Rainy Season in the Dominican Republic: Month by Month
Quick answer: The Dominican Republic’s rain is spread more thinly through the year than most of the Caribbean — Punta Cana’s whole year is 883 mm (34.8 in) — so it has a wetter half rather than a wet season. The heaviest stretch is August to November: 126 mm (5.0 in) in September and 118 mm (4.6 in) in November, against 36 mm (1.4 in) in February, the one month the rule here counts as dry.
Pick a destination to see its weather month by month and the best time to go, or pick a month to see where the weather is at its best.
Tokyo · a city trip
Good: Mar–May, Oct–DecNo month is ideal for a city trip by our rule, but these come close.
- Warmest
- Aug · 89°F
- Coolest
- Jan · 49°F
- Wettest
- Jul · 16 rain days
- Averages for 2006–2025: any single year can be hotter, colder or wetter.
Weather from NASA POWER daily data, 2006–2025, for the ~50 km area around each place. Right on the coast, afternoons can be a few degrees warmer than shown.
| Month | High / low (°F) | Rain days | Rain (in) | Storms within 100 mi | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 49° / 34° | 5 | 2.4 | Off (too cold) | |
| Feb | 51° / 35° | 7 | 3.1 | Off (too cold) | |
| Mar | 57° / 40° | 12 | 5.1 | Good (cool, showery) | |
| Apr | 65° / 48° | 12 | 6 | Good (showery) | |
| May | 73° / 58° | 13 | 6.6 | Good (showery) | |
| Jun | 79° / 65° | 16 | 8.1 | Off (too wet) | |
| Jul | 86° / 73° | 16 | 6.5 | Off (too wet) | |
| Aug | 89° / 75° | 15 | 5.4 | Off (too hot) | |
| Sep | 82° / 70° | 16 | 8.7 | Off (too wet) | |
| Oct | 72° / 59° | 14 | 8.9 | Good (showery) | |
| Nov | 63° / 48° | 11 | 4.4 | Good (showery) | |
| Dec | 54° / 39° | 7 | 3.2 | Good (cool) |
The tool above opens on Punta Cana: change the place or the month to yours, or compare Puerto Plata and Santo Domingo. Below, the Dominican Republic month by month — rain, rain days and how warm it is.
the Dominican Republic month by month
Average rainfall and the number of days with at least 1 mm of rain, 2006–2025. On this page a month counts as wet when it gets more rain than an average month in that place (more than a twelfth of its year), and dry when it gets less than half an average month. The months in between are the shoulder.
| Month | Punta Cana | Puerto Plata | Santo Domingo | Punta Cana: rain |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 10 days — shoulder | 12 days — shoulder | 8 days — dry | 41 mm (1.6 in) |
| February | 8 days — dry | 9 days — shoulder | 7 days — shoulder | 36 mm (1.4 in) |
| March | 8 days — wet | 10 days — shoulder | 7 days — dry | 76 mm (3.0 in) |
| April | 10 days — shoulder | 10 days — shoulder | 10 days — shoulder | 51 mm (2.0 in) |
| May | 16 days — wet | 18 days — wet | 13 days — wet | 82 mm (3.2 in) |
| June | 13 days — shoulder | 17 days — shoulder | 12 days — shoulder | 60 mm (2.4 in) |
| July | 17 days — shoulder | 16 days — shoulder | 13 days — wet | 69 mm (2.7 in) |
| August | 17 days — wet | 19 days — wet | 14 days — wet | 85 mm (3.3 in) |
| September | 16 days — wet | 19 days — wet | 14 days — wet | 126 mm (5.0 in) |
| October | 16 days — wet | 21 days — wet | 14 days — wet | 80 mm (3.1 in) |
| November | 16 days — wet | 18 days — wet | 14 days — wet | 118 mm (4.6 in) |
| December | 12 days — shoulder | 14 days — shoulder | 9 days — shoulder | 59 mm (2.3 in) |
Punta Cana is wet in Mar, May, Aug–Nov, shoulder in Apr, Jun–Jul, Dec–Jan and dry in Feb. Puerto Plata is wet in May, Aug–Nov and shoulder in Jun–Jul, Dec–Apr. Santo Domingo is wet in May, Jul–Nov, shoulder in Feb, Apr, Jun, Dec and dry in Jan, Mar. In this record April sits inside Punta Cana’s wet run and is 35% drier than the months either side of it.
The coasts peak at different times. Puerto Plata on the north coast is wettest in November, Santo Domingo in November and Punta Cana in September. April is the odd month out at Punta Cana — 51 mm (2.0 in), drier than March or May either side of it.
The wettest and driest months
Punta Cana: wettest in September (126 mm (5.0 in), 16 rain days), driest in February (36 mm (1.4 in), 8 rain days). Puerto Plata: wettest in November (121 mm (4.8 in), 18 rain days), driest in February (44 mm (1.7 in), 9 rain days). Santo Domingo: wettest in November (101 mm (4.0 in), 14 rain days), driest in January (26 mm (1.0 in), 8 rain days). Over the year, Punta Cana gets 883 mm (34.8 in).
Does the rainy season mean storms?
Not by itself — but Punta Cana is on the hurricane map, and the two overlap here. In the 50 seasons to 2025 a tropical storm or hurricane passed within 100 miles of it in 9 of them in August, its busiest month — which is to say that in the other 41, that month was rain and nothing else. Rain is what most of a wet season is: for the storms themselves, see hurricane season in the Dominican Republic and every storm since 1976.
The best months to go
Punta Cana: Jan–Mar · Puerto Plata: Feb · Santo Domingo: Dec–Apr. When to Go rates every month on temperature, rain days and storms — open Punta Cana in the tool above and step through the year.
Plan it
- Things to do in the Dominican Republic
- What the Dominican Republic is famous for
- Things to do in Santo Domingo
- Things to do in Puerto Plata
- Punta Cana’s weather, month by month
- Where to travel this month
- Hurricane season in the Dominican Republic
FAQ
When is the rainy season in the Dominican Republic?
Mar, May, Aug–Nov — the months that get more rain than an average month in Punta Cana. September is the wettest, at 126 mm (5.0 in) across 16 rain days, against 36 mm (1.4 in) in February (NASA POWER, 2006–2025).
Does it rain all day in the rainy season in the Dominican Republic?
The measure here is a day with at least 1 mm of rain, not a day of rain. In September, Punta Cana averages 16 rain days out of 30, with an average high of 85°F / 29°C, and April in the middle of the season is drier than the months either side of it.
What is the driest month in the Dominican Republic?
February, at 36 mm (1.4 in) across 8 rain days. The dry months, by the rule this page uses, are Feb.
When is the best time to visit the Dominican Republic?
When to Go rates Jan–Mar the best months for Punta Cana, on temperature, rain days and — where it applies — storms. The other places on this page have their own; open the tool above on each.
How these numbers are made
Daily rainfall and temperature from NASA POWER (MERRA-2), averaged over 2006–2025; a rain day is a day with at least 1 mm. POWER works on a grid of about 50 km, so each place here is its neighbourhood rather than its own rain gauge: a coast, a small island or a valley under a mountain can differ from the square it sits in. The months are the part that holds; treat a single millimetre figure as an average, not a forecast. Storm counts are from NOAA’s best tracks (HURDAT2), 1976–2025.