Climate and average weather in Zapopan

In Zapopan, the summers are hot, fairly dry, and mostly clear and the winters are warm and mostly clear.

Best: early January to mid March

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Zapopan typically varies from 9°C to 33°C, and is rarely below 6°C or above 35°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 Zapopan for warm-weather activities are from early January to mid March and late October to late December.

Hottest
May
33°
Coldest
Jan
Wettest
Jul
220 mm
Driest
Apr
4 mm
Rain / yr
853 mm
113 wet days
Daylight
10.7–13.3 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
1,565 m
20.7°N
Clearest
Mar
31% cloud

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

Density
7,382/km²
people per km²
Founded
1541

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

Zapopan 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 Zapopan, from 1991–2020 of climate data. The shaded bands show the range most days fall in — 10th to 90th percentile.

The hot season lasts 2.2 months, from April 8 to June 14, with daily high temperatures above 31°C. The hottest month of the year in Zapopan is May, with an average high of 33°C and low of 16°C.

The cool season lasts 2.5 months, from November 28 to February 10, with daily high temperatures below 26°C. The coldest month of the year in Zapopan is January, with an average low of 9°C and high of 25°C.

Days typically run about 14°C warmer than nights, with the widest day–night swing (around 17°C) in April.

10°20°30°40°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan259
Feb2711
Mar2912
Apr3114
May3316
Jun3118
Jul2818
Aug2818
Sep2817
Oct2815
Nov2712
Dec2510

How hot and cold Zapopan 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, Zapopan feels like about 33°C (around May 23). About 45 days a year carry some heat stress, peaking in May.

10°15°20°25°30°35°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Feels-like high (°C)Air high (°C)Feels-like low (°C)Air low (°C)
Jan252599
Feb27271111
Mar29291212
Apr31311414
May33331616
Jun31311818
Jul29281818
Aug28281818
Sep28281717
Oct28281515
Nov27271212
Dec25251010

Average hourly temperature in Zapopan

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 33°C, and coldest before dawn in January, near C.

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

Zapopan 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
Jan25° / 192.110.98.5
Feb27° / 11°131.811.38.2
Mar29° / 12°71.111.96.9
Apr31° / 14°41.112.55.4
May33° / 16°143.7134.3
Jun31° / 18°13018.313.23.7
Jul28° / 18°22025.913.13.8
Aug28° / 18°19725.112.74.1
Sep28° / 17°16820.912.14.7
Oct28° / 15°599.211.56.6
Nov27° / 12°142.4118.2
Dec25° / 10°81.410.88.5

Chance of rain

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

Zapopan gets about 853 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 4.5 months, from around Jun 2 to Oct 15, peaking in July at about 83% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Mar 27.

July is the wettest month by volume, with 220 mm over about 26 wet days; April is the driest, with 4 mm.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdrierwetterdriermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetJul 15 · 83%Mar 27 · 3%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan72
Feb62
Mar41
Apr41
May134
Jun6018
Jul8326
Aug8125
Sep6821
Oct319
Nov82
Dec41

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Zapopan collects about 853 mm of rain across 113 wet days — roughly 71 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. July is the wettest month with 220 mm, while April is the driest at just 4 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 69% of the year’s total.

050100150200250JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec1913741413022019716859148
Rainfall (mm)Rain days
Jan192
Feb132
Mar71
Apr41
May144
Jun13018
Jul22026
Aug19725
Sep16821
Oct599
Nov142
Dec81

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Zapopan, 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 19 and lasts for 7.7 months, ending around June 9. The clearest month is March, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 78% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around June 10 and lasts for 4.3 months, ending around October 18. The cloudiest month is September, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 66% 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 · 79%Sep 2 · 30%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastclearercloudierclearer
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan6931
Feb7624
Mar7822
Apr7327
May7624
Jun5347
Jul3862
Aug3862
Sep3466
Oct5842
Nov7723
Dec6832

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 17, brings about 13 h 18 min of light; the shortest, around December 16, only 10 h 42 min — a swing of roughly 2 h 36 min.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan10.97:376:29
Feb11.37:296:47
Mar11.97:086:59
Apr12.56:407:08
May13.06:207:19
Jun13.26:167:31
Jul13.16:257:34
Aug12.76:367:19
Sep12.16:446:51
Oct11.56:536:24
Nov11.07:096:09
Dec10.87:276:12

Sunny days

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

Zapopan averages about 13 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 3 and 21 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 7.5 months, from around Oct 21 to Jun 6. The sunniest month is March, with roughly 20 sunny days (bright).

The greyest month is August, down near 4 sunny days — about 81% fewer than the March peak.

0510152025JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecsunniergreyersunniergloomymixedbrightbrilliantMar 1921 daysAug 303 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan17Bright
Feb18Bright
Mar21Bright
Apr18Bright
May19Bright
Jun9Mixed
Jul4Gloomy
Aug4Gloomy
Sep4Gloomy
Oct12Mixed
Nov19Bright
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.

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

The more humid part of the year lasts 4.5 months, from around June 5 to October 18. The muggiest month is August, when the air feels humid, muggy or worse about 91% of the time.

The most comfortable stretch runs from around October 19 to June 4, and January is the most comfortable month — the air is dry or comfortable 100% of the time.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecJan 7 · 100%Aug 26 · 8%muggyhumidcomfortabledrycomfortablehumidcomfortable
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)Humid (%)Muggy (%)
Jan100000
Feb100000
Mar99100
Apr98200
May821440
Jun2122525
Jul011826
Aug09829
Sep415729
Oct2936341
Nov772030
Dec98200

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

051015JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDeccalmlight breezeApr 19 · 7 km/hJul 22 · 4 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan6calm
Feb6calm
Mar7calm
Apr7calm
May7calm
Jun5calm
Jul4calm
Aug4calm
Sep5calm
Oct5calm
Nov5calm
Dec5calm

Hazard calendar for Zapopan

In seasonPeak

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

Zapopan's monsoon runs June–September, 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 Zapopan

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

Around mid March, Zapopan 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 Zapopan for general outdoor tourist activities is from late October to mid March, with a peak score in the first week of January.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationJan 6 · 8.6

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
Jan8.5ideal
Feb8.2ideal
Mar6.9good
Apr5.4fair
May4.3fair
Jun3.7fair
Jul3.8fair
Aug4.0fair
Sep4.7fair
Oct6.6good
Nov8.2ideal
Dec8.5ideal

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 Zapopan for hot-weather activities is from mid October to late May, with a peak score in the third week of March.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationMar 16 · 8.9

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 Zapopan, 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.

For a warm-season trip around May (highs near 33°C), the essentials are light clothes and sun protection. In the cold season around January (highs near 25°C), pack light clothes and sun protection.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In May, Zapopan sees daytime highs around 33°C and nights near 16°C. Pack light clothes and sun protection. About 4 days see rain.

UV index (midday) in Zapopan 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 Zapopan peaks around May 13 at about 13 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near December 15 at about 7 (high).

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

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecVery highExtremeVery highMay 13UV 13Dec 15UV 7
UV index (midday)Level
Jan8Very high
Feb10Extreme
Mar13Extreme
Apr13Extreme
May13Extreme
Jun13Extreme
Jul13Extreme
Aug13Extreme
Sep12Extreme
Oct10Very high
Nov8Very high
Dec7High

Average hourly UV index in Zapopan

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 6.5 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)
Jan63.5
Feb75
Mar86
Apr86.5
May8.56.5
Jun8.56.5
Jul8.56.5
Aug8.56.5
Sep86
Oct74.5
Nov63.5
Dec62.5

Air quality in Zapopan 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 Zapopan is worst in May — around 31 µg/m³ PM2.5 (moderate), about 2.3× the cleanest month (July, 13 µg/m³).

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

010203040JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecModerateMay 1530 µg/m³Jul 1914 µg/m³
PM2.5 (µg/m³)Level
Jan20Moderate
Feb18Moderate
Mar18Moderate
Apr23Moderate
May31Moderate
Jun17Moderate
Jul13Moderate
Aug15Moderate
Sep16Moderate
Oct16Moderate
Nov17Moderate
Dec20Moderate
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free dayFrost-free year round

Zapopan 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. Zapopan banks about 4,091 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around May.

01,0002,0003,0004,000JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°C·days)
Jan216
Feb242
Mar332
Apr382
May450
Jun433
Jul398
Aug394
Sep372
Oct357
Nov283
Dec232

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.

Zapopan receives about 6.0 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — intense — with a clear seasonal swing between 4.7 and 7.7 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 4.4 months, from around Feb 18 to Jul 1. The brightest month is April, averaging about 7.6 kWh/m² (intense).

The dimmest month is December, down near 4.7 kWh/m² — roughly 37% less than the April peak.

0123456789JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmerbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightintenseApr 297.7 kWhDec 204.7 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan5.0Bright
Feb5.9Bright
Mar7.0Intense
Apr7.6Intense
May7.6Intense
Jun6.4Intense
Jul6.1Intense
Aug6.0Bright
Sep5.4Bright
Oct5.3Bright
Nov5.1Bright
Dec4.7Bright

Where is Zapopan?

Zapopan sits at 20.7°N, 103.4°W, 1,565 m above sea level, in Mexico. The nearest listed city is Guadalajara, 6.0 km away.

Topography around Zapopan

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Zapopan has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 101 m around an average of 1,562 m above sea level; within 16 km, very significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 1,215 m; within 80 km, extreme variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 2,409 m.

The land around Zapopan is covered by artificial surfaces (78%) within 3 km, artificial surfaces (46%) and trees (21%) within 16 km, and trees (31%), cropland (21%) and grassland (20%) within 80 km.

3 km
101 m
16 km
1,215 m
80 km
2,409 m
treesshrubsgrasslandcroplandartificial surfacesbare terrainwater
Nearby: Guadalajara 6.0 km · Nuevo México 7.0 km · San Francisco Tesistán 13 km · Tlaquepaque 13 km · Las Pintas de Arriba 17 km · Coyula 18 km · Tonalá 19 km · Las Pintitas 20 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 Zapopan (20.7211°, -103.3874°, elevation 1,565 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).