Best: Jan-Feb, Jul-Aug · Jul-Aug for Ski Season
A classic dry-summer rhythm shapes the year — hot, largely rain-free stretches around January giving way to milder, wetter conditions by July. In January, expect highs around 16°C with rain on roughly 2 days of the month.
Ski Season (July-August) — Valle Nevado and Portillo are in full Southern Hemisphere ski season, drawing skiers escaping the Northern Hemisphere summer.
Valle Nevado, part of the Tres Valles ski area, and Portillo, with its iconic yellow hotel above Laguna del Inca, are both under two hours from Santiago and among South America's most internationally renowned resorts. In the off-season, the same high-altitude terrain is largely inaccessible, with the resorts closing between seasons.
Standard Chilean/Argentine mountain fare applies, with hearty stews and mulled wine popular apres-ski.
Daylight, sunrise, and sunset are calculated exactly from this region's latitude. Temperature and rainfall are modeled from its general climate type, not measured station data. Month summaries are generated from those modeled figures.
Expect mild days around 16°/7°C, with mostly dry conditions (~2 rainy days).
Expect mild days around 16°/7°C, with mostly dry conditions (~2 rainy days).
Expect cool days around 14°/5°C, with mostly dry conditions (~3 rainy days).
Expect cool days around 10°/1°C, with occasional rain (~5 rainy days).
Expect cold days around 4°/-4°C, with frequent rain (~10 rainy days).
Expect cold days around 0°/-6°C, with frequent rain (~14 rainy days).
Expect cold days around -1°/-7°C, with frequent rain (~15 rainy days).
Expect cold days around 0°/-6°C, with frequent rain (~13 rainy days).
Expect cold days around 2°/-6°C, with frequent rain (~10 rainy days).
Expect cool days around 5°/-3°C, with occasional rain (~6 rainy days).
Expect cool days around 8°/0°C, with occasional rain (~4 rainy days).
Expect cool days around 12°/4°C, with mostly dry conditions (~2 rainy days).