Weather in Maceió in December

A good month. December works. It is not the peak, but nothing about it fights you. Highs average 30.5 °C, lows 25.1 °C, and rain falls on 7 days — nothing in the month is working against you.

December ranks 4 of 12 in Maceió: past the worst of the year but short of October, which is the month to book if the dates are open.

Rain on 7 days, 0 of them heavy. Enough to need a plan B, not enough to need a plan around it. Pack for 30.5 °C days and 25.1 °C nights; the spread matters more here than any single number.

What the averages hide

Averages flatten a month, and this one hides a few things: 23 days top 30 °C, making the heat continuous rather than occasional; the day barely swings — 5.4 °C between the overnight low and the afternoon high. Across the twenty years measured, the hottest December day reached 33.8 °C and the coldest night fell to 23.5 °C, and the wettest single day dropped 26 mm — roughly 90% of the month's rain in one day.

December is moderately variable: 6 mm in the driest year against 66 mm in the wettest, around an average of 29 mm. Roughly two Decembers in three land near that average, and the third does something else entirely.

Wind sits around 16.4 km/h — a steady breeze rather than a nuisance, and welcome on the warmer days, and humidity is unremarkable at 72%.

How December sits in the year

Temperatures hold steady either side: 30.1 °C in November, 30.5 here, 30.3 in January. Nothing about the timing within the month matters much. Rain is the thing that moves: January brings 7 days more of it, so the earlier half of a flexible trip is the safer half.

Daylight in December

Maceió sits close enough to the equator that daylight barely moves all year — 12.7 hours in December, against a range of just 1.1 hours across the whole calendar. Sunrise and sunset land at roughly the same time whenever you come.

Sea temperature

The sea sits at about 27.5 °C in December — warm enough that the water offers no relief from the heat. The sea peaks at 28.7 °C in April and bottoms out at 26.2 °C — water lags the air by a month or two, which is why the best swimming often comes after the best weather.

How busy it gets

Peak season. Expect the highest prices of the year and to be booking well ahead. If the dates are flexible, August is the trade worth considering — 11 points weaker on weather, and materially quieter.

Crowd levels are estimated from climate desirability and school-holiday calendars, not from visitor numbers.

December in Maceió versus nearby

If Maceió is one option among several, the nearby comparison is worth making. Recife is close enough to be a coin toss — within a degree on temperature, 2 days more rain. Salvador is the weaker option in December — within a degree on temperature, 3 days more rain.

So: December is effectively as good as it gets here — 3 points behind October, which is inside the margin where the weather stops being the deciding factor and price starts being it.

Every month in Maceió

See all twelve months in Maceió, or where else to go in December.