Climate and average weather in Tonalá

In Tonalá, 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 March

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Tonalá typically varies from 21°C to 32°C, and is rarely below 18°C or above 34°C. April is the hottest month of the year, while September is the coldest.

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

Hottest
Apr
32°
Coldest
Sep
24°
Wettest
Sep
347 mm
Driest
Jan
1 mm
Rain / yr
1589 mm
160 wet days
Daylight
11.0–13.0 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
50 m
16.1°N
Clearest
Feb
19% cloud

Tonalá is municipal seat of Tonalá, State of Chiapas, Mexico.

Founded
1490

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

Tonalá 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 March.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

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

Temperatures in Tonalá stay fairly even through the year, without a distinct hot or cool season. The warmest month is April, with an average high of 32°C and low of 23°C; the coolest is September, with an average low of 24°C and high of 29°C.

Days typically run about 7°C warmer than nights, with the widest day–night swing (around 9°C) in February.

15°20°25°30°35°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan3021
Feb3021
Mar3122
Apr3223
May3124
Jun3024
Jul3024
Aug3024
Sep2924
Oct2923
Nov3022
Dec3021

How hot and cold Tonalá 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, Tonalá feels like about 35°C (around May 5). About 222 days a year carry some heat stress, peaking in May.

20°25°30°35°40°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Feels-like high (°C)Air high (°C)Feels-like low (°C)Air low (°C)
Jan30302121
Feb31302121
Mar32312222
Apr34322323
May35312424
Jun33302424
Jul34302424
Aug34302424
Sep33292424
Oct32292323
Nov31302222
Dec31302121

Average hourly temperature in Tonalá

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 32°C, and coldest before dawn in September, near 24°C.

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

Tonalá 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
Jan30° / 21°10.311.17.0
Feb30° / 21°20.411.56.5
Mar31° / 22°61.411.95.7
Apr32° / 23°225.912.44.8
May31° / 24°13919.912.73.5
Jun30° / 24°32826.312.93.0
Jul30° / 24°24526.812.93.0
Aug30° / 24°28827.612.52.9
Sep29° / 24°34727.812.13.0
Oct29° / 23°17118.311.64.3
Nov30° / 22°364.211.26.1
Dec30° / 21°30.611.16.8

Chance of rain

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

Tonalá gets about 1589 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 5.7 months, from around May 5 to Oct 25, peaking in September at about 92% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Jan 1.

September is the wettest month by volume, with 347 mm over about 28 wet days; January is the driest, with 1 mm.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdrierwetterdriermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetSep 17 · 92%Jan 1 · 1%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan10
Feb10
Mar51
Apr206
May6320
Jun8826
Jul8627
Aug8928
Sep9128
Oct6018
Nov154
Dec21

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Tonalá collects about 1589 mm of rain across 160 wet days — roughly 132 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. September is the wettest month with 347 mm, while January is the driest at just 1 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 61% of the year’s total.

050100150200250300350400JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec12622139328245288347171363
Rainfall (mm)Rain days
Jan10
Feb20
Mar61
Apr226
May13920
Jun32826
Jul24527
Aug28828
Sep34728
Oct17118
Nov364
Dec31

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Tonalá, 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 28 and lasts for 6.5 months, ending around May 13. The clearest month is February, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 93% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around May 14 and lasts for 5.5 months, ending around October 27. The cloudiest month is September, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 86% 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 13 · 93%Sep 18 · 12%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastclearercloudierclearer
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan9010
Feb937
Mar919
Apr8614
May5446
Jun2179
Jul2674
Aug2377
Sep1486
Oct4060
Nov7723
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 16, brings about 13 hours of light; the shortest, around December 15, only 11 hours — a swing of roughly 2 hours.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan11.16:505:58
Feb11.56:466:13
Mar11.96:286:21
Apr12.46:046:26
May12.75:496:34
Jun12.95:476:44
Jul12.95:546:47
Aug12.56:036:35
Sep12.16:076:12
Oct11.66:115:49
Nov11.26:235:37
Dec11.16:405:43

Sunny days

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

Tonalá averages about 14 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 1 and 26 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 6.2 months, from around Oct 30 to May 6. The sunniest month is February, with roughly 26 sunny days (brilliant).

The greyest month is September, down near 1 sunny days — about 94% fewer than the February peak.

051015202530JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecsunniergreyersunniergloomymixedbrightbrilliantFeb 926 daysSep 181 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan26Brilliant
Feb24Brilliant
Mar25Brilliant
Apr20Bright
May10Mixed
Jun3Gloomy
Jul3Gloomy
Aug2Gloomy
Sep1Gloomy
Oct8Gloomy
Nov19Bright
Dec24Brilliant

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 Tonalá, how humid it feels changes noticeably over the year.

The more humid part of the year lasts 7.5 months, from around March 27 to November 9. The muggiest month is May, when the air feels humid, muggy or worse about 100% of the time.

The most comfortable stretch runs from around November 10 to March 26, and January is the most comfortable month — the air is dry or comfortable 20% of the time.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecJan 17 · 23%May 10 · 0%oppressivemuggyhumidcomfortablecomfortablehumidcomfortable
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)Humid (%)Muggy (%)Oppressive (%)Miserable (%)
Jan417463400
Feb212444120
Mar272754110
Apr02946420
May00315793
Jun0002953
Jul0001972
Aug0000973
Sep0003951
Oct01623701
Nov062245270
Dec210374740

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.

Across the year, average wind speed in Tonalá is typically calm, near 9 km/h, and varies moderately with the seasons.

The windier part of the year lasts 5.6 months, from around Oct 20 to Apr 8. The windiest month is January, averaging about 13 km/h (light breeze).

The calmer part of the year runs from around Apr 9 to Oct 19, with August the calmest month at about 5 km/h.

05101520JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwindiercalmerwindiercalmlight breezeJan 11 · 13 km/hAug 3 · 5 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan13light breeze
Feb11calm
Mar10calm
Apr8calm
May7calm
Jun5calm
Jul5calm
Aug5calm
Sep6calm
Oct8calm
Nov12light breeze
Dec13light breeze

Hazard calendar for Tonalá

In seasonPeak

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

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

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

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

Best time to visit Tonalá

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

Around mid March, Tonalá 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 Tonalá for general outdoor tourist activities is from early November to late March, with a peak score in the second week of January.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationJan 10 · 7.0

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
Jan6.9good
Feb6.5good
Mar5.7good
Apr4.8fair
May3.5fair
Jun3.0poor
Jul3.0poor
Aug2.9poor
Sep3.0poor
Oct4.3fair
Nov6.1good
Dec6.8good

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 Tonalá for hot-weather activities is from early November to mid April, with a peak score in the second week of January.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationJan 14 · 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 Tonalá, 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.

Tonalá packs about the same all year — highs hold near 32°C. Across the year the things worth having are light clothes, sun protection and rain gear.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In April, Tonalá sees daytime highs around 32°C and nights near 23°C. Pack light clothes and sun protection. About 6 days see rain.

Sea temperature near Tonalá

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 27 km away) is warmest in August at about 31°C and coldest in February near 28°C.

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

26°28°30°32°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwarmtropicalcomfortable to swim
Sea temperature (°C)Comfort
Jan28Tropical
Feb28Warm
Mar28Tropical
Apr29Tropical
May30Tropical
Jun30Tropical
Jul30Tropical
Aug31Tropical
Sep30Tropical
Oct29Tropical
Nov29Tropical
Dec29Tropical

UV index (midday) in Tonalá 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 Tonalá peaks around June 17 at about 13 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near December 18 at about 8 (very high).

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

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecVery highExtremeVery highJun 17UV 13Dec 18UV 8
UV index (midday)Level
Jan9Very high
Feb12Extreme
Mar13Extreme
Apr10Very high
May12Extreme
Jun13Extreme
Jul12Extreme
Aug12Extreme
Sep12Extreme
Oct11Extreme
Nov9Very high
Dec8Very high

Average hourly UV index in Tonalá

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 March 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)
Jan6.54
Feb7.55.5
Mar86
Apr85.5
May86
Jun8.56.5
Jul8.56
Aug86
Sep86
Oct7.55.5
Nov74.5
Dec6.53.5

Air quality in Tonalá 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 Tonalá is worst in May — around 27 µg/m³ PM2.5 (moderate), about 3.0× the cleanest month (January, 9 µg/m³).

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

0102030JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecGoodModerateGoodMay 1426 µg/m³Jan 19 µg/m³
PM2.5 (µg/m³)Level
Jan9Good
Feb9Good
Mar13Moderate
Apr22Moderate
May27Moderate
Jun18Moderate
Jul24Moderate
Aug19Moderate
Sep16Moderate
Oct12Moderate
Nov10Good
Dec9Good
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free dayFrost-free year round

Tonalá 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. Tonalá banks about 5,995 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around April.

02,0004,0006,000JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°C·days)
Jan467
Feb438
Mar513
Apr525
May543
Jun501
Jul528
Aug524
Sep492
Oct504
Nov481
Dec480

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.

Tonalá receives about 5.7 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — bright — with a clear seasonal swing between 4.8 and 6.8 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 3.7 months, from around Feb 6 to May 30. The brightest month is April, averaging about 6.8 kWh/m² (intense).

The dimmest month is September, down near 5.1 kWh/m² — roughly 26% less than the April peak.

012345678JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmerbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightintenseApr 106.8 kWhSep 304.8 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan5.3Bright
Feb5.9Bright
Mar6.6Intense
Apr6.8Intense
May6.3Intense
Jun5.4Bright
Jul5.9Bright
Aug5.7Bright
Sep5.0Bright
Oct5.0Bright
Nov5.1Bright
Dec5.0Bright

Where is Tonalá?

Tonalá sits at 16.1°N, 93.8°W, 50 m above sea level, in Mexico. The nearest listed city is Arriaga, 22 km away.

Topography around Tonalá

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Tonalá has significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 461 m around an average of 86 m above sea level; within 16 km, very significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 1,930 m; within 80 km, extreme variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 2,439 m.

The land around Tonalá is covered by trees (53%), grassland (26%) and artificial surfaces (20%) within 3 km, trees (54%) and grassland (36%) within 16 km, and trees (41%), water (28%) and grassland (25%) within 80 km.

3 km
461 m
16 km
1,930 m
80 km
2,439 m
treesshrubsgrasslandcroplandartificial surfaceswatermangroves
Nearby: Arriaga 22 km · Villaflores 54 km · Cintalapa de Figueroa 66 km · Pijijiapan 74 km · Ocozocoautla de Espinosa 85 km · Suchiapa 92 km · Berriozábal 94 km · Tuxtla 100 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 Tonalá (16.0901°, -93.7546°, elevation 50 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).