Climate and average weather in Cihuatlán

In Cihuatlán, the weather is humid, 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 January to mid May

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Cihuatlán typically varies from 17°C to 31°C, and is rarely below 14°C or above 33°C. May is the hottest month of the year, while January is the coldest.

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

Hottest
May
31°
Coldest
Jan
17°
Wettest
Sep
295 mm
Driest
Apr
1 mm
Rain / yr
1163 mm
117 wet days
Daylight
10.8–13.2 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
29 m
19.2°N
Clearest
Mar
27% cloud

Cihuatlán is municipal seat of Cihuatlán, State of Jalisco, Mexico.

Density
8,028/km²
people per km²
Founded
1867

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

Cihuatlán 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 May.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

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

Temperatures in Cihuatlán stay fairly even through the year, without a distinct hot or cool season. The warmest month is May, with an average high of 31°C and low of 21°C; the coolest is January, with an average low of 17°C and high of 28°C.

Days typically run about 9°C warmer than nights, with the widest day–night swing (around 11°C) in March.

10°15°20°25°30°35°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan2817
Feb2818
Mar2918
Apr3019
May3121
Jun3123
Jul3124
Aug3024
Sep3024
Oct3023
Nov2921
Dec2918

How hot and cold Cihuatlán really feels

Feels-like highFeels-like lowactual air temp

The felt-temperature range through the year — heat index on the day's high (summer humidity), wind chill on the night's low (winter wind). The dashed lines are the plain thermometer; the gap is how much hotter or colder it really feels.

On the hottest afternoons, once humidity is folded in, Cihuatlán feels like about 36°C (around July 31). About 193 days a year carry some heat stress, peaking in July.

15°20°25°30°35°40°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Feels-like high (°C)Air high (°C)Feels-like low (°C)Air low (°C)
Jan29281717
Feb29281718
Mar29291818
Apr30301919
May33312121
Jun34312323
Jul35312424
Aug35302424
Sep34302424
Oct34302323
Nov32292121
Dec30291818

Average hourly temperature in Cihuatlán

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 May afternoons, near 31°C, and coldest before dawn in January, near 17°C.

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

Cihuatlán 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° / 17°201.3117.4
Feb28° / 18°150.811.37.5
Mar29° / 18°60.411.97.4
Apr30° / 19°10.112.46.8
May31° / 21°61.212.95.9
Jun31° / 23°15615.113.14.1
Jul31° / 24°19421.8133.3
Aug30° / 24°26624.612.73.2
Sep30° / 24°29525.512.13.2
Oct30° / 23°16819.811.64.1
Nov29° / 21°264.411.16.3
Dec29° / 18°121.710.97.1

Chance of rain

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

Cihuatlán gets about 1163 mm of precipitation a year. On a typical day the chance of rain is often wet, but that rises and falls sharply with the seasons.

The wetter season lasts 4.9 months, from around Jun 8 to Nov 2, peaking in September at about 85% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Apr 2.

September is the wettest month by volume, with 295 mm over about 26 wet days; April is the driest, with 1 mm.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdrierwetterdriermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetSep 6 · 85%Apr 2 · 0%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan41
Feb31
Mar10
Apr00
May51
Jun4915
Jul7122
Aug7925
Sep8526
Oct6320
Nov164
Dec52

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Cihuatlán collects about 1163 mm of rain across 117 wet days — roughly 97 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. September is the wettest month with 295 mm, while April is the driest at just 1 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 65% of the year’s total.

050100150200250300350JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec20156161561942662951682612
Rainfall (mm)Rain days
Jan201
Feb151
Mar60
Apr10
May61
Jun15615
Jul19422
Aug26625
Sep29526
Oct16820
Nov264
Dec122

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Cihuatlán, 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 October 21 and lasts for 7.5 months, ending around June 6. The clearest month is March, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 82% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around June 7 and lasts for 4.5 months, ending around October 20. The cloudiest month is September, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 84% 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%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecMar 20 · 83%Aug 31 · 14%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastclearercloudierclearer
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan7129
Feb7921
Mar8218
Apr7723
May7624
Jun4060
Jul2278
Aug1981
Sep1684
Oct4852
Nov7327
Dec7030

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 16, brings about 13 h 12 min of light; the shortest, around December 15, only 10 h 48 min — a swing of roughly 2 h 24 min.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan11.07:396:36
Feb11.37:326:53
Mar11.97:127:04
Apr12.46:457:12
May12.96:277:22
Jun13.16:247:33
Jul13.06:327:36
Aug12.76:437:22
Sep12.16:496:56
Oct11.66:576:30
Nov11.17:116:16
Dec10.97:296:20

Sunny days

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

Cihuatlán averages about 13 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 1 and 22 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 7.2 months, from around Oct 29 to Jun 5. The sunniest month is March, with roughly 21 sunny days (bright).

The greyest month is September, down near 1 sunny days — about 93% fewer than the March peak.

0510152025JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecsunniergreyersunniergloomymixedbrightbrilliantMar 1822 daysSep 91 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan18Bright
Feb18Bright
Mar22Bright
Apr20Bright
May20Bright
Jun7Gloomy
Jul2Gloomy
Aug1Gloomy
Sep1Gloomy
Oct8Gloomy
Nov16Bright
Dec17Bright

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.

Cihuatlán is humid all year round — on a typical day the air feels at least humid, and there is no real dry season to wait for.

The stickiest month is June, when it feels muggy, oppressive or miserable about 99% of the time. Even in March, the mildest month, the air is dry or comfortable only 14% of the time.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecMar 16 · 16%Jun 4 · 0%miserablemuggyoppressivehumidcomfortablecomfortablehumid
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)Humid (%)Muggy (%)Oppressive (%)Miserable (%)
Jan013404520
Feb110444410
Mar212473720
Apr19444430
May031854250
Jun001167211
Jul00007129
Aug00006139
Sep00006040
Oct00036136
Nov00528597
Dec052453170

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 Cihuatlán is steady company: average speeds sit near 6 km/hcalm — in every month of the year, with no meaningful windy or calm season.

0510JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDeccalmMay 27 · 6 km/hJul 29 · 5 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan6calm
Feb6calm
Mar6calm
Apr6calm
May6calm
Jun6calm
Jul5calm
Aug5calm
Sep5calm
Oct5calm
Nov5calm
Dec5calm

Hazard calendar for Cihuatlán

In seasonPeak

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

Cihuatlán sits in the eastern Pacific hurricane zone; the season peaks August–September.

Cihuatlán's monsoon runs June–October, when most of the year's rain falls.

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

Best time to visit Cihuatlán

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

Around early May, Cihuatlán 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 Cihuatlán for general outdoor tourist activities is from mid November to mid May, with a peak score in the third week of February.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationFeb 18 · 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
Jan7.4good
Feb7.5good
Mar7.3good
Apr6.8good
May5.9good
Jun4.1fair
Jul3.3poor
Aug3.2poor
Sep3.2poor
Oct4.2fair
Nov6.2good
Dec7.1good

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 Cihuatlán for hot-weather activities is from early November to early June, with a peak score in the last week of March.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationMar 25 · 9.2

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 Cihuatlán, 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.

Cihuatlán packs about the same all year — highs hold near 31°C. Across the year the things worth having are light clothes and sun protection.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In May, Cihuatlán sees daytime highs around 31°C and nights near 21°C. Pack light clothes and sun protection.

Sea temperature near Cihuatlán

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 14 km away) is warmest in August at about 30°C and coldest in April near 25°C.

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

24°26°28°30°32°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecrefreshingwarmtropicalcomfortable to swim
Sea temperature (°C)Comfort
Jan27Warm
Feb26Warm
Mar25Warm
Apr25Warm
May27Warm
Jun28Tropical
Jul30Tropical
Aug30Tropical
Sep30Tropical
Oct29Tropical
Nov29Tropical
Dec28Warm

UV index (midday) in Cihuatlán 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 Cihuatlán peaks around May 14 at about 12 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near December 14 at about 6 (high).

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

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecVery highExtremeVery highVery highHighMay 14UV 12Dec 14UV 6
UV index (midday)Level
Jan8Very high
Feb10Extreme
Mar12Extreme
Apr12Extreme
May12Extreme
Jun10Extreme
Jul11Extreme
Aug9Very high
Sep11Extreme
Oct8Very high
Nov7High
Dec6High

Average hourly UV index in Cihuatlán

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 May the burn window is concentrated in the middle of the day: about 8.5 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)
Jan63.5
Feb75
Mar7.55.5
Apr86
May8.56
Jun86
Jul86
Aug7.55
Sep7.55
Oct74
Nov63
Dec5.51.5

Air quality in Cihuatlán 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 Cihuatlán is worst in May — around 48 µg/m³ PM2.5 (poor), about 5.2× the cleanest month (February, 9 µg/m³).

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

0204060JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecGoodModeratePoorModerateGoodMay 1745 µg/m³Feb 109 µg/m³
PM2.5 (µg/m³)Level
Jan10Good
Feb9Good
Mar10Good
Apr20Moderate
May48Poor
Jun20Moderate
Jul12Good
Aug10Good
Sep10Good
Oct10Good
Nov10Good
Dec10Good
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free dayFrost-free year round

Cihuatlán 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. Cihuatlán banks about 5,501 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around July.

02,0004,000JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°C·days)
Jan394
Feb362
Mar411
Apr424
May488
Jun509
Jul530
Aug525
Sep495
Oct502
Nov447
Dec415

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.

Cihuatlán receives about 5.6 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — bright — with a clear seasonal swing between 4.5 and 7.5 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 4.2 months, from around Feb 10 to Jun 16. The brightest month is April, averaging about 7.4 kWh/m² (intense).

The dimmest month is September, down near 4.6 kWh/m² — roughly 38% less than the April peak.

0123456789JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmerbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightintenseApr 307.5 kWhSep 254.5 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan4.9Bright
Feb5.8Bright
Mar6.8Intense
Apr7.4Intense
May7.3Intense
Jun5.6Bright
Jul5.3Bright
Aug5.1Bright
Sep4.5Bright
Oct4.7Bright
Nov4.8Bright
Dec4.7Bright

Where is Cihuatlán?

Cihuatlán sits at 19.2°N, 104.6°W, 29 m above sea level, in Mexico. The nearest listed city is Manzanillo, 27 km away.

Topography around Cihuatlán

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Cihuatlán has significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 318 m around an average of 78 m above sea level; within 16 km, large variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 880 m; within 80 km, extreme variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 2,867 m.

The land around Cihuatlán is covered by trees (72%) within 3 km, trees (60%) within 16 km, and trees (51%) and water (34%) within 80 km.

3 km
318 m
16 km
880 m
80 km
2,867 m
treesshrubsgrasslandcroplandartificial surfacesbare terrainwatermangroves
Nearby: Manzanillo 27 km · Autlán de Navarro 63 km · Ciudad de Armería 71 km · El Grullo 73 km · Tecomán 81 km · Ciudad de Villa de Álvarez 87 km · Colima 89 km · El Salto 122 km

Mexico travel facts

Travel advisory
Level 2
Exercise Increased Caution
Power plugs
Type A / B
120 / 127 V · 60 Hz
Prices
≈ 54% of US
price level, 2025
GDP per capita
$13,889
2025
Happiness
7.0 / 10
World Happiness, 2025
Safe drinking water
43%
of population, 2024
Homicide rate
24.9
per 100k, 2023
Road deaths
12.8
per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group
Upper middle
World Bank
English
Very low
EF EPI 440
Religion
Catholic 78%no religion 11%other Evangelical Churches 8%Jehovah Witness 1%

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 Cihuatlán (19.2366°, -104.5651°, elevation 29 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).