Peru - weather in March

March in Peru is the last month of summer, and it is the hottest of the year in the northernmost part of the coast.
In the east, in the Amazon forest (see Iquitos, Pucallpa, Puerto Maldonado), March is a hot, muggy and rainy month.
In the Andes (see Cajamarca, Cusco, Machu Picchu), where the temperature varies with altitude, we are in the warmest and rainiest period of the year. However, the rains are not particularly abundant, on the contrary, in the extreme south, near the Atacama desert (see Arequipa, Tacna), they are scarce or completely absent. Despite the period, at the highest altitudes it gets cold at night, and especially in the south and above 3,500 meters (11,500 feet), the temperature can drop below freezing (see Juliaca).
On the low-altitude desert plateau between the Andes and the coast (see Ica, Nazca), around 500 meters (1,650 feet), it is hot, and rainfall is very rare or completely absent.
On the coast, where the climate is arid or desert due to the cool Humboldt current, March is a hot and muggy month only in the extreme north (see Tumbes), while in the rest of the coast (see Trujillo, Lima, Pisco, Marcona) is warm but without excesses and quite sunny (although mists and clouds can form in the morning). The rains are completely absent in most of the coast, except in the extreme north.
However, in El Niño years, the northern part of the coast, up to the Lambayeque region, becomes hotter and rainier, and when the phenomenon is most intense, it becomes fully tropical, with abundant rains.

The sea is warm enough for swimming in the north (see Tumbes, Talara, Piura) and all in all also in the extreme south (see Mollendo, Ilo), while in the central part, especially in the stretch from Lima to Marcona, it is a little cooler, because the effects of the Humboldt current are felt more.
However, the sea gets warmer than usual in El Niño years, while it gets cooler in La Niña years.




See also: Peru, the weather in February - April
The climate of Peru