What is the weather in Oaxaca, in one minute?
Oaxaca has a long dry season and a shorter wet one, and a cold night that surprises people who arrive from the coast. The city sits at about 1,550 m in a valley, so the days are warm and the nights cool all winter. Here is the year:
Oaxaca: Average high and low temperature, °C
Oaxaca: Rainfall, mm
Averages 2015-2025 · Source: Open-Meteo, CHIRPS · How we measure
Read the rain line first: almost nothing from November to April, then a hump from June to September that peaks at 179 mm. Then the lower edge of the temperature band, which dips to 11° in December and January and does not reach 16° until May.
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What is the best month to be in Oaxaca?
December to March for a month of work, if you do not mind a sweater at night. Rain is close to zero, the sky is clear and highs are 26° to 29°. February and March are the sunniest, with cloud over 23 and 28 percent of the sky. March has the warmest evenings of the dry season, with nights of 13°.
November is nearly as good: 8 mm of rain, a 26° high and a 12° low. April is the last dry month, but the heat builds to 31°. May is the switch, with 79 mm of rain on about 5 days and nights of 16°.
How cold do the nights get?
Colder than most people expect for Mexico: 11° in December, January and February, and 12° in November. Few rentals are heated, so ask about blankets and a heater before you book for winter. The national weather service station in the city gives 10° to 11° for the coldest nights, so the two agree. Mexico City is colder still, and the coast is far warmer, as the table further down shows.
How hot does Oaxaca get?
Hotter than our numbers say. Ours are an average of 2015 to 2025 at one grid point, and that point reads cooler by day than the city does. At the station (1991 to 2020) the average high is close to 29° in January and the mid-thirties in April and May, three to four degrees above ours. Lows and rain match well. Read our highs as a floor: afternoons in the sun are hot, especially from March to May, while the shade and the evening are cool.
When is the rainy season in Oaxaca?
June to September, with an easy start and a slow finish. June is the wettest month and September is close behind, on about 13 and 14 rainy days. July and August have about 9 and 12. Most of it falls as an afternoon or evening storm, so mornings are often clear. Highs drop by about five degrees, to 25° and 26°, so these are the coolest months for the days. Humidity rises to 74 to 78 percent, against 51 to 63 in the dry season.
October is the way back: 64 mm and about 7 rainy days. A rainy day is a day with at least four millimetres, so drizzle does not count.
Is Oaxaca dry for Día de Muertos?
Mostly. Día de Muertos runs from 31 October to 2 November. October is still mixed, but November is almost dry, so 1 and 2 November sit at the edge of the dry season: a 26° high, a 12° low and a jacket for the evening vigils at the cemeteries. It is the busiest week of the year, so book months ahead.
How does Oaxaca compare with the coast and Mexico City?
A Mexican winter has three different answers. Here is December and January:
December and January averages, side by side
| Place | High | Low | Rain | Rain days |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oaxaca Dec | 26° | 11° | 5 mm | 0 |
| Oaxaca Jan | 26° | 11° | 4 mm | 0 |
| Mexico City Dec | 22° | 8° | 5 mm | 1 |
| Mexico City Jan | 22° | 7° | 11 mm | 1 |
| Puerto Escondido Dec | 31° | 21° | 4 mm | 0 |
| Puerto Escondido Jan | 31° | 21° | 2 mm | 0 |
Averages 2015-2025 · Source: Open-Meteo, CHIRPS · How we measure
Oaxaca has a warm day and a cool night with almost no rain. Puerto Escondido on the Pacific coast is hot night and day and just as dry. Mexico City is the cold one; see the Mexico City guide. For the whole country by month, including the Caribbean coast, see the best time to go to Mexico for weather. The model reads Oaxaca's air as cleaner than Mexico City's all year, with a bump in April and May; the Mexico City air quality guide has the detail.
What would we do?
Come in December to March. Dry months make for an easy working life: the patios and cafés work and rain rarely interrupts a day. The weather question is the evenings, not the days, so pack layers. In the rainy months you work through afternoon storms, which is manageable for a stay of a month or more. Check internet and power with your host; that is separate from the weather.
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How sure are these numbers?
They are month-of-year averages for one point at the city, from stored climate data (Open-Meteo archive and CHIRPS rain totals, 2015 to 2025). A single year can be wetter or drier, and a valley city has microclimates: the hills above town are cooler and the plain below is hotter. We checked our figures against the national weather service station in the city; the days differ, as explained above.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best time to visit Oaxaca for weather?
November to April, when rain is 30 mm or less a month and there is rain on 0 or 1 days. February and March are the clearest, with cloud cover of 23 to 28 percent. April is the hottest of the dry months.
How cold are the nights in Oaxaca?
Coldest in December and January, at about 11°C in our data (the weather station gives 10°C to 11°C). The city sits at about 1,550 m, so a jacket or sweater is needed for evenings from November to February even though the days are warm.
Is Oaxaca rainy in November for Día de Muertos?
No. November averages 8 mm of rain and no rain day of 4 mm or more, with a 26°C high and a 12°C low. October is the tail of the rains, with 64 mm and about 7 rain days, so the end of October is still mixed.
When is the rainy season in Oaxaca?
June to September. June has 179 mm and about 13 rain days, September 167 mm and about 14. May is the switch month with 79 mm and about 5 rain days, and October the way back to dry.
Is Oaxaca hot?
The hottest months are April and May. Our data shows highs of 30°C to 31°C, and the city's weather station records higher still, in the mid-thirties in April, because it is a dry valley. In the rains, highs drop to 25°C to 26°C.
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Weather data: Open-Meteo (CC BY 4.0), open-meteo.com; rain totals: CHIRPS (Climate Hazards Center, UC Santa Barbara). Processed by NomadWeather from stored copies of the data.