Climate and average weather in Chicacao

In Chicacao, the weather is hot, wet, and mostly clear and remarkably steady, with daytime highs holding near hot levels all year. The wettest stretch peaks around September.

Best: early December to early March

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Chicacao typically varies from 18°C to 29°C, and is rarely below 16°C or above 32°C. March is the hottest month of the year, while October is the coldest.

Based on the travel score, the best time of year to visit Chicacao for warm-weather activities is from early December to early March.

Hottest
Mar
29°
Coldest
Oct
20°
Wettest
Sep
520 mm
Driest
Feb
16 mm
Rain / yr
3134 mm
255 wet days
Daylight
11.1–12.9 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
511 m
14.5°N
Clearest
Jan
27% cloud

Chicacao weather by month, at a glance

The whole year in one picture — sky, rain, humidity, temperature and travel score. Click any band to jump to its full chart.

Each stripe is one measure across the whole year, stacked so a single day reads top to bottom. The sky band runs overcast grey on top down to clear blue at the base — more blue means sunnier — followed by the rainfall curve, the humidity band, a temperature strip that tints each stretch of the year by how warm its average high is, and the travel-score line at the foot. Scan straight down any date to read that day across every measure at once; the score climbs highest around early December to early March.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

Daily average highs and lows in Chicacao, from 1991–2020 of climate data. The shaded bands show the range most days fall in — 10th to 90th percentile.

Temperatures in Chicacao stay fairly even through the year, without a distinct hot or cool season. The warmest month is March, with an average high of 29°C and low of 19°C; the coolest is October, with an average low of 20°C and high of 27°C.

Days typically run about 8°C warmer than nights, with the widest day–night swing (around 11°C) in February.

15°20°25°30°35°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan2818
Feb2918
Mar2919
Apr2920
May2820
Jun2720
Jul2720
Aug2720
Sep2720
Oct2720
Nov2719
Dec2718

Average hourly temperature in Chicacao

A compact picture of the whole year, hour by hour: each column is a day, each row an hour, and the color is the modeled average temperature. Darker overlays mark night, lighter ones the civil-twilight hours around sunrise and sunset.

Read left to right for the day of the year and top to bottom for the hour of the day; the color is the modeled temperature, cool blues through to hot reds on the same scale as the other charts. A vertical slice is a single day's swing — coolest just before dawn, warmest in the mid-afternoon — while a horizontal slice follows one hour across the seasons. The darker overlay marks night and the lighter one the twilight around sunrise and sunset. Colors run warmest on March afternoons, near 29°C, and coldest before dawn in October, near 20°C.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec12 AM2 AM4 AM6 AM8 AM10 AM12 PM2 PM4 PM6 PM8 PM10 PM12 AM

Chicacao weather by month

Every month at a glance. Click a month for its detailed page.

MonthHigh / Low (°C)Rainfall (mm)Wet daysDaylight (hours)Travel score
Jan28° / 18°20611.27.3
Feb29° / 18°165.111.56.5
Mar29° / 19°4910.311.95.5
Apr29° / 20°12819.412.34.4
May28° / 20°3952912.73.5
Jun27° / 20°43629.312.83.3
Jul27° / 20°37430.612.83.3
Aug27° / 20°44730.712.53.3
Sep27° / 20°52029.812.13.3
Oct27° / 20°50930.411.73.5
Nov27° / 19°1962311.34.7
Dec27° / 18°4411.511.26.7

Chance of rain

How likely it is to rain on a typical day, and how that shifts across the wetter and drier seasons.

Chicacao gets about 3134 mm of precipitation a year. On a typical day the chance of rain is very wet, but that rises and falls sharply with the seasons.

The wetter season lasts 7.0 months, from around Apr 22 to Nov 20, peaking in September at about 100% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Feb 3.

September is the wettest month by volume, with 520 mm over about 30 wet days; February is the driest, with 16 mm.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%110%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdrierwetterdriermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetSep 26 · 100%Feb 3 · 18%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan206
Feb185
Mar3410
Apr6519
May9229
Jun9829
Jul9931
Aug9931
Sep9930
Oct9830
Nov7623
Dec3812

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Chicacao collects about 3134 mm of rain across 255 wet days — roughly 261 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. September is the wettest month with 520 mm, while February is the driest at just 16 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 47% of the year’s total.

050100150200250300350400450500550600JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec20164912839543637444752050919644
Rainfall (mm)Rain days
Jan206
Feb165
Mar4910
Apr12819
May39529
Jun43629
Jul37431
Aug44731
Sep52030
Oct50930
Nov19623
Dec4412

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

How often the daytime sky is clear, partly cloudy or overcast.

In Chicacao, the average share of the sky covered by clouds shows significant seasonal variation over the course of the year.

The clearer part of the year begins around November 5 and lasts for 5.7 months, ending around April 27. The clearest month is January, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 93% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around April 28 and lasts for 6.3 months, ending around November 4. The cloudiest month is September, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 95% of the time.

0%100%10%90%20%80%30%70%40%60%50%50%60%40%70%30%80%20%90%10%100%0%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecJan 19 · 94%Sep 19 · 4%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastclearercloudierclearer
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan937
Feb928
Mar8515
Apr6238
May2080
Jun892
Jul1189
Aug1189
Sep595
Oct1783
Nov6139
Dec8812

Daylight, sunrise and sunset

DaylightNight

Hours of daylight through the year, with sunrise and sunset times.

The gold band is daylight — sunrise runs along its lower edge, sunset along the upper — so it widens toward summer and pinches toward winter, with night the dark area above and below. The longest day, around June 14, brings about 12 h 54 min of light; the shortest, around December 14, only 11 h 06 min — a swing of roughly 1 h 48 min.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan11.26:385:51
Feb11.56:346:05
Mar11.96:186:12
Apr12.35:566:15
May12.75:416:22
Jun12.85:406:31
Jul12.85:476:34
Aug12.55:556:24
Sep12.15:576:02
Oct11.76:005:40
Nov11.36:115:30
Dec11.26:275:36

Sunny days

How many genuinely sunny days each month brings — days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — banded into plain-language zones.

Chicacao averages about 9 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 0 and 25 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 5.0 months, from around Nov 13 to Apr 14. The sunniest month is January, with roughly 25 sunny days (brilliant).

The greyest month is September, down near 0 sunny days — about 100% fewer than the January peak.

051015202530JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecsunniergreyersunniergloomymixedbrightbrilliantJan 1525 daysSep 70 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan25Brilliant
Feb21Brilliant
Mar18Bright
Apr9Mixed
May2Gloomy
Jun0Gloomy
Jul1Gloomy
Aug0Gloomy
Sep0Gloomy
Oct2Gloomy
Nov11Mixed
Dec22Bright

Humidity comfort

DryComfortableHumidMuggyOppressiveMiserable

Share of days at each humidity comfort level, based on the dew point — the measure that tracks how muggy it actually feels.

Humidity comfort is graded by the dew point — the temperature at which the air would be fully saturated — because it tracks how muggy it actually feels far better than relative humidity does. A low dew point feels dry and crisp; a high one feels sticky and oppressive no matter the reading on a humidity gauge.

In Chicacao, how humid it feels changes dramatically over the year.

The more humid part of the year lasts 8.3 months, from around April 1 to December 10. The muggiest month is June, when the air feels humid, muggy or worse about 100% of the time.

The most comfortable stretch runs from around December 11 to March 31, and February is the most comfortable month — the air is dry or comfortable 39% of the time.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecFeb 12 · 42%Jun 4 · 0%oppressivehumidmuggycomfortablecomfortablehumid
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)Humid (%)Muggy (%)Oppressive (%)
Jan4286260
Feb4355550
Mar21853260
Apr0324684
May0127720
Jun0008416
Jul0009010
Aug0009010
Sep000919
Oct003888
Nov0322732
Dec11157310

Wind

Average wind speed through the year, banded into plain-language speed zones so a number reads as 'breezy' or 'calm' without knowing the scale.

This is the average sustained wind speed at the standard 10 metres above open ground — the steady flow a weather station reports, not the sharper gusts that come and go, which can run half again as fast. It's the number that says whether a place is generally breezy or calm.

Wind in Chicacao is steady company: average speeds sit near 4 km/hcalm — in every month of the year, with no meaningful windy or calm season.

0510JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDeccalmJan 17 · 5 km/hMay 27 · 4 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan5calm
Feb5calm
Mar5calm
Apr4calm
May4calm
Jun4calm
Jul4calm
Aug4calm
Sep4calm
Oct4calm
Nov4calm
Dec5calm

Hazard calendar for Chicacao

In seasonPeak

When the seasonal hazards worth planning around — the rainy season, tropical-cyclone risk and dust haze — are active through the year.

Chicacao sits in the Atlantic hurricane belt; the season peaks August–October.

Chicacao's rainy season runs May–October, when most of the year's rain falls.

Atlantic hurricane
Rainy season
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec

Best time to visit Chicacao

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

To characterize how pleasant the weather is in Chicacao throughout the year, we compute two travel scores — one for general sightseeing, one for beach and pool weather.

Around late February, Chicacao is still near the tail of its best-weather window — great conditions with the peak-season crowds already thinning.

Inferred from the travel-score curve; month-by-month visitor numbers are a planned addition.

The travel score favors clear, rainless days with daytime highs between 18°C and 28°C. Based on this score, the best time of year to visit Chicacao for general outdoor tourist activities is from early December to early March, with a peak score in the second week of January.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationJan 12 · 7.5

The travel score (filled area), and its constituents: the temperature score (red line), the cloud cover score (blue line), and the precipitation score (green line).

Travel score (0–10)Rating
Jan7.3good
Feb6.5good
Mar5.5good
Apr4.4fair
May3.5fair
Jun3.3poor
Jul3.3poor
Aug3.3poor
Sep3.3poor
Oct3.5poor
Nov4.7fair
Dec6.7good

The beach/pool score favors clear, rainless days with daytime highs between 24°C and 34°C. Based on this score, the best time of year to visit Chicacao for hot-weather activities is from mid December to late March, with a peak score in the second week of February.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationFeb 11 · 8.3

The beach/pool score (filled area), and its constituents: the temperature score (red line), the cloud cover score (blue line), and the precipitation score (green line).

What to pack for Chicacao, by month

EssentialRecommendedOptional

Month by month, what's worth putting in the bag — from the temperature range, rain chance, sun and wind. Tap a month for a quick packing note.

Chicacao packs about the same all year — highs hold near 29°C. Across the year the things worth having are light clothes, rain gear and sun protection.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In March, Chicacao sees daytime highs around 29°C and nights near 19°C. Pack light clothes and sun protection. Worth having: rain gear. About 10 days see rain.

Sea temperature near Chicacao

Average ocean temperature at the nearest coast, month by month, banded into swim-comfort zones — the other half of the beach question.

The sea at the nearest coast (about 57 km away) is warmest in July at about 30°C and coldest in February near 29°C.

The water stays above 20°C all year — warm enough for a swim any month.

28°30°32°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwarmtropicalcomfortable to swim
Sea temperature (°C)Comfort
Jan29Tropical
Feb29Tropical
Mar29Tropical
Apr29Tropical
May30Tropical
Jun30Tropical
Jul30Tropical
Aug30Tropical
Sep30Tropical
Oct29Tropical
Nov30Tropical
Dec29Tropical

UV index (midday) in Chicacao by month

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Clear-sky midday UV index through the year, shaded by the WHO exposure levels — how much sun protection each month calls for.

Under clear skies, the midday UV index in Chicacao peaks around April 13 at about 13 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near December 12 at about 9 (very high).

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

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecExtremeVery highApr 13UV 13Dec 12UV 9
UV index (midday)Level
Jan9Very high
Feb12Extreme
Mar12Extreme
Apr13Extreme
May11Extreme
Jun12Extreme
Jul12Extreme
Aug12Extreme
Sep11Extreme
Oct11Extreme
Nov9Very high
Dec9Very high

Average hourly UV index in Chicacao

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Modeled clear-sky UV for every hour of every day — when in the day sun protection actually matters.

The whole year hour by hour: each column is a day, each row an hour, and the color is the modeled clear-sky UV index — the midday peak scaled down as the sun sits lower in the sky. Darker overlays mark night, lighter ones the civil-twilight hours around sunrise and sunset.

UV falls off far faster than brightness as the sun drops, so even in April the burn window is concentrated in the middle of the day: about 8 hours a day reach index 3 (protection recommended), and 6 hours reach 6 or more. Mornings and late afternoons stay comparatively gentle year round.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec12 AM2 AM4 AM6 AM8 AM10 AM12 PM2 PM4 PM6 PM8 PM10 PM12 AM
UV ≥ 3 (h/day)UV ≥ 6 (h/day)
Jan75
Feb7.55.5
Mar86
Apr86
May86
Jun86
Jul8.56
Aug86
Sep86
Oct7.55
Nov6.54
Dec6.54

Air quality in Chicacao by month

GoodModeratePoorUnhealthyVery unhealthy

Average fine-particle pollution (PM2.5) through the year — so you can see which months the air is worst, not just the yearly average.

Air quality in Chicacao is worst in December — around 45 µg/m³ PM2.5 (poor), about 1.6× the cleanest month (June, 28 µg/m³).

Modeled monthly averages (CAMS reanalysis, 2015–2024).

0204060JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecPoorModeratePoorDec 2145 µg/m³Jun 2228 µg/m³
PM2.5 (µg/m³)Level
Jan44Poor
Feb45Poor
Mar41Poor
Apr44Poor
May40Poor
Jun28Moderate
Jul29Moderate
Aug29Moderate
Sep29Moderate
Oct30Moderate
Nov37Poor
Dec45Poor
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free dayFrost-free year round

Chicacao is frost-free year round — even the coldest nights rarely reach freezing, so there is no start or end to the growing season.

0%25%50%75%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecfrost-free year round
Frost-free chance (%)Frost nights
Jan1000
Feb1000
Mar1000
Apr1000
May1000
Jun1000
Jul1000
Aug1000
Sep1000
Oct1000
Nov1000
Dec1000

Growing degree days

Degree days (base 10°C)Frost-free shaded

Growing degree days tally heat above 10°C: each day adds however many degrees its average temperature runs over that threshold, and cold days add nothing. Chicacao banks about 4,939 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around April.

02,0004,000JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°C·days)
Jan401
Feb382
Mar440
Apr432
May435
Jun410
Jul424
Aug421
Sep401
Oct408
Nov390
Dec394

Solar energy

Average daily shortwave solar energy reaching the ground, banded into brightness zones so the number means something at a glance.

Solar energy is how much sunlight actually reaches the ground each day, measured in kilowatt-hours per square metre (kWh/m²) — the combined effect of how long the sun is up, how high it climbs, and how much cloud gets in the way. It's the raw fuel a solar panel has to work with: for scale, 1 kWh/m² a day is dim and wintry, while 7+ is desert-bright.

Chicacao receives about 5.2 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — bright — with a clear seasonal swing between 4.3 and 6.1 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 4.1 months, from around Jan 18 to May 21. The brightest month is April, averaging about 6.0 kWh/m² (intense).

The dimmest month is October, down near 4.4 kWh/m² — roughly 28% less than the April peak.

01234567JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightintenseApr 66.1 kWhOct 94.3 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan5.2Bright
Feb5.7Bright
Mar6.0Intense
Apr6.1Intense
May5.4Bright
Jun5.0Bright
Jul5.4Bright
Aug5.3Bright
Sep4.7Bright
Oct4.4Bright
Nov4.7Bright
Dec5.0Bright

Where is Chicacao?

Chicacao sits at 14.5°N, 91.3°W, 511 m above sea level, in Guatemala. The nearest listed city is San Pablo Jocopilas, 14 km away.

PanajachelTiquisate

Topography around Chicacao

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Chicacao has significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 448 m around an average of 521 m above sea level; within 16 km, extreme variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 3,427 m; within 80 km, extreme variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 3,937 m.

The land around Chicacao is covered by trees (93%) within 3 km, trees (84%) within 16 km, and trees (58%) within 80 km.

3 km
448 m
16 km
3,427 m
80 km
3,937 m
treesgrasslandcroplandartificial surfaceswatermangroves
Nearby: San Pablo Jocopilas 14 km · Santiago Atitlán 15 km · Santa Bárbara 16 km · Mazatenango 19 km · San Francisco Zapotitlán 22 km · Patulul 22 km · Panajachel 29 km · Tiquisate 29 km

Guatemala travel facts

Travel advisory
Level 3
Reconsider Travel
Power plugs
Type A / B
120 V · 60 Hz
Prices
≈ 43% of US
price level, 2025
GDP per capita
$6,598
2025
Happiness
6.5 / 10
World Happiness, 2025
Safe drinking water
49%
of population, 2024
Homicide rate
23.4
per 100k, 2023
Road deaths
22.9
per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group
Upper middle
World Bank
English
Moderate
EF EPI 510
Religion
Evangelical 46%Roman Catholic 42%none 11%

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 Chicacao (14.5429°, -91.3264°, elevation 511 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. Tropical-cyclone seasons are the published climatological basin seasons (NOAA National Hurricane Center / regional warning centres). 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).