Cusco weather in May

In May, Cusco sees average daytime highs of 14°C and overnight lows near 3°C, with 24 mm of rain across 8.1 wet days and about 11.4 hours of daylight. It is the 6th-warmest and 9th-wettest month of the year here.

Day-to-day highs hold fairly steady near 14°C through the month. The sky is clear or mostly clear about 29% of the time in May, and the air most often feels dry.

Daylight stretches from about 11 h 30 min at the start of May to 11 h 18 min by month's end. Set against the rest of the year, May is Cusco's 4th-clearest and 7th-windiest month. For the whole year in context, see Cusco's year-round climate.

Daytime high: 14°; 6th warmest
Overnight low: 3°; 4th coldest
Rainfall: 24 mm; 8.1 wet days
Daylight: 11 h 24 min; 6:03 AM – 5:25 PM
Cloud cover: 55%; 4th clearest
Wind: 3 km/h; 7th windiest
Solar energy: 4.83 kWh/m²
Travel score: 4.5; out of 10

Cusco is historic city of Peru, capital of the Department of Cusco.

Density: 1,113/km²; people per km²
Founded: 1534

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

← April Cusco year-round climate June →Best places to visit in May

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

Temperature in May

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

Day-to-day highs hold fairly steady near 14°C through the month.

A typical May day in Cusco reaches about 14°C in the afternoon and slips back to 3°C overnight — a 11°C spread between the day's warmth and the night's chill. On most days the high lands between 13°C and 16°C. Set against its neighbours, May runs on par with April and on par with June.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Avg high (°C)	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14
Avg low (°C)	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3

	Avg high (°C)	Avg low (°C)
1	14	4
2	14	4
3	14	4
4	14	4
5	14	4
6	14	4
7	14	4
8	14	4
9	14	4
10	14	4
11	14	4
12	14	4
13	14	4
14	14	4
15	14	4
16	14	3
17	14	3
18	14	3
19	14	3
20	14	3
21	14	3
22	14	3
23	14	3
24	14	3
25	14	3
26	14	3
27	14	3
28	14	3
29	14	3
30	14	3
31	14	3

Cusco weather by month

How May compares with the rest of the year at a glance. May is the 6th-warmest and 9th-wettest month here — the current month is highlighted below.

Month	High / Low (°C)	Rainfall (mm)	Wet days	Snow days	Daylight (hours)	Travel score
Jan	14° / 6°	229	28.8	0.7	12.7	2.3
Feb	14° / 6°	214	26.1	0.3	12.5	2.2
Mar	14° / 5°	170	27.4	0.3	12.1	2.4
Apr	14° / 5°	76	18.6	0	11.7	3.2
May	14° / 3°	24	8.1	0	11.4	4.5
Jun	14° / 2°	12	3.3	0.1	11.2	4.9
Jul	14° / 2°	11	3.1	0.1	11.3	5.0
Aug	15° / 2°	22	6.5	0.5	11.6	4.9
Sep	15° / 4°	37	13.1	0	11.9	4.3
Oct	16° / 5°	84	20.3	0.1	12.3	3.5
Nov	16° / 6°	116	22.8	0.3	12.6	3.1
Dec	15° / 6°	197	27.5	0.5	12.8	2.5

Cloud cover in May

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

The sky is clear or mostly clear about 29% of the time in May.

Beyond those clear spells, partly cloudy skies cover about 27% of May, with mostly cloudy or overcast conditions the remaining 44%. Skies tend to open up as the month goes on.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Clearer (%)	43	43	45	46	49	50	51	52	53	54	54	54	55	55	56	56	58	58	58	60	60	60	62	62	62	64	64	65	65	66	66
Cloudier (%)	57	57	55	54	51	50	49	48	47	46	46	46	45	45	44	44	42	42	42	40	40	40	38	38	38	36	36	35	35	34	34

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	43	57
2	43	57
3	45	55
4	46	54
5	49	51
6	50	50
7	51	49
8	52	48
9	53	47
10	54	46
11	54	46
12	54	46
13	55	45
14	55	45
15	56	44
16	56	44
17	58	42
18	58	42
19	58	42
20	60	40
21	60	40
22	60	40
23	62	38
24	62	38
25	62	38
26	64	36
27	64	36
28	65	35
29	65	35
30	66	34
31	66	34

Chance of precipitation in May

Any precipitation

Cusco gets around 24 mm of rain over 8.1 wet days in May. The line is the day-by-day chance of measurable precipitation.

Day to day, the chance of measurable rain averages around 26% and peaks near 42% on the wettest days. The odds ease toward the end of the month.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Rain chance (%)	42	41	40	39	38	37	35	34	33	32	31	30	29	27	26	25	25	24	23	22	21	20	19	18	17	16	16	15	14	14	13

	Rain chance (%)
1	42
2	41
3	40
4	39
5	38
6	37
7	35
8	34
9	33
10	32
11	31
12	30
13	29
14	27
15	26
16	25
17	25
18	24
19	23
20	22
21	21
22	20
23	19
24	18
25	17
26	16
27	16
28	15
29	14
30	14
31	13

Humidity in May

DryComfortableHumidMuggyOppressiveMiserable

Most of May feels dry — the stacked bands show each day's mix of comfort levels, read off the dew point.

By dew point, May lands in the dry band about 100% of days. It rarely turns muggy — the humid and sticky bands barely register.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Dry (%)	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100

	Dry (%)
1	100
2	100
3	100
4	100
5	100
6	100
7	100
8	100
9	100
10	100
11	100
12	100
13	100
14	100
15	100
16	100
17	100
18	100
19	100
20	100
21	100
22	100
23	100
24	100
25	100
26	100
27	100
28	100
29	100
30	100
31	100

Wind in May

Winds average 3 km/h in May.

Across May, daily wind ranges from about 3 km/h on the calmest days to 4 km/h at its breeziest. It stays fairly steady from day to day.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Wind speed (km/h)	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4
Feels	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm

	Wind speed (km/h)	Feels
1	3	calm
2	3	calm
3	3	calm
4	3	calm
5	3	calm
6	3	calm
7	3	calm
8	3	calm
9	3	calm
10	3	calm
11	3	calm
12	3	calm
13	3	calm
14	3	calm
15	3	calm
16	3	calm
17	3	calm
18	3	calm
19	3	calm
20	3	calm
21	3	calm
22	4	calm
23	4	calm
24	4	calm
25	4	calm
26	4	calm
27	4	calm
28	4	calm
29	4	calm
30	4	calm
31	4	calm

Sunrise & sunset in May

DaylightNight

Daylight runs from about 11 h 30 min at the start of May to 11 h 18 min by month's end. The lit band spans sunrise to sunset each day.

Days shrink by about 12 minutes over May. Sunrise moves from 5:59 AM to 6:07 AM, and sunset from 5:31 PM to 5:23 PM.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Daylight (h)	11.5	11.5	11.5	11.5	11.5	11.5	11.5	11.5	11.4	11.4	11.4	11.4	11.4	11.4	11.4	11.4	11.4	11.4	11.4	11.3	11.3	11.3	11.3	11.3	11.3	11.3	11.3	11.3	11.3	11.3	11.3
Sunrise (AM)	5:59	6:00	6:00	6:00	6:00	6:00	6:01	6:01	6:01	6:01	6:02	6:02	6:02	6:02	6:03	6:03	6:03	6:03	6:04	6:04	6:04	6:05	6:05	6:05	6:05	6:06	6:06	6:06	6:07	6:07	6:07
Sunset (PM)	5:31	5:30	5:30	5:29	5:29	5:29	5:28	5:28	5:28	5:27	5:27	5:27	5:26	5:26	5:26	5:25	5:25	5:25	5:25	5:25	5:24	5:24	5:24	5:24	5:24	5:24	5:24	5:23	5:23	5:23	5:23

	Daylight (h)	Sunrise (AM)	Sunset (PM)
1	11.5	5:59	5:31
2	11.5	6:00	5:30
3	11.5	6:00	5:30
4	11.5	6:00	5:29
5	11.5	6:00	5:29
6	11.5	6:00	5:29
7	11.5	6:01	5:28
8	11.5	6:01	5:28
9	11.4	6:01	5:28
10	11.4	6:01	5:27
11	11.4	6:02	5:27
12	11.4	6:02	5:27
13	11.4	6:02	5:26
14	11.4	6:02	5:26
15	11.4	6:03	5:26
16	11.4	6:03	5:25
17	11.4	6:03	5:25
18	11.4	6:03	5:25
19	11.4	6:04	5:25
20	11.3	6:04	5:25
21	11.3	6:04	5:24
22	11.3	6:05	5:24
23	11.3	6:05	5:24
24	11.3	6:05	5:24
25	11.3	6:05	5:24
26	11.3	6:06	5:24
27	11.3	6:06	5:24
28	11.3	6:06	5:23
29	11.3	6:07	5:23
30	11.3	6:07	5:23
31	11.3	6:07	5:23

Solar energy in May

Daily solar energy (kWh/m²)

Average shortwave solar energy reaching the ground each day in May, about 4.83 kWh/m².

For context, solar energy here swings from a low near 4.59 kWh/m² to a high of 6.11 kWh/m² in October across the year — May's 4.83 kWh/m² sits near the bottom.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Solar energy (kWh/m²)	5.0	5.0	5.0	5.0	4.9	4.9	4.9	4.9	4.9	4.9	4.9	4.8	4.8	4.8	4.8	4.8	4.8	4.8	4.8	4.8	4.8	4.8	4.7	4.7	4.7	4.7	4.7	4.7	4.7	4.7	4.7
Level	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright

	Solar energy (kWh/m²)	Level
1	5.0	Bright
2	5.0	Bright
3	5.0	Bright
4	5.0	Bright
5	4.9	Bright
6	4.9	Bright
7	4.9	Bright
8	4.9	Bright
9	4.9	Bright
10	4.9	Bright
11	4.9	Bright
12	4.8	Bright
13	4.8	Bright
14	4.8	Bright
15	4.8	Bright
16	4.8	Bright
17	4.8	Bright
18	4.8	Bright
19	4.8	Bright
20	4.8	Bright
21	4.8	Bright
22	4.8	Bright
23	4.7	Bright
24	4.7	Bright
25	4.7	Bright
26	4.7	Bright
27	4.7	Bright
28	4.7	Bright
29	4.7	Bright
30	4.7	Bright
31	4.7	Bright

Planning a trip in May

Hazard calendar for Cusco

In seasonPeak

None of Cusco's seasonal hazards are active in May. The full-year calendar below shows when the rainy season, cyclone risk and dust haze do peak.

Cusco's monsoon runs November–March, when most of the year's rain falls.

Monsoon

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Is May a good time to visit Cusco?

Our two travel scores rate May for general sightseeing and for beach or pool weather — 0 (poor) to 10 (ideal).

4.5

Sightseeing

4th-best month of the year

—

Beach & pool

never really warm enough

May is a reasonable time to visit Cusco for sightseeing.

What to pack for Cusco in May

From May's temperature range, rain chance, sun and wind — what's worth putting in the bag.

In May, Cusco sees daytime highs around 14°C and nights near 3°C. Worth packing: a warm layer, rain gear and sun protection. About 8 days see rain.

a warm layerrain gearsun protection

UV index in Cusco in May

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Clear-sky midday UV in May peaks around 12 (very high — sun protection essential). The full-year curve, shaded by WHO exposure level, is below.

Under clear skies, the midday UV index in Cusco peaks around February 10 at about 19 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near June 23 at about 10 (extreme).

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

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
UV index (midday)	19	19	17	15	12	10	10	13	14	16	17	16
Level	Extreme	Extreme	Extreme	Extreme	Extreme	Very high	Extreme	Extreme	Extreme	Extreme	Extreme	Extreme

	UV index (midday)	Level
Jan	19	Extreme
Feb	19	Extreme
Mar	17	Extreme
Apr	15	Extreme
May	12	Extreme
Jun	10	Very high
Jul	10	Extreme
Aug	13	Extreme
Sep	14	Extreme
Oct	16	Extreme
Nov	17	Extreme
Dec	16	Extreme

Air quality in Cusco in May

GoodModeratePoorUnhealthyVery unhealthy

Average fine-particle pollution (PM2.5) through the year — so you can see where May falls, not just the annual average.

Air quality in Cusco is worst in September — around 16 µg/m³ PM2.5 (moderate), about 2.7× the cleanest month (January, 6 µg/m³).

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

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
PM2.5 (µg/m³)	6	7	8	8	8	8	8	13	16	10	8	6
Level	Good	Good	Good	Good	Good	Good	Good	Moderate	Moderate	Good	Good	Good

	PM2.5 (µg/m³)	Level
Jan	6	Good
Feb	7	Good
Mar	8	Good
Apr	8	Good
May	8	Good
Jun	8	Good
Jul	8	Good
Aug	13	Moderate
Sep	16	Moderate
Oct	10	Good
Nov	8	Good
Dec	6	Good

Location & terrain

Where is Cusco?

Cusco sits at 13.5°S, 72.0°W, 3,312 m above sea level, in Peru. The nearest listed city is Wanchaq, 1.0 km away.

Topography around Cusco

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Cusco has significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 503 m around an average of 3,446 m above sea level; within 16 km, very significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 1,566 m; within 80 km, extreme variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 5,473 m.

The land around Cusco is covered by artificial surfaces (59%) and grassland (22%) within 3 km, grassland (74%) within 16 km, and grassland (77%) within 80 km.

3 km

503 m

artificial surfaces 59%

16 km

1,566 m

grassland 74%

80 km

5,473 m

grassland 77%

treesshrubsgrasslandcroplandartificial surfacesbare terrainwater

← April Cusco year-round climate June →Best places to visit in May

May weather nearby: Wanchaq 1.0 km · Santiago 2.0 km · Aguas Calientes 73 km · Machu Picchu 73 km · Abancay 100 km · Quillabamba 108 km · Santa Ana 110 km · Sicuani 115 km

Peru travel facts

Travel advisory: Level 2; Exercise Increased Caution
Power plugs: Type A / B / C; 220 V · 60 Hz
Prices: ≈ 51% of US; price level, 2025
GDP per capita: $9,684; 2025
Happiness: 6.0 / 10; World Happiness, 2025
Safe drinking water: 49%; of population, 2024
Homicide rate: 8.6; per 100k, 2021
Road deaths: 13.6; per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group: Upper middle; World Bank
English: Moderate; EF EPI 519
Religion

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 Cusco (-13.5319°, -71.967°, elevation 3,312 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).

	Avg high (°C)	Avg low (°C)
1	14	4
2	14	4
3	14	4
4	14	4
5	14	4
6	14	4
7	14	4
8	14	4
9	14	4
10	14	4
11	14	4
12	14	4
13	14	4
14	14	4
15	14	4
16	14	3
17	14	3
18	14	3
19	14	3
20	14	3
21	14	3
22	14	3
23	14	3
24	14	3
25	14	3
26	14	3
27	14	3
28	14	3
29	14	3
30	14	3
31	14	3

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	43	57
2	43	57
3	45	55
4	46	54
5	49	51
6	50	50
7	51	49
8	52	48
9	53	47
10	54	46
11	54	46
12	54	46
13	55	45
14	55	45
15	56	44
16	56	44
17	58	42
18	58	42
19	58	42
20	60	40
21	60	40
22	60	40
23	62	38
24	62	38
25	62	38
26	64	36
27	64	36
28	65	35
29	65	35
30	66	34
31	66	34

	Rain chance (%)
1	42
2	41
3	40
4	39
5	38
6	37
7	35
8	34
9	33
10	32
11	31
12	30
13	29
14	27
15	26
16	25
17	25
18	24
19	23
20	22
21	21
22	20
23	19
24	18
25	17
26	16
27	16
28	15
29	14
30	14
31	13

	Dry (%)
1	100
2	100
3	100
4	100
5	100
6	100
7	100
8	100
9	100
10	100
11	100
12	100
13	100
14	100
15	100
16	100
17	100
18	100
19	100
20	100
21	100
22	100
23	100
24	100
25	100
26	100
27	100
28	100
29	100
30	100
31	100

	Avg high (°C)	Avg low (°C)
1	14	4
2	14	4
3	14	4
4	14	4
5	14	4
6	14	4
7	14	4
8	14	4
9	14	4
10	14	4
11	14	4
12	14	4
13	14	4
14	14	4
15	14	4
16	14	3
17	14	3
18	14	3
19	14	3
20	14	3
21	14	3
22	14	3
23	14	3
24	14	3
25	14	3
26	14	3
27	14	3
28	14	3
29	14	3
30	14	3
31	14	3

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	43	57
2	43	57
3	45	55
4	46	54
5	49	51
6	50	50
7	51	49
8	52	48
9	53	47
10	54	46
11	54	46
12	54	46
13	55	45
14	55	45
15	56	44
16	56	44
17	58	42
18	58	42
19	58	42
20	60	40
21	60	40
22	60	40
23	62	38
24	62	38
25	62	38
26	64	36
27	64	36
28	65	35
29	65	35
30	66	34
31	66	34

	Rain chance (%)
1	42
2	41
3	40
4	39
5	38
6	37
7	35
8	34
9	33
10	32
11	31
12	30
13	29
14	27
15	26
16	25
17	25
18	24
19	23
20	22
21	21
22	20
23	19
24	18
25	17
26	16
27	16
28	15
29	14
30	14
31	13

	Dry (%)
1	100
2	100
3	100
4	100
5	100
6	100
7	100
8	100
9	100
10	100
11	100
12	100
13	100
14	100
15	100
16	100
17	100
18	100
19	100
20	100
21	100
22	100
23	100
24	100
25	100
26	100
27	100
28	100
29	100
30	100
31	100

	Avg high (°C)	Avg low (°C)
1	14	4
2	14	4
3	14	4
4	14	4
5	14	4
6	14	4
7	14	4
8	14	4
9	14	4
10	14	4
11	14	4
12	14	4
13	14	4
14	14	4
15	14	4
16	14	3
17	14	3
18	14	3
19	14	3
20	14	3
21	14	3
22	14	3
23	14	3
24	14	3
25	14	3
26	14	3
27	14	3
28	14	3
29	14	3
30	14	3
31	14	3

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	43	57
2	43	57
3	45	55
4	46	54
5	49	51
6	50	50
7	51	49
8	52	48
9	53	47
10	54	46
11	54	46
12	54	46
13	55	45
14	55	45
15	56	44
16	56	44
17	58	42
18	58	42
19	58	42
20	60	40
21	60	40
22	60	40
23	62	38
24	62	38
25	62	38
26	64	36
27	64	36
28	65	35
29	65	35
30	66	34
31	66	34

	Rain chance (%)
1	42
2	41
3	40
4	39
5	38
6	37
7	35
8	34
9	33
10	32
11	31
12	30
13	29
14	27
15	26
16	25
17	25
18	24
19	23
20	22
21	21
22	20
23	19
24	18
25	17
26	16
27	16
28	15
29	14
30	14
31	13

	Dry (%)
1	100
2	100
3	100
4	100
5	100
6	100
7	100
8	100
9	100
10	100
11	100
12	100
13	100
14	100
15	100
16	100
17	100
18	100
19	100
20	100
21	100
22	100
23	100
24	100
25	100
26	100
27	100
28	100
29	100
30	100
31	100