Fortaleza has a typical tropical climate, specifically a tropical wet and dry climate , with high temperatures and relative humidity throughout the year. However, these conditions are usually relieved by pleasant winds blowing from the ocean. Average temperatures are not much different throughout the year. December is the warmest month, with a high of 30.7 °C (87.3 °F) and low of 24.6 °C (76.3 °F). The rainy season spans from January to July, with rainfall particularly prodigious in March and April. The average annual temperature is 26.6 °C (79.9 °F). The relative humidity in Fortaleza is 79%, with average annual rainfall of 1,608.4 millimetres (63.32 in). There is usually rain during the first seven months of the year from January to July. During this period, relative humidity is high. Fortaleza’s climate is usually very dry from August to December, with very little rainfall.
Rainfall is like all of Northeastern Brazil among the most variable in the world, comparable (for similar average annual rainfalls) to central Queensland cities like Townsville and Mackay. In the notorious drought year of 1877 as little as 468 millimetres or 18.43 inches fell, and in 1958 only 518 millimetres or 20.39 inches, but in the Nordeste’s record wet year of 1985 Fortaleza received 2,841 millimetres or 111.85 inches.