El Calafate Sunshine Hours by Month

To truly understand a climate, we must look at its sunshine. This page shows the total number of hours of direct sunlight per month and the average hours per day in El Calafate, Santa Cruz, Argentina. Long-term data from 1990 to 2020 was used to calculate these averages.

Monthly hours of sunshine

Seasonal sunshine in El Calafate varies. It peaks at 257 hours in December and drops to 97 hours in July. The total annual amount of sun is 2156 hours.

Daily hours of sunshine

Seasonal changes in sunshine hours are quite obvious in El Calafate. While December receives considerable daily sunshine with up to 8.6 hours, June marks the darkest time of the year, where sunshine is scarce with only 3.2 hours of sunlight per day.

Average percent of sunshine

On average the sun shines 55% of the time during the day in November, the highest percentage of any month. July has the lowest percentage at 37%.

El Calafate enjoys an average of 2156 hours of sunshine annually. Let’s compare this with some popular tourist destinations:

In Lisbon, Portugal, there are approximately 2801 hours of sunshine annually, highlighting its warm and sunny Mediterranean climate.

In contrast, Reykjavík, Iceland, receives only about 1330 hours of sunshine per year, known for its frequently overcast and rainy skies.

Oslo, Norway, receives approximately 1690 hours of sunshine annually.

In Tokyo, Japan, the average annual sunshine is 1930 hours, with sunny periods between rainy seasons.

April, El Calafate’s wettest month, receives 71 mm (2.8 in) of rainfall and has a maximum daytime temperature of 10°C (50°F). During the driest month September you can expect a temperature of 7°C (45°F).

For more detailed insights into the city’s temperatures, check out our Temperature page. To explore more about precipitation patterns, visit our El Calafate Precipitation page.