Costa Rica · 9.93, -84.08
Today's peak is very high. Skin damage happens fast: roughly 19 min before burning at the worst hour. Avoid direct sun entirely inside the danger window below.
San José sits at 9.9° N, in the northern hemisphere. Today's UV peaks at 8.7: the "very high" band, which uvlevel.net treats as serious danger for unprotected skin at the worst hour.
San José sits close to the equator, so the sun stays high for most of the year: UV barely dips at any point, and there's no sharply defined "season" the way there is further from the equator.
San José sits about 1161 m above sea level. Thinner air scatters and absorbs less UV on the way down, so uvlevel.net adds roughly 9% to the modelled index here: uv = max(weather, CAMS) × (1 + 0.08 × metres/1000). That correction is already folded into every number on this page.
| Local time | UV index | Risk |
|---|---|---|
| 00:00 | 0 | No danger |
| 01:00 | 0 | No danger |
| 02:00 | 0 | No danger |
| 03:00 | 0 | No danger |
| 04:00 | 0 | No danger |
| 05:00 | 0 | No danger |
| 06:00 | 0.1 | No danger |
| 07:00 | 1.1 | No danger |
| 08:00 | 3 | No danger |
| 09:00 | 5.5 | Caution |
| 10:00 | 7.6 | Danger |
| 11:00 | 8.7 | Serious danger |
| 12:00 | 7 | Danger |
| 13:00 | 6.8 | Danger |
| 14:00 | 2.1 | No danger |
| 15:00 | 0.8 | No danger |
| 16:00 | 0.3 | No danger |
| 17:00 | 0.1 | No danger |
| 18:00 | 0 | No danger |
| 19:00 | 0 | No danger |
| 20:00 | 0 | No danger |
| 21:00 | 0 | No danger |
| 22:00 | 0 | No danger |
| 23:00 | 0 | No danger |
| Skin type | Time to burn |
|---|---|
| I · always burns, never tans | 15 min |
| II · burns easily | 19 min |
| III · burns sometimes | 27 min |
| IV · rarely burns | 35 min |
| V · brown skin | 46 min |
| VI · deeply pigmented | 1 h 17 min |
Yes. UV in San José is forecast to reach 3 or higher from 08:01 to 13:48 local time today, peaking at 8.7.
UV is highest in San José at around 11:00 local time today, reaching 8.7.
At today's peak of 8.7, fair skin (Fitzpatrick type II) with no sunscreen burns in about 19 min. Darker skin types take longer. See the table above for every type.
San José sits close to the equator, so the sun stays high for most of the year: UV barely dips at any point, and there's no sharply defined "season" the way there is further from the equator.
Forecasts and elevation from Open-Meteo. The second UV opinion contains modified Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) information; neither the European Commission nor ECMWF is responsible for how it is used here.
uvlevel.net gives general sun-safety guidance, not medical advice. Photosensitising medication, skin conditions, infants and a history of skin cancer all call for stricter limits than shown here.