In short: Snowfall in Guatemala is rare. An INSIVUMEH climate specialist says the country’s tropical location keeps snowfall from happening; Prensa Libre’s fact-check adds that at 3,000-4,000 m snow or ice is possible, so snow on volcano summits is feasible. Guatemala’s 2019 climate assessment records real snowfall on Tajumulco’s slopes in January and December 2008. The famous 2009 Tajumulco photos were sleet (INSIVUMEH forecaster) and the white December 2023 mornings were frost (Prensa Libre’s fact-check). The coldest readings cited: -10.5 °C in Quetzaltenango and San Marcos (10 January 2002) and a January record of -11.6 °C (5 January 1977).
Sources: two Prensa Libre articles from December 2023 that quote INSIVUMEH meteorologists, and the Sistema Guatemalteco de Ciencias del Cambio Climático’s 2019 assessment report. All read 1 October 2026.
What INSIVUMEH says
Prensa Libre’s fact-check of 22 December 2023, written after photos of “snow” circulated during a cold spell, quoted INSIVUMEH staff:
- Luis Tun (climate applications section): “tenemos condiciones climáticas que hacen que la caída de nieve no se produzca” (we have climate conditions in which snowfall does not occur), because Guatemala is in the tropics and far from the poles. The article continues that at “3 mil o 4 mil metros, es posible que se presente nieve o hielo”, especially with sub-zero temperatures, and that “es factible que se vea nieve en la cima de volcanes”.
- Cleofas Culajay (forecaster) on the Tajumulco photos of hikers covered in white: the event was in 2009 and it was aguanieve (sleet), which the article defines as water falling from the clouds mixed with snow.
- On December 2023, the article’s own verdict: “lo que ha ocurrido son heladas meteorológicas y lo que se congela es el rocío” (what happened was frost, and what freezes is the dew), and “No se trata de que haya caído nieve en el país.”
Snowfall that was recorded: Tajumulco, 2008
The Sistema Guatemalteco de Ciencias del Cambio Climático (SGCCC) published Guatemala’s first climate-change assessment in 2019. Its chapter on observed climate trends (Bardales, Castañón and Herrera) lists snow among Guatemala’s cold extremes:
“el 3 de enero de 2008 se registró un evento extremo de caída de nieve en las faldas del volcán Tajumulco (San Marcos) y en Santa Ana (Quetzaltenango) por el paso de un frente frío sobre el país; así también, el 22 de diciembre de 2008 se reportó otra caída de nieve en las faldas del volcán Tajumulco.”
In English: an extreme snowfall on the slopes of Tajumulco and in Santa Ana, Quetzaltenango on 3 January 2008, brought by a cold front, and another snowfall on Tajumulco’s slopes on 22 December 2008. The chapter also records frost on the cones of Tajumulco, Santa María and Acatenango on 23 January 2013, and says: “Estas caídas de nieve se han vuelto más frecuentes en la última década.”
The two sources differ in emphasis: INSIVUMEH’s specialist says the tropical climate keeps snowfall from occurring, while the 2019 report lists two snowfalls in 2008, on Tajumulco’s slopes and in Santa Ana, Quetzaltenango, and says such snowfalls had become more frequent. We show both rather than choose.
Where it freezes
| Fact | Source |
|---|---|
| A frost (helada) is a temperature of 0 °C or below | SGCCC 2019 |
| “La elevación mínima para que ocurra una helada en Guatemala es de 1700 msnm”, about 20% of the national territory | SGCCC 2019 |
| The likeliest frost months are November to March, though frost can occur in other months | SGCCC 2019 |
| Frosts most damaging to agriculture: 1991, 2001, 2002 and 2005 | SGCCC 2019 |
The coldest readings cited
All from Prensa Libre, 19 December 2023, except the last row.
| Date | Place | Reading | Attributed to |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 January 1977 | Not named in the article | -11.6 °C (January record since 1970) | Claudio Castañón, applied-meteorology specialist (Agua Consulta) |
| 10 January 2002 | Quetzaltenango and San Marcos | -10.5 °C | The article, “según especialistas”; Castañón repeats the figure |
| 20 December 1992 | Not named in the article | -8.8 °C (December record since 1970) | Claudio Castañón |
| December 1996 | Not named (article on western Guatemala) | -6 °C | Claudio Castañón |
| January 2017 | Quetzaltenango | -4.6 °C | The article |
| 19 December 2023 | Quetzaltenango (Labor Ovalle station) | -5.6 °C | Jorge Rodas, INSIVUMEH Xela |
| 19 December 2023 | Quetzaltenango | -4.6 °C | Prensa Libre fact-check, 22 December 2023 |
The two 19 December 2023 figures come from two different Prensa Libre articles about the same morning; we show both.
Elsewhere on 10 January 2002 (same article): Huehuetenango -4.2 °C, Cobán 1.5 °C, Esquipulas 8.0 °C, Zacapa 9.5 °C, Petén 9.6 °C. Guatemala City recorded a minimum of 6 °C, which the article says was beaten only by 3 °C in 1947.
Seeing frost or summit snow
- Tajumulco, in San Marcos, is where both the 2008 snowfalls and the 2009 sleet were reported. See our Tajumulco hiking guide.
- When: the cold spells come with the November-February cold fronts. Our cold fronts guide covers what each front does by region.
Sources (read 1 October 2026)
- Prensa Libre, 22 December 2023, Verificamos por usted: ¿Cayó nieve en Guatemala durante diciembre de 2023? (Andrea Jumique Castillo)
- Prensa Libre, 19 December 2023, Temperaturas en Guatemala: ¿Cuál ha sido el día más frío en los últimos 30 años, según el Insivumeh? (Raúl Barreno Castillo)
- Bardales Espinoza, W. A., Castañón, C. & Herrera Herrera, J. L. (2019), Clima de Guatemala, tendencias observadas e índices de cambio climático, in Primer reporte de evaluación del conocimiento sobre cambio climático en Guatemala, SGCCC / Editorial Universitaria UVG (sgccc.org.gt)
Frequently Asked Questions
Does it snow in Guatemala?
Very rarely. Luis Tun of INSIVUMEH, the national weather service, told Prensa Libre (22 December 2023) that Guatemala’s tropical location gives it climate conditions in which snowfall does not occur. The same article adds that at 3,000 or 4,000 metres snow or ice is possible, so snow on volcano summits is feasible. Guatemala’s 2019 climate-change assessment (SGCCC) records snowfall on the slopes of Tajumulco volcano and in Santa Ana, Quetzaltenango on 3 January 2008, and again on Tajumulco on 22 December 2008.
Has it ever snowed in Guatemala?
Yes, twice in 2008 according to the record we found. The SGCCC’s 2019 assessment (chapter by Bardales, Castañón and Herrera) calls 3 January 2008 an extreme snowfall event on the slopes of Tajumulco (San Marcos) and in Santa Ana (Quetzaltenango), and reports another snowfall on Tajumulco’s slopes on 22 December 2008. It adds that these snowfalls had become more frequent in the previous decade.
Did it snow in Guatemala in December 2023?
No. Prensa Libre’s fact-check of 22 December 2023, written with INSIVUMEH forecasters, concluded that the 18-22 December cold spell brought frost, where dew freezes, not snowfall. It reported -4.6 °C in Quetzaltenango on 19 December; a Prensa Libre article of 19 December quoted INSIVUMEH’s Xela office reading -5.6 °C at the Labor Ovalle station.
Was the 2009 Tajumulco 'snow' real snow?
INSIVUMEH forecaster Cleofas Culajay told Prensa Libre that the 2009 Tajumulco event shown in widely shared photos of hikers was aguanieve (sleet), which the article defines as water falling from the clouds mixed with snow.
What is the coldest temperature recorded in Guatemala?
Prensa Libre (19 December 2023) reported -10.5 °C in Quetzaltenango and San Marcos on 10 January 2002. In the same article, applied-meteorology specialist Claudio Castañón gave a January record of -11.6 °C on 5 January 1977 and a December record of -8.8 °C on 20 December 1992, both counted since 1970; the article does not name the station for those two.
