Iquique weather in May

In May, Iquique sees average daytime highs of 19°C and overnight lows near 16°C, with 8 mm of rain across 2.3 wet days and about 11.1 hours of daylight. It is the 6th-warmest and 4th-wettest month of the year here.

Day-to-day highs hold fairly steady near 19°C through the month. The sky is clear or mostly clear about 19% of the time in May, and the air most often feels comfortable.

Daylight stretches from about 11 h 18 min at the start of May to 10 h 54 min by month's end. Set against the rest of the year, May is Iquique's 6th-clearest and 9th-windiest month. For the whole year in context, see Iquique's year-round climate.

Daytime high: 19°; 6th warmest
Overnight low: 16°; 6th coldest
Rainfall: 8 mm; 2.3 wet days
Daylight: 11 hours; 8:06 AM – 7:08 PM
Cloud cover: 59%; 6th clearest
Wind: 12 km/h; 9th windiest
Solar energy: 4.89 kWh/m²
Travel score: 7.1; out of 10

Iquique is city of Peru (1539–1884).

Air quality: Moderate; PM2.5 11.1 µg/m³ · 2019

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

← April Iquique 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

Day-to-day highs hold fairly steady near 19°C through the month.

A typical May day in Iquique reaches about 19°C in the afternoon and slips back to 16°C overnight — a 3°C spread between the day's warmth and the night's chill. On most days the high lands between 17°C and 20°C. Set against its neighbours, May runs about 1°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)	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18
Avg low (°C)	17	17	17	17	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	15	15	15	15	15	15

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

Iquique weather by month

How May compares with the rest of the year at a glance. May is the 6th-warmest and 4th-wettest month here — the current month is highlighted below.

Month	High / Low (°C)	Rainfall (mm)	Wet days	Daylight (hours)	Travel score
Jan	22° / 20°	1	0.2	13.1	8.1
Feb	22° / 20°	2	0.5	12.7	8.3
Mar	21° / 19°	0	0.1	12.1	8.3
Apr	20° / 17°	1	0.2	11.6	7.8
May	19° / 16°	8	2.3	11.1	7.1
Jun	18° / 15°	16	6.6	10.8	5.9
Jul	17° / 14°	16	6	10.9	5.6
Aug	16° / 14°	10	3.4	11.3	5.8
Sep	17° / 14°	6	1.3	11.9	6.2
Oct	17° / 15°	3	0.2	12.5	6.7
Nov	19° / 16°	2	0.3	13	7.3
Dec	20° / 18°	1	0.1	13.2	7.7

Cloud cover in May

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

The sky is clear or mostly clear about 19% of the time in May.

Beyond those clear spells, partly cloudy skies cover about 32% of May, with mostly cloudy or overcast conditions the remaining 49%. 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 (%)	65	64	63	62	61	59	59	57	56	55	54	53	52	51	50	49	49	48	47	47	46	46	46	44	44	43	42	41	39	39	37
Cloudier (%)	35	36	37	38	39	41	41	43	44	45	46	47	48	49	50	51	51	52	53	53	54	54	54	56	56	57	58	59	61	61	63

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	65	35
2	64	36
3	63	37
4	62	38
5	61	39
6	59	41
7	59	41
8	57	43
9	56	44
10	55	45
11	54	46
12	53	47
13	52	48
14	51	49
15	50	50
16	49	51
17	49	51
18	48	52
19	47	53
20	47	53
21	46	54
22	46	54
23	46	54
24	44	56
25	44	56
26	43	57
27	42	58
28	41	59
29	39	61
30	39	61
31	37	63

Chance of precipitation in May

Any precipitation

Iquique gets around 8 mm of rain over 2.3 wet days in May. The line is the day-by-day chance of measurable precipitation.

Day to day, the chance of measurable rain averages around 7% and peaks near 16% on the wettest days. The odds climb toward the end of the month.

	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	3	3	3	3	3	4	4	4	4	5	5	5	5	6	6	7	7	8	9	9	10	11	12	13	14	14	15	16	16

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

Humidity in May

DryComfortableHumidMuggyOppressiveMiserable

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

By dew point, May lands in the comfortable band about 79% 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 (%)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	1	1	1	2	2	2	3	3	4	5	5	6
Comfortable (%)	65	66	67	68	69	70	71	72	73	74	75	76	77	79	80	81	82	82	84	85	86	86	86	87	88	87	88	87	87	87	87
Humid (%)	35	34	33	32	31	30	29	28	27	26	25	24	23	21	20	19	18	17	15	14	13	13	12	11	10	10	9	9	8	8	7

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)	Humid (%)
1	0	65	35
2	0	66	34
3	0	67	33
4	0	68	32
5	0	69	31
6	0	70	30
7	0	71	29
8	0	72	28
9	0	73	27
10	0	74	26
11	0	75	25
12	0	76	24
13	0	77	23
14	0	79	21
15	0	80	20
16	0	81	19
17	0	82	18
18	1	82	17
19	1	84	15
20	1	85	14
21	1	86	13
22	1	86	13
23	2	86	12
24	2	87	11
25	2	88	10
26	3	87	10
27	3	88	9
28	4	87	9
29	5	87	8
30	5	87	8
31	6	87	7

Wind in May

Winds average 12 km/h in May.

Across May, daily wind ranges from about 12 km/h on the calmest days to 12 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)	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12
Feels	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze

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

Sunrise & sunset in May

DaylightNight

Daylight runs from about 11 h 18 min at the start of May to 10 h 54 min by month's end. The lit band spans sunrise to sunset each day.

Days shrink by about 24 minutes over May. Sunrise moves from 8:00 AM to 8:12 AM, and sunset from 7:16 PM to 7:04 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)	11.3	11.3	11.2	11.2	11.2	11.2	11.2	11.2	11.1	11.1	11.1	11.1	11.1	11.1	11.1	11.0	11.0	11.0	11.0	11.0	11.0	11.0	11.0	10.9	10.9	10.9	10.9	10.9	10.9	10.9	10.9
Sunrise (AM)	8:00	8:00	8:00	8:01	8:01	8:02	8:02	8:02	8:03	8:03	8:03	8:04	8:04	8:05	8:05	8:06	8:06	8:06	8:07	8:07	8:08	8:08	8:08	8:09	8:09	8:10	8:10	8:10	8:11	8:11	8:12
Sunset (PM)	7:16	7:15	7:15	7:14	7:14	7:13	7:12	7:12	7:11	7:11	7:10	7:10	7:09	7:09	7:09	7:08	7:08	7:07	7:07	7:07	7:06	7:06	7:06	7:06	7:05	7:05	7:05	7:05	7:05	7:04	7:04

	Daylight (h)	Sunrise (AM)	Sunset (PM)
1	11.3	8:00	7:16
2	11.3	8:00	7:15
3	11.2	8:00	7:15
4	11.2	8:01	7:14
5	11.2	8:01	7:14
6	11.2	8:02	7:13
7	11.2	8:02	7:12
8	11.2	8:02	7:12
9	11.1	8:03	7:11
10	11.1	8:03	7:11
11	11.1	8:03	7:10
12	11.1	8:04	7:10
13	11.1	8:04	7:09
14	11.1	8:05	7:09
15	11.1	8:05	7:09
16	11.0	8:06	7:08
17	11.0	8:06	7:08
18	11.0	8:06	7:07
19	11.0	8:07	7:07
20	11.0	8:07	7:07
21	11.0	8:08	7:06
22	11.0	8:08	7:06
23	11.0	8:08	7:06
24	10.9	8:09	7:06
25	10.9	8:09	7:05
26	10.9	8:10	7:05
27	10.9	8:10	7:05
28	10.9	8:10	7:05
29	10.9	8:11	7:05
30	10.9	8:11	7:04
31	10.9	8:12	7:04

Solar energy in May

Daily solar energy (kWh/m²)

Average shortwave solar energy reaching the ground each day in May, about 4.89 kWh/m².

For context, solar energy here swings from a low near 4.26 kWh/m² to a high of 8.22 kWh/m² in December across the year — May's 4.89 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)	5.4	5.3	5.3	5.3	5.3	5.2	5.2	5.1	5.1	5.1	5.0	5.0	5.0	4.9	4.9	4.9	4.8	4.8	4.8	4.8	4.7	4.7	4.7	4.7	4.6	4.6	4.6	4.5	4.5	4.5	4.5
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	5.4	Bright
2	5.3	Bright
3	5.3	Bright
4	5.3	Bright
5	5.3	Bright
6	5.2	Bright
7	5.2	Bright
8	5.1	Bright
9	5.1	Bright
10	5.1	Bright
11	5.0	Bright
12	5.0	Bright
13	5.0	Bright
14	4.9	Bright
15	4.9	Bright
16	4.9	Bright
17	4.8	Bright
18	4.8	Bright
19	4.8	Bright
20	4.8	Bright
21	4.7	Bright
22	4.7	Bright
23	4.7	Bright
24	4.7	Bright
25	4.6	Bright
26	4.6	Bright
27	4.6	Bright
28	4.5	Bright
29	4.5	Bright
30	4.5	Bright
31	4.5	Bright

Planning a trip in May

Is May a good time to visit Iquique?

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

7.1

Sightseeing

7th-best month of the year

2.8

Beach & pool

7th-best month of the year

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

What to pack for Iquique in May

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

In May, Iquique sees daytime highs around 19°C and nights near 16°C. Worth packing: sun protection.

sun protection

Sea temperature near Iquique in May

The nearest coast averages about 19°C in May — the other half of the beach question. The full-year curve and swim-comfort zones are below.

The sea offshore is warmest in January at about 22°C and coldest in August near 17°C.

It's comfortable for a long swim from Dec 6 to Apr 10 — about 4.1 months when the water holds above 20°C.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Sea temperature (°C)	22	22	21	20	19	18	17	17	17	18	19	20
Comfort	Refreshing	Refreshing	Refreshing	Cool	Cool	Cool	Cool	Cool	Cool	Cool	Cool	Refreshing

	Sea temperature (°C)	Comfort
Jan	22	Refreshing
Feb	22	Refreshing
Mar	21	Refreshing
Apr	20	Cool
May	19	Cool
Jun	18	Cool
Jul	17	Cool
Aug	17	Cool
Sep	17	Cool
Oct	18	Cool
Nov	19	Cool
Dec	20	Refreshing

UV index in Iquique in May

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Clear-sky midday UV in May peaks around 8 (very high — sun protection essential). The full-year curve, shaded by WHO exposure level, is below.

Under clear skies, the midday UV index in Iquique peaks around January 23 at about 15 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near July 11 at about 7 (high).

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)	16	15	13	10	8	7	7	9	12	13	13	15
Level	Extreme	Extreme	Extreme	Extreme	Very high	High	High	Very high	Extreme	Extreme	Extreme	Extreme

	UV index (midday)	Level
Jan	16	Extreme
Feb	15	Extreme
Mar	13	Extreme
Apr	10	Extreme
May	8	Very high
Jun	7	High
Jul	7	High
Aug	9	Very high
Sep	12	Extreme
Oct	13	Extreme
Nov	13	Extreme
Dec	15	Extreme

Location & terrain

Where is Iquique?

Iquique sits at 20.2°S, 70.2°W, 15 m above sea level, in Chile. The nearest listed city is Alto Hospicio, 8.0 km away.

Topography around Iquique

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Iquique has large variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 642 m around an average of 37 m above sea level; within 16 km, very significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 1,366 m; within 80 km, very significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 2,271 m.

The land around Iquique is covered by water (56%) and artificial surfaces (29%) within 3 km, water (54%) and bare terrain (43%) within 16 km, and bare terrain (65%) and water (33%) within 80 km.

3 km

642 m

water 56%

16 km

1,366 m

water 54%

80 km

2,271 m

bare terrain 65%

shrubsartificial surfacesbare terrainwater

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

May weather nearby: Alto Hospicio 8.0 km · Pozo Almonte 38 km · Arica 194 km · Tocopilla 209 km · Tacna 245 km · Calama 280 km · Ilo 313 km · San Antonio 343 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 Iquique (-20.2133°, -70.1503°, elevation 15 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. 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	19	17
2	19	17
3	19	17
4	19	17
5	19	16
6	19	16
7	19	16
8	19	16
9	19	16
10	19	16
11	19	16
12	19	16
13	19	16
14	19	16
15	19	16
16	19	16
17	19	16
18	19	16
19	19	16
20	19	16
21	18	16
22	18	16
23	18	16
24	18	16
25	18	16
26	18	15
27	18	15
28	18	15
29	18	15
30	18	15
31	18	15

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	65	35
2	64	36
3	63	37
4	62	38
5	61	39
6	59	41
7	59	41
8	57	43
9	56	44
10	55	45
11	54	46
12	53	47
13	52	48
14	51	49
15	50	50
16	49	51
17	49	51
18	48	52
19	47	53
20	47	53
21	46	54
22	46	54
23	46	54
24	44	56
25	44	56
26	43	57
27	42	58
28	41	59
29	39	61
30	39	61
31	37	63

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

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)	Humid (%)
1	0	65	35
2	0	66	34
3	0	67	33
4	0	68	32
5	0	69	31
6	0	70	30
7	0	71	29
8	0	72	28
9	0	73	27
10	0	74	26
11	0	75	25
12	0	76	24
13	0	77	23
14	0	79	21
15	0	80	20
16	0	81	19
17	0	82	18
18	1	82	17
19	1	84	15
20	1	85	14
21	1	86	13
22	1	86	13
23	2	86	12
24	2	87	11
25	2	88	10
26	3	87	10
27	3	88	9
28	4	87	9
29	5	87	8
30	5	87	8
31	6	87	7

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

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	65	35
2	64	36
3	63	37
4	62	38
5	61	39
6	59	41
7	59	41
8	57	43
9	56	44
10	55	45
11	54	46
12	53	47
13	52	48
14	51	49
15	50	50
16	49	51
17	49	51
18	48	52
19	47	53
20	47	53
21	46	54
22	46	54
23	46	54
24	44	56
25	44	56
26	43	57
27	42	58
28	41	59
29	39	61
30	39	61
31	37	63

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

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)	Humid (%)
1	0	65	35
2	0	66	34
3	0	67	33
4	0	68	32
5	0	69	31
6	0	70	30
7	0	71	29
8	0	72	28
9	0	73	27
10	0	74	26
11	0	75	25
12	0	76	24
13	0	77	23
14	0	79	21
15	0	80	20
16	0	81	19
17	0	82	18
18	1	82	17
19	1	84	15
20	1	85	14
21	1	86	13
22	1	86	13
23	2	86	12
24	2	87	11
25	2	88	10
26	3	87	10
27	3	88	9
28	4	87	9
29	5	87	8
30	5	87	8
31	6	87	7

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

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	65	35
2	64	36
3	63	37
4	62	38
5	61	39
6	59	41
7	59	41
8	57	43
9	56	44
10	55	45
11	54	46
12	53	47
13	52	48
14	51	49
15	50	50
16	49	51
17	49	51
18	48	52
19	47	53
20	47	53
21	46	54
22	46	54
23	46	54
24	44	56
25	44	56
26	43	57
27	42	58
28	41	59
29	39	61
30	39	61
31	37	63

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

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)	Humid (%)
1	0	65	35
2	0	66	34
3	0	67	33
4	0	68	32
5	0	69	31
6	0	70	30
7	0	71	29
8	0	72	28
9	0	73	27
10	0	74	26
11	0	75	25
12	0	76	24
13	0	77	23
14	0	79	21
15	0	80	20
16	0	81	19
17	0	82	18
18	1	82	17
19	1	84	15
20	1	85	14
21	1	86	13
22	1	86	13
23	2	86	12
24	2	87	11
25	2	88	10
26	3	87	10
27	3	88	9
28	4	87	9
29	5	87	8
30	5	87	8
31	6	87	7