Weather

I’ve only been to Quito once, so I can’t speak in detail to year round weather patterns. There isn’t much temperature fluctuation in Quito throughout the year - it’s sort of like San Francisco, where it’s in the low 60s all the time. However, there are weather patterns that vary by season, and to be honest, I was very unprepared for the specifics in the fall!

October through November (maybe December?) in Quito

On a given day during this season, you’ll probably get a beautiful sunny morning followed by hail (not a typo) around 1pm that turns into a downpour. The rain lightens after an hour or two but continues through the late afternoon - around 5:30 or 6. The precipitation then stops around dinner time. Lather, rinse, repeat. The hail really surprised us! We had planned to just use our rain jackets that we already needed for the Amazon in Quito, but with hail happening regularly, an umbrella would have been a better choice. You can buy an umbrella from street vendors (they’ll be shouting “paraguas!”) in Old Town Quito - we were just stubborn!

So, if you visit Quito at this time of year, plan to get up early to maximize the nice weather. Use your mornings for wandering around Old Town (save a couple church tours or a museum for the afternoon), the Teleferiqo, El Mitad del Mundo, or other outdoor activities. Also, if (really, when) you see the first few hail stones, I humbly suggest you beeline inside. It gets heavy quite quickly.

All 5 of the photos above were taken on the same day in Quito.

Summer in Quito

We learned from a taxi driver that in the summer, it’s cold for 2 hours in the morning (6-8? 8-10?) due to wind, and then again for a couple hours at night. Nice the rest of the day.