Climate and average weather in Chichicastenango

In Chichicastenango, the weather is warm, wet, and partly cloudy and remarkably steady, with daytime highs holding near warm levels all year. The wettest stretch peaks around September.

Best: early January to mid April

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Chichicastenango typically varies from 10°C to 25°C, and is rarely below 8°C or above 28°C. April is the hottest month of the year, while December is the coldest.

Based on the travel score, the best times of year to visit Chichicastenango for warm-weather activities are from early January to mid April and late November to late December.

Hottest
Apr
25°
Coldest
Dec
11°
Wettest
Sep
265 mm
Driest
Feb
5 mm
Rain / yr
1338 mm
169 wet days
Daylight
11.1–12.9 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
2,077 m
14.9°N
Clearest
Feb
38% cloud

Chichicastenango 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 January to mid April.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

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

Temperatures in Chichicastenango stay fairly even through the year, without a distinct hot or cool season. The warmest month is April, with an average high of 25°C and low of 13°C; the coolest is December, with an average low of 11°C and high of 21°C.

Days typically run about 10°C warmer than nights, with the widest day–night swing (around 13°C) in March.

10°15°20°25°30°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan2110
Feb2311
Mar2411
Apr2513
May2414
Jun2314
Jul2213
Aug2313
Sep2314
Oct2213
Nov2112
Dec2111

Average hourly temperature in Chichicastenango

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 April afternoons, near 25°C, and coldest before dawn in December, near 11°C.

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

Chichicastenango 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
Jan21° / 10°82.611.27.9
Feb23° / 11°51.411.58.5
Mar24° / 11°153.811.98.3
Apr25° / 13°498.812.37.0
May24° / 14°15720.412.75.1
Jun23° / 14°2552612.94.1
Jul22° / 13°15722.212.84.7
Aug23° / 13°18923.812.54.5
Sep23° / 14°26526.912.13.9
Oct22° / 13°18120.811.74.8
Nov21° / 12°438.511.36.6
Dec21° / 11°133.411.17.6

Chance of rain

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

Chichicastenango gets about 1338 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 5.9 months, from around May 3 to Oct 29, peaking in September at about 90% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Feb 16.

September is the wettest month by volume, with 265 mm over about 27 wet days; February is the driest, with 5 mm.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdrierwetterdriermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetSep 22 · 90%Feb 16 · 5%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan83
Feb61
Mar124
Apr309
May6520
Jun8526
Jul7222
Aug7724
Sep8927
Oct6821
Nov289
Dec123

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Chichicastenango collects about 1338 mm of rain across 169 wet days — roughly 112 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. September is the wettest month with 265 mm, while February is the driest at just 5 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 53% of the year’s total.

050100150200250300JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec8515491572551571892651814313
Rainfall (mm)Rain days
Jan83
Feb51
Mar154
Apr499
May15720
Jun25526
Jul15722
Aug18924
Sep26527
Oct18121
Nov439
Dec133

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Chichicastenango, 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 11 and lasts for 5.6 months, ending around April 29. The clearest month is February, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 78% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around April 30 and lasts for 6.4 months, ending around November 10. The cloudiest month is June, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 89% 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%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecFeb 20 · 79%Jun 18 · 9%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastclearercloudierclearer
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan7030
Feb7822
Mar7327
Apr5842
May2377
Jun1189
Jul1981
Aug1783
Sep1288
Oct2080
Nov4357
Dec6238

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 7, brings about 12 h 54 min of light; the shortest, around January 1, 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)
Jan11.26:385:50
Feb11.56:346:04
Mar11.96:176:11
Apr12.35:556:15
May12.75:406:21
Jun12.95:386:31
Jul12.85:466:34
Aug12.55:536:24
Sep12.15:566:01
Oct11.76:005:39
Nov11.36:115:29
Dec11.16:275:34

Sunny days

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

Chichicastenango averages about 7 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 0 and 17 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 5.2 months, from around Nov 17 to Apr 24. The sunniest month is February, with roughly 17 sunny days (bright).

The greyest month is September, down near 1 sunny days — about 96% fewer than the February peak.

05101520JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecsunniergreyersunniergloomymixedbrightFeb 2317 daysSep 230 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan14Mixed
Feb15Bright
Mar16Bright
Apr9Mixed
May3Gloomy
Jun1Gloomy
Jul2Gloomy
Aug2Gloomy
Sep1Gloomy
Oct2Gloomy
Nov7Gloomy
Dec12Mixed

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 Chichicastenango, the air stays dry or comfortable essentially all year. Even in June, the muggiest month, it feels humid or worse only about 11% of the time — humidity is not something you need to plan around here.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecJan 4 · 100%Jun 8 · 87%humiddrycomfortablecomfortablehumidcomfortable
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)Humid (%)
Jan9640
Feb9820
Mar90100
Apr64350
May24697
Jun68311
Jul13852
Aug9864
Sep3898
Oct15787
Nov54451
Dec85150

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 Chichicastenango is steady company: average speeds sit near 5 km/hcalm — in every month of the year, with no meaningful windy or calm season.

0510JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDeccalmMar 8 · 6 km/hSep 23 · 4 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan6calm
Feb6calm
Mar6calm
Apr6calm
May5calm
Jun5calm
Jul5calm
Aug5calm
Sep4calm
Oct5calm
Nov6calm
Dec6calm

Hazard calendar for Chichicastenango

In seasonPeak

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

Chichicastenango's monsoon runs May–October, when most of the year's rain falls.

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

Best time to visit Chichicastenango

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

Around early April, Chichicastenango 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 Chichicastenango for general outdoor tourist activities is from late November to mid April, with a peak score in the last week of February.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationFeb 24 · 8.7

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
Jan7.9ideal
Feb8.5ideal
Mar8.3ideal
Apr7.0good
May5.1fair
Jun4.1fair
Jul4.6fair
Aug4.5fair
Sep3.9fair
Oct4.8fair
Nov6.6good
Dec7.5ideal

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 Chichicastenango for hot-weather activities is from early February to late April, with a peak score in the third week of March.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationMar 17 · 7.2

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 Chichicastenango, 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.

Chichicastenango packs about the same all year — highs hold near 25°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 April, Chichicastenango sees daytime highs around 25°C and nights near 13°C. Pack sun protection. Worth having: light clothes and rain gear. About 9 days see rain.

UV index (midday) in Chichicastenango 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 Chichicastenango peaks around April 14 at about 15 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near December 14 at about 10 (very high).

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

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecExtremeVery highApr 14UV 15Dec 14UV 10
UV index (midday)Level
Jan10Extreme
Feb14Extreme
Mar14Extreme
Apr15Extreme
May13Extreme
Jun13Extreme
Jul14Extreme
Aug13Extreme
Sep13Extreme
Oct12Extreme
Nov10Very high
Dec10Very high

Average hourly UV index in Chichicastenango

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 8.5 hours a day reach index 3 (protection recommended), and 6.5 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
Feb86
Mar86.5
Apr8.56.5
May8.56.5
Jun8.56.5
Jul8.56.5
Aug86.5
Sep86
Oct7.55.5
Nov75
Dec74.5

Air quality in Chichicastenango 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 Chichicastenango is worst in April — around 48 µg/m³ PM2.5 (poor), about 2.2× the cleanest month (August, 22 µg/m³).

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

0204060JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecModeratePoorModerateApr 1846 µg/m³Aug 1422 µg/m³
PM2.5 (µg/m³)Level
Jan26Moderate
Feb26Moderate
Mar31Moderate
Apr48Poor
May37Poor
Jun25Moderate
Jul23Moderate
Aug22Moderate
Sep24Moderate
Oct23Moderate
Nov22Moderate
Dec24Moderate
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free dayFrost-free year round

Chichicastenango 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. Chichicastenango banks about 2,757 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around May.

01,0002,0003,000JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°C·days)
Jan176
Feb187
Mar244
Apr267
May277
Jun255
Jul245
Aug251
Sep248
Oct237
Nov192
Dec178

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.

Chichicastenango receives about 5.3 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — bright — with a clear seasonal swing between 4.4 and 6.5 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 3.7 months, from around Feb 6 to May 28. The brightest month is April, averaging about 6.4 kWh/m² (intense).

The dimmest month is November, down near 4.4 kWh/m² — roughly 31% less than the April peak.

012345678JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmerbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightintenseApr 66.5 kWhNov 94.4 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan4.8Bright
Feb5.6Bright
Mar6.2Intense
Apr6.4Intense
May5.7Bright
Jun5.2Bright
Jul5.6Bright
Aug5.7Bright
Sep5.0Bright
Oct4.5Bright
Nov4.4Bright
Dec4.5Bright

Where is Chichicastenango?

Chichicastenango sits at 14.9°N, 91.1°W, 2,077 m above sea level, in Guatemala. The nearest listed city is Santa Cruz del Quiché, 10 km away.

TotonicapánPatzúnComalapa

Topography around Chichicastenango

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Chichicastenango has large variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 766 m around an average of 2,065 m above sea level; within 16 km, very significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 1,944 m; within 80 km, extreme variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 3,879 m.

The land around Chichicastenango is covered by trees (82%) within 3 km, trees (75%) within 16 km, and trees (75%) within 80 km.

3 km
766 m
16 km
1,944 m
80 km
3,879 m
treesshrubsgrasslandcroplandartificial surfaceswater
Nearby: Santa Cruz del Quiché 10 km · Sololá 21 km · Panajachel 23 km · Tecpán Guatemala 24 km · Nahualá 25 km · Totonicapán 27 km · Patzún 31 km · Comalapa 33 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 Chichicastenango (14.9433°, -91.1112°, elevation 2,077 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. 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).