In Bogota it rains a lot, kind of like in San Francisco. The weather can change 15 times a day, but the temp usually varies only between about 50 degrees F and 75 degrees F, no matter the time of year. The general rule is cool in the morning, clear and warm in the early afternoon, then cloudy and cool again at night.
Rain can come almost any day, and usually happens in the late afternoon and early, early morning (before 6AM). But there are two rainy seasons, when it’s also generally a little cooler than at other times. Bogotanos call these seasons winter–any time the weather is less pleasant is referred to as “winter.”
The rainy seasons are basically October-November and again in March-April. Everybody says these seasons used to be very predictable, but these days you never know–when the rains will come, how long they will last, how severe they will be–who knows? But during the rainy season you can count on a late afternoon downpour just about daily, and sometimes it will be just beating down, but it doesn’t usually last much more than an hour, and often is much shorter.
I’ve been out on a bright sunny day, far from home, and had the weather change within a minute to cold, hard rain. One of the worst days I had was on a bicycle in ciclovia, far rom home, when it started pouring. Ciclovia ended, so traffic poured onto the streets, and I had to ride home on the bike lanes, which are on the sidewalks, with the problem that the rain was so hard there were flash floods all over, I couldn’t see the sidewalk or the potholes that abound. Drainage isn’t too great in Bogota, and even where it’s adequate, the rains can come so hard and fast that flooding just can’t be helped.
I’ve learned that there’s almost no time when carrying an umbrella would not be a good idea, just in case. Of course, if you’re out in the city, the umbrella salesmen spring up out of the pavement at the first drop, if they weren’t already there.
You should almost never pay more than $15,000 pesos for an umbrella on the street, by the way, and usually more like $10,000. The gringo tax (to be explained later) is in effect on the street, unless you fight against it.
After the rain, it’s always fresh and clean, though–that’s the nice part.
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