Rio de Janeiro (Rio) weather in March

March in Rio de Janeiro: sweltering, soaked, with muggy air — fine if you can take 18 rainy days.

Updated September 2026 · climate normals from ERA5 reanalysis

Rio de Janeiro🇧🇷 Brazil · Southeast Brazil · Beach79
  1. 71Jan
  2. 73Feb
  3. 79Mar
  4. 83Apr
  5. 86May
  6. 86Jun
  7. 87Jul
  8. 83Aug
  9. 88Sep
  10. 78Oct
  11. 77Nov
  12. 75Dec

#7 of 12 months in Rio de Janeiro · #564 of 1413 destinations to visit in March · comfort 79/100 (tier B)

Days
32°C
Nights
24°C
Wet days
18
Sun
9.8 h
Humidity
78%
Daylight
12 h
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Photo: Arnaldo Silva · Pexels

What March is like in Rio de Janeiro

Hot and wet, with the sea at its warmest and the city recovering. The crowds have gone home.

sea warmshoulder

confidence: high

Traveller notes on Rio de Janeiro in March

Other months in Rio de Janeiro

Regulars call this the start of fall, meaningfully cooler and less humid than the January-March peak, sitting at the tail end of the rainy season - though they're candid Rio's own weather patterns are notoriously unpredictable, with forecasts here not particularly trustworthy even a few days out. Our row backs the still-warm, still-humid read, 29.3C reading as a hot 33C at 80 percent humidity, over 22C nights, with a real 104.4mm of rain across 12.1 days. Regulars are specific the sea itself never gets genuinely warm here, not even at the height of summer, so April's slightly cooler water isn't much of a departure from the norm. The sea sits at 25.3C. The record: 9.2 hours of sun, a 10.1 kph wind and AQI 85.
EndOfRainySeasonStillUnpredictable · April · 1 month ago · Read more on Tripadvisor ↗
Winter here is the clearer half of the year and regulars recommend it for exactly that: fewer wet days, quieter beaches, low-season prices, and days still warm enough to lie on the sand. Our row gives 26.9C by day reading as 28C, with 35.6mm of rain across 7.4 days - a third of what the summer brings. The catch is the evening, which drops to 18.9C and wants a layer, and the sun, which manages only 8.6 hours inside 10.8 of daylight, so the beach day is short. On the water they are blunt and our column agrees: at 23C the sea is cold here in any season. The record: humidity 79 percent, a 9.5 kph wind and AQI 84.
WinterIsTheDryOne · June · 1 month ago · Read more on Tripadvisor ↗
September opens the Rio spring and regulars sell it on two things at once: beach temperatures by day with comfortable nights, and beaches that are not crowded because this is low season. They put the month at 22 to 30C with little rain and some of the clearest blue skies of the year - useful when the thing you have come to see is on top of a mountain. Our row gives 28.5C reading as 31C, 59.9mm across 8.5 days and 9.1 hours of sun. The sea is cooler now at 23.3C. The record: 20.1C nights, humidity 74 percent, a 12.4 kph wind and AQI 70.
LowSeasonBlueSkies · September · 1 month ago · Read more on Tripadvisor ↗
Rio forum regulars call November one of the year's best months: late spring, “very hot (25-38°C), but not wet season yet,” with “sunny days with clean skies” and only occasional, rarely heavy showers. Rain is real but not a pattern-breaker — “very rare to see many rainy days in a row,” with a more typical week running clear days punctuated by evening storms rather than washed-out afternoons. Beach conditions get singled out as genuinely good this month, humidity still low compared to full summer, which is why regulars rate November alongside May as the pick of the year. Our record: 28°C days, 20.9°C nights, 17.6 rain days and a 25°C sea — warm and swimmable with real but not dominant rain, matching the “best of both seasons” read the forum gives November.
Tripadvisor community · November · 1 month ago · Read more on Tripadvisor ↗

Year-round notes are on Rio de Janeiro's overview. Add your own note from Rio de Janeiro's card on the map.

Rio de Janeiro climate normals — March

Daytime high32°C / 89°F🔥 sweltering
Nighttime low24°C / 75°F
Feels like (high)36°C / 97°F
Sea temperature27°C / 80°F😎 warm sea
Rainfall168 mm / 6.6 in⛈ soaked
Rainy days18 days
Humidity78%💦 very humid
Dew point23°C / 73°F
Sunshine9.8 h/day
Daylight12.2 h
Wind10 km/h / 6 mph
Air quality (US AQI)87🙂 moderate

Monthly averages from ERA5 reanalysis. AQI is the mean US Air Quality Index for the month.

Crowds in Rio de Janeiro in March

How busy the place itself is — school and mass holidays, the months an editor tagged, and how sought-after the weather makes them. Never part of the comfort score.

Shoulder seasonbetween the peaks, school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it

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Peak crowdsBusyShoulder seasonQuiet

Best months for Rio de Janeiro's weather

Ranked by this destination's own climate comfort score across the year — a different thing from how busy it gets (see Crowds above).

Fair weatherRio de Janeiro's weather doesn't swing hard through the year — comfort stays fairly steady in every month.

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What's on in Rio de Janeiro in March

Recurring seasonal events, natural spectacles, closures and holidays — curated and sourced.

  • Rule

    Corcovado timed tickets

    1 Jan – 31 DecBook early

    You reach the statue on the cog train or an authorised van, both sold as timed slots online, and the clear mornings after a storm sell out first. Turning up at Cosme Velho on the day rarely works. Source ↗

  • Season

    Warmest sea of the year

    15 Jan – 15 Apr · usuallySea warm enough

    The Atlantic off Ipanema and Copacabana holds its heat well past the summer crowds; the water is at its best in March, when the beaches have emptied.

  • Hazard

    Late-afternoon storms

    1 Dec – 31 Mar · usuallyFlood season

    Summer heat builds into heavy storms that arrive in the late afternoon and can flood the road tunnels and the north zone within an hour, then clear. Source ↗

What's on around the world in March →

Nearby, and something's on

Within 300 km of Rio de Janeiro — a day trip or a short hop — with something on this month. Never part of the comfort score.

Where is Rio de Janeiro?

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Rio de Janeiro in March — FAQ

Is March a good time to visit Rio de Janeiro?
March in Rio de Janeiro: sweltering, soaked, with muggy air — fine if you can take 18 rainy days. It ranks #7 of 12 months for Rio de Janeiro on SeasonMap's comfort score (79/100).
What is the weather like in Rio de Janeiro in March?
In March, Rio de Janeiro averages a daily high of 31.6°C and a low of 23.8°C, with about 168.3 mm of rain over roughly 18.2 rainy days.
What is the air quality in Rio de Janeiro in March?
Rio de Janeiro has a mean US Air Quality Index of about 87 in March.

Within 300 km: Ilha Grande's Sea warm enough to swim around 1 Dec – 30 Apr.