section_path: Geography/Climate
section_name: Climate
paragraph_text: Climate
  
  The average temperature in Santo Domingo varies little, because the tropical trade winds help mitigate the heat and humidity throughout the year. Thanks to these trade winds, Santo Domingo has a borderline tropical rainforest (Köppen Af)/ tropical monsoon climate (Am), as its driest month is very close to 60 millimeters (2.4 in). However, the city seldom experiences the heat that one may expect to find. December through March are the coolest months with warm days with less humidity and cool nights (temperatures of 17 to 19 °C (63 to 66 °F)). July through September are the hottest. Santo Domingo averages 1,445 millimeters (56.9 in) of rain annually. Its driest months are from December through April; however, due to the trade winds and mountains to the southwest, rain is seen even during these months.
  
  Like many other cities in the Caribbean, Santo Domingo is very susceptible to hurricanes. Hurricane Georges caused severe destruction in September 1998. The lowest recorded temperature has been 11.0 °C (51.8 °F) on 5 February 1951 and 7 January 1957 and the highest is 39.5 °C (103.1 °F) on 29 May 2002.