Weather in São Paulo in December

Shoulder season. December is shoulder season in São Paulo — cheaper, quieter, and a genuine gamble. You should expect rain on 22 days of the month, which is more days wet than dry.

December ranks 12 of 12 — near the bottom of São Paulo's year. August is the month that works, and the swing between the two is 26 points, which is a different holiday rather than a slightly better one.

Rain on 22 of the month's 31 days, 6 of them heavy. At that frequency a wet-weather backup is not a contingency, it is the itinerary — book the indoor things first and treat the clear days as the bonus. Nothing specialised needed — this is the month you pack for the trip rather than for the weather.

What the averages hide

Averages flatten a month, and this one hides a few things: 5 days top 30 °C — hot spells arrive, but they break. Across the twenty years measured, the hottest December day reached 34.3 °C and the coldest night fell to 10.5 °C, and the wettest single day dropped 60 mm — roughly 34% of the month's rain in one day.

December is statistically steady but not small: the year-to-year variation is modest in relative terms, yet the wettest December on record still delivered 296 mm against 85 mm in the driest. In a month this wet, even a tame spread is a lot of rain in absolute terms — the 177 mm average is a reasonable planning figure, not a promise.

Wind is light at 8.8 km/h, so the temperature on the page is close to the temperature on your skin, and humidity runs at 81%, high enough to notice on the warm days without dominating them.

How December sits in the year

Temperatures hold steady either side: 27.2 °C in November, 27.7 here, 27.2 in January. Nothing about the timing within the month matters much.

Daylight in December

December is at or near the longest days of São Paulo's year: 13.6 hours of daylight, holding steady all month. Evenings are the real gain — dinner outdoors still happens in full light.

An inland climate

Despite being inland, the year stays fairly even: 16.8 °C between the year's warmest afternoons and coldest nights. At 769 m the air is thin enough to matter — sun that burns faster than the temperature suggests, and nights that cool off quickly.

How busy it gets

Off season. The genuine off season: cheapest by a distance, with the caveat that some tours and restaurants close entirely.

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

December in São Paulo versus nearby

If São Paulo is one option among several, the nearby comparison is worth making. Curitiba is close enough to be a coin toss — within a degree on temperature, the same number of rain days. Rio de Janeiro is close enough to be a coin toss — within a degree on temperature, 2 days less rain.

So: December is a compromise. August is 26 points better and is what São Paulo is actually like at its best — worth moving the trip for if that is possible, and worth adjusting expectations for if it is not.

Every month in São Paulo

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