see some small patches in Alaska and northeast Asia where January is coldest, all in the interior); I'm surprised that effect is so strong.  I do wonder why there's no data on the ice caps; surely Summit and various Antarctic science stations have at least a 15 year record (it seems the map is made from interpolated ground station measurements)?
gerrit
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-07-04T03:39:36.040Z
2021-07-05T21:47:20.513Z
2021-07-05T21:47:20.513Z
f.thorpe
<p>The temperate concepts of winter and summer don't quite apply to the tropics, the region between the Tropic of Capricorn and the Tropic of Cancer. That region experiences two maxima and two minima per year in terms of top of the atmosphere (TOA) insolation. The solstices mark the times at which TOA insolation is at a minimum at the equator. The equinoxes are when TOA insolation is at a maximum at the equator. At or near the equator, it is cloudiness and rainfall (or lack thereof) that dictate when the coolest and warmest months occur.</p>
<p>Cloudiness and rainfall can greatly reduce insolation and temperatures at the surface. The Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) provides a lot of cloudiness and rainfall in the tropics. The ITCZ moves north and south and back again over the course of a year. The northward motion of the ITCZ in Northern Hemisphere summer explains why the Sahel and Central America do not experience their highest temperatures in July or August.</p>
<p>The ITCZ reaches its northernmost location in those months. Coupling this with the fact that TOA insolation is at a minimum on the June solstice at the equator, it should not be surprising that parts of Brazil that are south of the equator experience their warmest temperatures in July or August.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-07-04T15:57:41.983Z
If you want a very bumpy ride, book an airplane flight that crosses the equator. Veering around an active region of the ITCZ might require a 1000 km long-cut. If that's the case, the pilot will fly over the ITCZ, and will try to skirt the very tallest thunderclouds that punch well into the stratosphere. But the pilot will not be able to completely avoid all of the updrafts and downdrafts.
David Hammen
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-07-04T17:31:01.593Z
"That region experiences two maxima and two minima per year in terms of top of the atmosphere (TOA) insolation." It's logical, but I never thought about it before. Thanks for the informative answer!
Eric Duminil
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-07-04T15:55:56.930Z
2021-07-04T15:55:56.930Z
David Hammen
<p>Under <a href="https://earthscience.stackexchange.com/a/22479/6031">this answer</a> there's a comment:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I am not aware of any location having its hottest temperature in winter...</p>
</blockquote>
<p>and for <em>mid-to-polar latitude folks specifically</em> we first learn that our summer is the hottest and as we get older we learn that half of the planet has summer during our winter, and that folks near the equator may have more complex weather patterns than summer=hot, winter=cold.</p>
<p><strong>Question:</strong> Are there some places near <em>but not on</em> the equator that are hottest in their winter and some that are hottest in their summer? Is there a map of this? Perhaps something indicating the hottest month of the year by color?</p>
<p>I can imagine in the South it will be January and in the North it will be July (or similar, but near the equator I'm expecting a more complicated pattern, but have no idea what it would look like.</p>

<meteorology><seasons>
Are there some places near the equator that are hottest in their winter and some that are hottest in their summer? Is there a map of this?
uhoh
# Are there some places near the equator that are hottest in their winter and some that are hottest in their summer? Is there a map of this?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2021-07-04)

Under [this answer](https://earthscience.stackexchange.com/a/22479/6031) there's a comment:

> I am not aware of any location having its hottest temperature in winter...

and for *mid-to-polar latitude folks specifically* we first learn that our summer is the hottest and as we get older we learn that half of the planet has summer during our winter, and that folks near the equator may have more complex weather patterns than summer=hot, winter=cold.

**Question:** Are there some places near *but not on* the equator that are hottest in their winter and some that are hottest in their summer? Is there a map of this? Perhaps something indicating the hottest month of the year by color?

I can imagine in the South it will be January and in the North it will be July (or similar, but near the equator I'm expecting a more complicated pattern, but have no idea what it would look like.

**Tags:** meteorology, seasons


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## 2 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2021-07-04. Score: 19

Tropical climates usually aren't subject to typical extratropical seasons and are instead characterized by rainy/dry seasons. However, if you define the "summer" and "winter" using the typical nothern/southern hemisphere convention, rather than by local vernacular in the region, then the answer is yes. According to the [Global Historical Climatology Network–monthly (GHCNm) dataset](https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/data-access/land-based-station-data/land-based-datasets/global-historical-climatology-network-monthly-version-4), a set of monthly climate summaries from thousands of weather stations around the world, there are areas in South America near the equator that appear to satisfy this condition. However, these places are really just warm all year long and have little difference in the hottest and coolest months. See below images from [Brian Brettschneider](https://twitter.com/Climatologist49/). I think [Balsas, Maranhao, Brazil](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balsas,_Maranh%C3%A3o) is a good candidate:

[![warmest day of year](https://i.sstatic.net/UZ25W.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/UZ25W.png)

...

[![coldest day of year](https://i.sstatic.net/hFRhI.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/hFRhI.png)

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Well, if it's the #1 warmest, then by definition it is also the #12 coldest.  
> **username_0**: oh yes, it's simply redundant and I was trying to read more into it :-)  
> **username_2**: Interesting that the coldest month is very consistent, with the clear dividing line, but the warmest month is not - presumably because the rainy season reduces temperatures in the “summer”, shifting the warmest month earlier (or later)?  
> **username_3**: @username_2 Look at India, and to a lesser extent, the portion of Southeast Asia north of the equator. While north of the equator, the Indian subcontinent's and Southeast Asia's warmest month is March or April rather than July or August. The South Asia monsoon starts in June and lasts until September. The Sahel and Central America also have rainy seasons that prevent July and August from being the warmest months of the year. The Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) moves north and south and back again over the course of a year, and reaches its northernmost location in August.  
> **username_4**: Equatorial South America has a really bizarre "coldest month of the year".  
> **username_5**: Interesting that part of the Arctic has February colder than January, I'd expect the coldest day of the year to be earlier poleward due to the effect of the solar night.  Apparently the frozen Arctic Ocean (I suppose) is more important.  Why are the ice caps not applicable?  
> **username_6**: @username_5 It's caused by the influence of Arctic Ocean which warms up slower than the land, whereas ice has a higher albedo than the ocean where more heat is being reflected. On Wikipedia this is also described under [seasonal lag](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seasonal_lag).  
> **username_5**: @username_6 Yes, apparently the seasonal lag due to the ocean wins over the effect of the solar night (on the map we can still see some small patches in Alaska and northeast Asia where January is coldest, all in the interior); I'm surprised that effect is so strong.  I do wonder why there's no data on the ice caps; surely Summit and various Antarctic science stations have at least a 15 year record (it seems the map is made from interpolated ground station measurements)?  

---

### Answer by username_3 on 2021-07-04. Score: 6

The temperate concepts of winter and summer don't quite apply to the tropics, the region between the Tropic of Capricorn and the Tropic of Cancer. That region experiences two maxima and two minima per year in terms of top of the atmosphere (TOA) insolation. The solstices mark the times at which TOA insolation is at a minimum at the equator. The equinoxes are when TOA insolation is at a maximum at the equator. At or near the equator, it is cloudiness and rainfall (or lack thereof) that dictate when the coolest and warmest months occur.

Cloudiness and rainfall can greatly reduce insolation and temperatures at the surface. The Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) provides a lot of cloudiness and rainfall in the tropics. The ITCZ moves north and south and back again over the course of a year. The northward motion of the ITCZ in Northern Hemisphere summer explains why the Sahel and Central America do not experience their highest temperatures in July or August.

The ITCZ reaches its northernmost location in those months. Coupling this with the fact that TOA insolation is at a minimum on the June solstice at the equator, it should not be surprising that parts of Brazil that are south of the equator experience their warmest temperatures in July or August.

> **Comments:**
> **username_3**: If you want a very bumpy ride, book an airplane flight that crosses the equator. Veering around an active region of the ITCZ might require a 1000 km long-cut. If that's the case, the pilot will fly over the ITCZ, and will try to skirt the very tallest thunderclouds that punch well into the stratosphere. But the pilot will not be able to completely avoid all of the updrafts and downdrafts.  
> **username_7**: "That region experiences two maxima and two minima per year in terms of top of the atmosphere (TOA) insolation." It's logical, but I never thought about it before. Thanks for the informative answer!  

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