San Juan
San Juan is the capital city and most populous municipality in Puerto Rico. San Juan was founded by Spanish colonists in 1521. Puerto Rico's capital is the second oldest European-established capital city in the Americas, after Santo Domingo, and is the oldest European-established city under United States sovereignty. Several historical buildings are located in the historic district of Old San Juan; among the most notable are the city's former defensive walls, Fort San Felipe del Morro and Fort San Cristóbal, and La Fortaleza, the oldest executive mansion in continuous use in the Americas. These historic sites were declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983. San Juan is Puerto Rico's most important seaport and one of the island's most notable financial, cultural, and tourism centers.
Typical weather
1981–presentVital absurdities
measured · the Anti-AwardsWhat to do each season
2dry-season
warm and the drier window; openmeteo mean 25.0-26.1 °C (winter lows ~16-22 °C); the driest months (Jan-Mar, Jan 2.1 mm/day); the peak tourist/cruise season
- the peak season — Old San Juan, Condado and the beaches at their most usable; the San Sebastián Street Festival (January)
- the lowest rainfall and the most comfortable heat; the cruise season peak
wet-season
hot and wet; openmeteo mean 26.1-27.9 °C (Aug warmest 27.9; 79 days/yr ≥32 °C); the wettest months (Sep-Nov, Sep wettest 5.7 mm/day); the Atlantic hurricane season; Saharan-dust haze episodes
- the wet season and the hurricane-season risk — the defining Caribbean climate hazard
- Saharan-dust plumes 'often blanketed' the city, settling in the flat coastal basin and causing haze
What it is known for
Important moments in a year
San Sebastian Street Festival
- the Fiestas de la Calle de San Sebastián — the largest festival in Puerto Rico and the Caribbean, ~200,000 visitors
- unofficially marks the end of the Christmas/holiday season
1979 Pan American Games
- San Juan hosted the 1979 Pan American Games
World Baseball Classic
- San Juan (Hiram Bithorn Stadium) hosted World Baseball Classic events
On the record
source-trackedSan Juan has a tropical monsoon climate (Am) with year-round growing season. It has an average temperature of 81.0 °F (27.2 °C).
Temperatures of 90 °F (32 °C) or higher are seen on an average 79 days annually, more commonly occurring during the wetter months of the northern summer.
Rainfall is well-distributed throughout the year. The months of January, February, and March are the driest. Rainfall averages 56.35 inches, falling on an average of 161 days per year.
San Juan is often blanketed by waves of Saharan dust coming from the Sahara across the Atlantic Ocean.
San Juan was founded by Spanish colonists in 1521. Puerto Rico's capital is the second oldest European-established capital city in the Americas.
The historic sites [of Old San Juan] — Fort San Felipe del Morro, Fort San Cristóbal, and La Fortaleza — were declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983.
La Fortaleza [is] the oldest executive mansion in continuous use in the Americas.
San Juan's Hato Rey district is often referred to as the 'Wall Street of the Caribbean'.
The Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport accommodates more than 30 airlines and is the busiest airport in the Caribbean — 'the Gateway to the Caribbean'.
At 4,300 vehicles per paved mile, San Juan has by far the highest density of vehicles on the road of any city in the world.
Grammy Award winners Ramón Ayala (Daddy Yankee) and Ricky Martin were born in the city.
The method behind this atlas — 196 pp. Not published yet.