Copiapó weather in May

In May, Copiapó sees average daytime highs of 22°C and overnight lows near 9°C, with 8 mm of rain across 1 wet days and about 10.7 hours of daylight. It is the 9th-warmest and 1st-wettest month of the year here.

Highs ease over the month, from about 22°C in the first days to 21°C by the end. The sky is clear or mostly clear about 71% of the time in May, and the air most often feels dry.

Daylight stretches from about 11 hours at the start of May to 10 h 24 min by month's end. Set against the rest of the year, May is Copiapó's 11th-clearest and 11th-windiest month. For the whole year in context, see Copiapó's year-round climate.

Daytime high: 22°; 9th warmest
Overnight low: 9°; 4th coldest
Rainfall: 8 mm; 1 wet days
Daylight: 10 h 42 min; 8:18 AM – 6:57 PM
Cloud cover: 27%; 11th clearest
Wind: 6 km/h; 11th windiest
Solar energy: 4.56 kWh/m²
Travel score: 8.6; out of 10

Copiapó is city in northern Chile.

Air quality: Moderate; PM2.5 12.3 µg/m³ · 2019
Density: 3,769/km²; people per km²
Founded: 1744

Air quality: WHO Ambient Air Quality Database. Density & description: Wikidata (CC0), GeoNames.

← April Copiapó year-round climate June →Best places to visit in May

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

Temperature in May

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

Highs ease over the month, from about 22°C in the first days to 21°C by the end.

A typical May day in Copiapó reaches about 22°C in the afternoon and slips back to 9°C overnight — a 12°C spread between the day's warmth and the night's chill. On most days the high lands between 19°C and 24°C. Set against its neighbours, May runs about 2°C cooler than April and about 1°C warmer than June.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Avg high (°C)	23	23	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	21	21	21	21	21	21	21	21	21	21	21	21	21	21	21	21
Avg low (°C)	11	11	11	11	11	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8

	Avg high (°C)	Avg low (°C)
1	23	11
2	23	11
3	22	11
4	22	11
5	22	11
6	22	10
7	22	10
8	22	10
9	22	10
10	22	10
11	22	10
12	22	10
13	22	10
14	22	9
15	22	9
16	21	9
17	21	9
18	21	9
19	21	9
20	21	9
21	21	9
22	21	9
23	21	8
24	21	8
25	21	8
26	21	8
27	21	8
28	21	8
29	21	8
30	21	8
31	21	8

Copiapó weather by month

How May compares with the rest of the year at a glance. May is the 9th-warmest and 1st-wettest month here — the current month is highlighted below.

Month	High / Low (°C)	Rainfall (mm)	Wet days	Daylight (hours)	Travel score
Jan	26° / 16°	0	0	13.5	9.2
Feb	26° / 16°	0	0.1	13	9.3
Mar	25° / 15°	5	0.3	12.2	9.5
Apr	23° / 13°	2	0.3	11.4	9.5
May	22° / 9°	8	1	10.7	8.6
Jun	20° / 7°	6	0.8	10.3	8.3
Jul	20° / 6°	6	1.2	10.4	8.3
Aug	21° / 8°	3	0.6	11	8.7
Sep	22° / 10°	2	0.4	11.8	9.1
Oct	23° / 12°	0	0.2	12.7	9.5
Nov	24° / 14°	0	0.1	13.4	9.7
Dec	25° / 15°	1	0.1	13.7	9.5

Cloud cover in May

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

The sky is clear or mostly clear about 71% of the time in May.

Beyond those clear spells, partly cloudy skies cover about 9% of May, with mostly cloudy or overcast conditions the remaining 20%. Skies tend to cloud over as the month goes on.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Clearer (%)	86	85	85	85	85	84	84	84	84	83	83	82	81	81	81	81	80	80	79	78	78	78	76	76	76	76	76	76	76	76	77
Cloudier (%)	14	15	15	15	15	16	16	16	16	17	17	18	19	19	19	19	20	20	21	22	22	22	24	24	24	24	24	24	24	24	23

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	86	14
2	85	15
3	85	15
4	85	15
5	85	15
6	84	16
7	84	16
8	84	16
9	84	16
10	83	17
11	83	17
12	82	18
13	81	19
14	81	19
15	81	19
16	81	19
17	80	20
18	80	20
19	79	21
20	78	22
21	78	22
22	78	22
23	76	24
24	76	24
25	76	24
26	76	24
27	76	24
28	76	24
29	76	24
30	76	24
31	77	23

Chance of precipitation in May

Any precipitation

Copiapó gets around 8 mm of rain over 1 wet days in May, the wettest month. The line is the day-by-day chance of measurable precipitation.

Day to day, the chance of measurable rain averages around 3% and peaks near 4% on the wettest days.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Rain chance (%)	2	2	2	2	2	2	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3

	Rain chance (%)
1	2
2	2
3	2
4	2
5	2
6	2
7	3
8	3
9	3
10	3
11	3
12	3
13	3
14	3
15	4
16	4
17	4
18	4
19	4
20	4
21	4
22	4
23	4
24	3
25	3
26	3
27	3
28	3
29	3
30	3
31	3

Humidity in May

DryComfortableHumidMuggyOppressiveMiserable

Most of May feels dry — the stacked bands show each day's mix of comfort levels, read off the dew point.

By dew point, May lands in the dry band about 100% of days. It rarely turns muggy — the humid and sticky bands barely register.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Dry (%)	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100

	Dry (%)
1	100
2	100
3	100
4	100
5	100
6	100
7	100
8	100
9	100
10	100
11	100
12	100
13	100
14	100
15	100
16	100
17	100
18	100
19	100
20	100
21	100
22	100
23	100
24	100
25	100
26	100
27	100
28	100
29	100
30	100
31	100

Wind in May

Winds average 6 km/h in May.

Across May, daily wind ranges from about 6 km/h on the calmest days to 6 km/h at its breeziest. It stays fairly steady from day to day.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Wind speed (km/h)	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6
Feels	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm

	Wind speed (km/h)	Feels
1	6	calm
2	6	calm
3	6	calm
4	6	calm
5	6	calm
6	6	calm
7	6	calm
8	6	calm
9	6	calm
10	6	calm
11	6	calm
12	6	calm
13	6	calm
14	6	calm
15	6	calm
16	6	calm
17	6	calm
18	6	calm
19	6	calm
20	6	calm
21	6	calm
22	6	calm
23	6	calm
24	6	calm
25	6	calm
26	6	calm
27	6	calm
28	6	calm
29	6	calm
30	6	calm
31	6	calm

Sunrise & sunset in May

DaylightNight

Daylight runs from about 11 hours at the start of May to 10 h 24 min by month's end. The lit band spans sunrise to sunset each day.

Days shrink by about 36 minutes over May. Sunrise moves from 8:09 AM to 8:26 AM, and sunset from 7:08 PM to 6:51 PM.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Daylight (h)	11.0	11.0	10.9	10.9	10.9	10.9	10.8	10.8	10.8	10.8	10.8	10.7	10.7	10.7	10.7	10.7	10.6	10.6	10.6	10.6	10.6	10.5	10.5	10.5	10.5	10.5	10.5	10.5	10.4	10.4	10.4
Sunrise (AM)	8:09	8:10	8:10	8:11	8:12	8:12	8:13	8:13	8:14	8:15	8:15	8:16	8:16	8:17	8:17	8:18	8:19	8:19	8:20	8:20	8:21	8:21	8:22	8:23	8:23	8:24	8:24	8:25	8:25	8:26	8:26
Sunset (PM)	7:08	7:07	7:06	7:05	7:05	7:04	7:03	7:02	7:02	7:01	7:00	7:00	6:59	6:58	6:58	6:57	6:57	6:56	6:56	6:55	6:55	6:54	6:54	6:53	6:53	6:53	6:52	6:52	6:52	6:51	6:51

	Daylight (h)	Sunrise (AM)	Sunset (PM)
1	11.0	8:09	7:08
2	11.0	8:10	7:07
3	10.9	8:10	7:06
4	10.9	8:11	7:05
5	10.9	8:12	7:05
6	10.9	8:12	7:04
7	10.8	8:13	7:03
8	10.8	8:13	7:02
9	10.8	8:14	7:02
10	10.8	8:15	7:01
11	10.8	8:15	7:00
12	10.7	8:16	7:00
13	10.7	8:16	6:59
14	10.7	8:17	6:58
15	10.7	8:17	6:58
16	10.7	8:18	6:57
17	10.6	8:19	6:57
18	10.6	8:19	6:56
19	10.6	8:20	6:56
20	10.6	8:20	6:55
21	10.6	8:21	6:55
22	10.5	8:21	6:54
23	10.5	8:22	6:54
24	10.5	8:23	6:53
25	10.5	8:23	6:53
26	10.5	8:24	6:53
27	10.5	8:24	6:52
28	10.5	8:25	6:52
29	10.4	8:25	6:52
30	10.4	8:26	6:51
31	10.4	8:26	6:51

Solar energy in May

Daily solar energy (kWh/m²)

Average shortwave solar energy reaching the ground each day in May, about 4.56 kWh/m².

For context, solar energy here swings from a low near 4.02 kWh/m² to a high of 9.44 kWh/m² in December across the year — May's 4.56 kWh/m² sits near the bottom.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Solar energy (kWh/m²)	5.2	5.1	5.1	5.0	5.0	4.9	4.9	4.9	4.8	4.8	4.7	4.7	4.7	4.6	4.6	4.5	4.5	4.5	4.4	4.4	4.4	4.3	4.3	4.3	4.3	4.3	4.2	4.2	4.2	4.2	4.2
Level	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright

	Solar energy (kWh/m²)	Level
1	5.2	Bright
2	5.1	Bright
3	5.1	Bright
4	5.0	Bright
5	5.0	Bright
6	4.9	Bright
7	4.9	Bright
8	4.9	Bright
9	4.8	Bright
10	4.8	Bright
11	4.7	Bright
12	4.7	Bright
13	4.7	Bright
14	4.6	Bright
15	4.6	Bright
16	4.5	Bright
17	4.5	Bright
18	4.5	Bright
19	4.4	Bright
20	4.4	Bright
21	4.4	Bright
22	4.3	Bright
23	4.3	Bright
24	4.3	Bright
25	4.3	Bright
26	4.3	Bright
27	4.2	Bright
28	4.2	Bright
29	4.2	Bright
30	4.2	Bright
31	4.2	Bright

Planning a trip in May

Is May a good time to visit Copiapó?

Our two travel scores rate May for general sightseeing and for beach or pool weather — 0 (poor) to 10 (ideal).

8.6

Sightseeing

10th-best month of the year

5.6

Beach & pool

9th-best month of the year

May is one of the better times to visit Copiapó for general sightseeing.

What to pack for Copiapó in May

From May's temperature range, rain chance, sun and wind — what's worth putting in the bag.

In May, Copiapó sees daytime highs around 22°C and nights near 9°C. Worth packing: sun protection.

sun protection

Sea temperature near Copiapó in May

The nearest coast averages about 16°C in May — the other half of the beach question. The full-year curve and swim-comfort zones are below.

The sea at the nearest coast (about 54 km away) is warmest in February at about 19°C and coldest in August near 14°C.

The water stays below 20°C all year — cool enough that most swimmers want a wetsuit.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Sea temperature (°C)	19	19	18	17	16	15	15	14	14	15	16	17
Comfort	Cool	Cool	Cool	Cool	Cool	Cool	Bracing	Bracing	Bracing	Bracing	Cool	Cool

	Sea temperature (°C)	Comfort
Jan	19	Cool
Feb	19	Cool
Mar	18	Cool
Apr	17	Cool
May	16	Cool
Jun	15	Cool
Jul	15	Bracing
Aug	14	Bracing
Sep	14	Bracing
Oct	15	Bracing
Nov	16	Cool
Dec	17	Cool

UV index in Copiapó in May

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Clear-sky midday UV in May peaks around 6 — enough to warrant sun protection. The full-year curve, shaded by WHO exposure level, is below.

Under clear skies, the midday UV index in Copiapó peaks around January 20 at about 15 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near June 21 at about 5 (moderate).

The index reaches 3 or more — the level where the WHO recommends sun protection — every month of the year.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
UV index (midday)	15	15	13	7	6	5	5	7	9	12	13	14
Level	Extreme	Extreme	Extreme	Very high	High	Moderate	Moderate	High	Very high	Extreme	Extreme	Extreme

	UV index (midday)	Level
Jan	15	Extreme
Feb	15	Extreme
Mar	13	Extreme
Apr	7	Very high
May	6	High
Jun	5	Moderate
Jul	5	Moderate
Aug	7	High
Sep	9	Very high
Oct	12	Extreme
Nov	13	Extreme
Dec	14	Extreme

Air quality in Copiapó in May

GoodModeratePoorUnhealthyVery unhealthy

Average fine-particle pollution (PM2.5) through the year — so you can see where May falls, not just the annual average.

Air quality in Copiapó is worst in August — around 17 µg/m³ PM2.5 (moderate), about 2.4× the cleanest month (January, 7 µg/m³).

Seasonal pattern from CAMS reanalysis, scaled to Copiapó's WHO annual average of 12.3 µg/m³.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
PM2.5 (µg/m³)	7	8	10	16	16	14	16	17	14	13	9	8
Level	Good	Good	Good	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Good	Good

	PM2.5 (µg/m³)	Level
Jan	7	Good
Feb	8	Good
Mar	10	Good
Apr	16	Moderate
May	16	Moderate
Jun	14	Moderate
Jul	16	Moderate
Aug	17	Moderate
Sep	14	Moderate
Oct	13	Moderate
Nov	9	Good
Dec	8	Good

Location & terrain

Where is Copiapó?

Copiapó sits at 27.4°S, 70.3°W, 381 m above sea level, in Chile. The nearest listed city is Caldera, 59 km away.

Topography around Copiapó

How much the land rises and falls, and what covers it, within 3, 16 and 80 km of Copiapó.

Within 3 km, the terrain around Copiapó has significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 504 m around an average of 464 m above sea level; within 16 km, very significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 1,341 m; within 80 km, extreme variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 4,668 m.

The land around Copiapó is covered by bare terrain (55%) and artificial surfaces (43%) within 3 km, bare terrain (94%) within 16 km, and bare terrain (88%) within 80 km.

3 km

504 m

bare terrain 55%

16 km

1,341 m

bare terrain 94%

80 km

4,668 m

bare terrain 88%

treesshrubsgrasslandcroplandartificial surfacesbare terrainwater

← April Copiapó year-round climate June →Best places to visit in May

May weather nearby: Caldera 59 km · Vallenar 141 km · La Serena 296 km · Vicuña 299 km · Coquimbo 304 km · Belén 328 km · Chilecito 342 km · Ovalle 369 km

Chile travel facts

Travel advisory: Level 2; Exercise Increased Caution
Power plugs: Type C / F / L; 220 V · 50 Hz
Prices: ≈ 48% of US; price level, 2025
GDP per capita: $17,995; 2025
Happiness: 6.3 / 10; World Happiness, 2025
Safe drinking water: 98%; of population, 2024
Homicide rate: 6.3; per 100k, 2023
Road deaths: 14.9; per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group: High; World Bank
English: Moderate; EF EPI 517
Religion

Sources: World Bank, US State Department, World Happiness Report, WHO/UNICEF, EF EPI, CIA World Factbook.

Data sources

Temperature, precipitation, cloud, humidity, wind and solar figures are a 1991–2020 climatology for Copiapó (-27.3674°, -70.3322°, elevation 381 m), computed from hourly ERA5 reanalysis — contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information. Sun figures are astronomical calculations, not observations. City data © GeoNames, CC BY 4.0. Map outlines from Natural Earth (public domain); interactive map © Google. Sea temperatures are the NOAA OISST v2.1 1991–2020 monthly climatology (public domain), sampled at the nearest ocean point. UV index is derived from CAMS (Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service) clear-sky UV data — contains modified Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service information. Monthly air-quality (PM2.5) seasonality is from the CAMS EAC4 reanalysis (Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service), scaled to the WHO annual mean where available. Topography is sampled from the Copernicus DEM GLO-90 elevation model (© ESA/Airbus) and ESA WorldCover 2021 land cover (CC BY 4.0).

	Avg high (°C)	Avg low (°C)
1	23	11
2	23	11
3	22	11
4	22	11
5	22	11
6	22	10
7	22	10
8	22	10
9	22	10
10	22	10
11	22	10
12	22	10
13	22	10
14	22	9
15	22	9
16	21	9
17	21	9
18	21	9
19	21	9
20	21	9
21	21	9
22	21	9
23	21	8
24	21	8
25	21	8
26	21	8
27	21	8
28	21	8
29	21	8
30	21	8
31	21	8

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	86	14
2	85	15
3	85	15
4	85	15
5	85	15
6	84	16
7	84	16
8	84	16
9	84	16
10	83	17
11	83	17
12	82	18
13	81	19
14	81	19
15	81	19
16	81	19
17	80	20
18	80	20
19	79	21
20	78	22
21	78	22
22	78	22
23	76	24
24	76	24
25	76	24
26	76	24
27	76	24
28	76	24
29	76	24
30	76	24
31	77	23

	Rain chance (%)
1	2
2	2
3	2
4	2
5	2
6	2
7	3
8	3
9	3
10	3
11	3
12	3
13	3
14	3
15	4
16	4
17	4
18	4
19	4
20	4
21	4
22	4
23	4
24	3
25	3
26	3
27	3
28	3
29	3
30	3
31	3

	Dry (%)
1	100
2	100
3	100
4	100
5	100
6	100
7	100
8	100
9	100
10	100
11	100
12	100
13	100
14	100
15	100
16	100
17	100
18	100
19	100
20	100
21	100
22	100
23	100
24	100
25	100
26	100
27	100
28	100
29	100
30	100
31	100

	Avg high (°C)	Avg low (°C)
1	23	11
2	23	11
3	22	11
4	22	11
5	22	11
6	22	10
7	22	10
8	22	10
9	22	10
10	22	10
11	22	10
12	22	10
13	22	10
14	22	9
15	22	9
16	21	9
17	21	9
18	21	9
19	21	9
20	21	9
21	21	9
22	21	9
23	21	8
24	21	8
25	21	8
26	21	8
27	21	8
28	21	8
29	21	8
30	21	8
31	21	8

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	86	14
2	85	15
3	85	15
4	85	15
5	85	15
6	84	16
7	84	16
8	84	16
9	84	16
10	83	17
11	83	17
12	82	18
13	81	19
14	81	19
15	81	19
16	81	19
17	80	20
18	80	20
19	79	21
20	78	22
21	78	22
22	78	22
23	76	24
24	76	24
25	76	24
26	76	24
27	76	24
28	76	24
29	76	24
30	76	24
31	77	23

	Rain chance (%)
1	2
2	2
3	2
4	2
5	2
6	2
7	3
8	3
9	3
10	3
11	3
12	3
13	3
14	3
15	4
16	4
17	4
18	4
19	4
20	4
21	4
22	4
23	4
24	3
25	3
26	3
27	3
28	3
29	3
30	3
31	3

	Dry (%)
1	100
2	100
3	100
4	100
5	100
6	100
7	100
8	100
9	100
10	100
11	100
12	100
13	100
14	100
15	100
16	100
17	100
18	100
19	100
20	100
21	100
22	100
23	100
24	100
25	100
26	100
27	100
28	100
29	100
30	100
31	100

	Avg high (°C)	Avg low (°C)
1	23	11
2	23	11
3	22	11
4	22	11
5	22	11
6	22	10
7	22	10
8	22	10
9	22	10
10	22	10
11	22	10
12	22	10
13	22	10
14	22	9
15	22	9
16	21	9
17	21	9
18	21	9
19	21	9
20	21	9
21	21	9
22	21	9
23	21	8
24	21	8
25	21	8
26	21	8
27	21	8
28	21	8
29	21	8
30	21	8
31	21	8

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	86	14
2	85	15
3	85	15
4	85	15
5	85	15
6	84	16
7	84	16
8	84	16
9	84	16
10	83	17
11	83	17
12	82	18
13	81	19
14	81	19
15	81	19
16	81	19
17	80	20
18	80	20
19	79	21
20	78	22
21	78	22
22	78	22
23	76	24
24	76	24
25	76	24
26	76	24
27	76	24
28	76	24
29	76	24
30	76	24
31	77	23

	Rain chance (%)
1	2
2	2
3	2
4	2
5	2
6	2
7	3
8	3
9	3
10	3
11	3
12	3
13	3
14	3
15	4
16	4
17	4
18	4
19	4
20	4
21	4
22	4
23	4
24	3
25	3
26	3
27	3
28	3
29	3
30	3
31	3

	Dry (%)
1	100
2	100
3	100
4	100
5	100
6	100
7	100
8	100
9	100
10	100
11	100
12	100
13	100
14	100
15	100
16	100
17	100
18	100
19	100
20	100
21	100
22	100
23	100
24	100
25	100
26	100
27	100
28	100
29	100
30	100
31	100