The best time to visit Mexico City is November to April, the dry half of the year, when Mexico's weather service shows 1 inch of rain or less a month and average highs of 72 to 82 F. May to October holds about 91 percent of the year's rain, with July and August the wettest. We read the service's normals on 15 October 2026.
Month by month
Note: Mexico's national weather service, the SMN, publishes 1991 to 2020 climate normals for each station. We read the file for the Tacubaya Central observatory station (9048, Miguel Hidalgo, altitude 2,308.6 m) on smn.conagua.gob.mx on 15 Oct 2026. The file is dated 9 Oct 2026 and gives Celsius and millimetres. We converted to Fahrenheit and inches and rounded. "Rain days" is the service's "number of days with rain" line, and the file does not define a threshold
| Month | Average high | Average low | Rain | Rain days |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 72 F | 47 F | 0.5 in | 2.7 |
| February | 76 F | 49 F | 0.2 in | 2.1 |
| March | 79 F | 52 F | 0.5 in | 3.8 |
| April | 82 F | 56 F | 1.0 in | 6.7 |
| May | 81 F | 57 F | 2.3 in | 11.1 |
| June | 78 F | 57 F | 5.2 in | 16.3 |
| July | 76 F | 55 F | 6.9 in | 21.8 |
| August | 76 F | 56 F | 6.9 in | 20.8 |
| September | 75 F | 56 F | 6.2 in | 18.2 |
| October | 74 F | 53 F | 2.8 in | 10.1 |
| November | 73 F | 50 F | 0.7 in | 3.7 |
| December | 72 F | 47 F | 0.2 in | 1.2 |
The year averages a 76 F high, a 53 F low and about 33 inches of rain. It is one station. A district at a different height or near the hills can differ, and so can any single week.
The city's tourism site says May "tends to be the hottest month." In the service's table the highest average high is April, at 82 F, and May is 81 F. The two pages differ by a month, so treat spring as the warmest stretch.
The rainy season
By our arithmetic from the table, May to October holds about 91 percent of the year's rain, and June to September about 76 percent. July and August each bring about 7 inches over 21 to 22 rain days. We did not find an official start date for the rainy season in Mexico City itself, so we call it May to October from the table, not from a weather-service announcement.
Note: Spring (March to May) and fall (September to November) are "very pleasant, with warm afternoons and cooler evenings" and avoid "the extremes of cold and the rain." In summer the city "tends to rain a bit more," and storms usually last "a maximum of a couple of hours" and can cause "drainage problems and minor flooding." Winter (December to February) nights will "sometimes drop close to freezing." The page names no rainy months (Mexico City tourism site, "Best Seasons to Visit Mexico City", undated, read 15 Oct 2026)
Events
Note: The Great Day of the Dead Parade is on Saturday 31 October 2026 at 14:00 on Paseo de la Reforma, the Zocalo ofrenda runs 29 October to 2 November, and Mixquic holds its festival from 31 October to 2 November, with La Alumbrada on the night of 2 November. The city's tourism site says Day of the Dead now has "about month of festivities from mid-October through mid-November" (Mexico City tourism guide, as read for our Day of the Dead page on 12 Oct 2026, not re-read today; the month line from the Best Seasons page, read 15 Oct 2026)
See our Day of the Dead page for every date and the Mixquic advice. If you want those events, the season is late October to early November, which is the end of the wet season. Rain in October still averages 2.8 inches over 10 days.
Jacarandas. The city's tourism site says the jacaranda bloom is welcomed "from February through the beginning of April" (Best Seasons page, read 15 Oct 2026). That is the whole of our official source. We found no bloom forecast from the city, and we did not use press reports, so a given year's peak is not confirmed.
Crowds and holidays
Semana Santa 2027, Holy Week, runs from Palm Sunday, 21 March, to Easter Sunday, 28 March 2027. We calculated the dates from the Easter rule, the first Sunday after the first full moon on or after the spring equinox. We did not check them against an official calendar. The city's tourism site says Mexico City "all but shuts down for Semana Santa," that most universities take something like a spring break, and that "traffic and the metro are much more forgiving." It says nothing about hotels.
Christmas Day 2026 is a Friday. For the lights and posadas, see our Christmas in Mexico City page.
We found no official page on hotel occupancy or crowd levels for any month, and we give no price bands. The Day of the Dead weekend is the date we would book first, as a guess, not a fact.
Altitude
Note: "At 2,240 meters, Mexico City is well above the limit" for altitude sickness, which the page says can start above 1,500 m, though many visitors have no symptoms. Common ones: shortness of breath, dizziness, headache, fatigue and loss of appetite. Advice: rest often, drink more water, avoid alcohol and smoking, skip hard exercise, and call LOCATEL, the city's information line (press 6 for English) if you need medical help (Mexico City tourism site, altitude sickness page, undated, read 14 Oct 2026 for our safety page, not re-read)
The weather service lists its Tacubaya station at 2,308.6 m. The two heights differ because they describe different spots. The tourism site's figure is the city's own. Plan a light first day. That last line is our advice.
The worst time and why
For rain, the worst months are July and August, with about 7 inches each and 21 to 22 rain days, then September and June. Plan indoor stops, such as museums, for the afternoon, since the city's site says storms last a couple of hours. For cold, the nights of December and January, at 47 F on average, are the coldest. For heat, April and May are the warmest, with highs of 81 to 82 F.
Safety and entry
The State Department lists Mexico City at Level 2, "Exercise increased caution". See our Mexico City safety page for the wording and the date we read it.
If you live in the US but are not a US citizen
Indian, Filipino and Chinese passport holders need a Mexican visa unless they hold a valid US visa or a valid US green card. INM lists India, the Philippines and China as countries whose nationals need a Mexican visa. Mexico's consulates in the US say a valid US visa or green card replaces it.
| Passport | With a valid US visa | With a valid US green card | With neither |
|---|---|---|---|
| India | Visa-free, if the visa is valid and stamped in the passport | Visa-free, if the card is valid, shown with the passport | Apply for a Mexican visa at a consulate, by appointment |
| Philippines | Same | Same | Same |
| China | Same | Same | Same |
Note: Consulado de Mexico en Washington: holders of a valid, unexpired US visa, or of a valid US resident card, need no Mexican visa for tourism, business or transit. Show it with your passport, and both must stay valid for the whole stay. "All EAD cards, I-797 A Forms, Advance Parole Forms, I-20 OR DS-2019 are not accepted to enter Mexico." If your US visa or card has expired, you must apply for a Mexican visa (consulmex Washington, English visa page, read 14 Oct 2026 for our Mexico City safety page, not re-read today)
Note: INM's list of countries whose nationals need a visa includes China, Filipinas and India. INM dates the page 1 March 2024 (INM, read for our Mexico entry page on 12 Oct 2026, not re-read)
Which US visa types count, and whether the visa must allow multiple entries, is not confirmed. Ask the consulate that serves your state. Coming back to the US is a separate check.
Note: Green card holders: to re-enter after a trip abroad, present a valid, unexpired green card. A short trip usually does not affect permanent resident status (USCIS, "International travel as a permanent resident", last reviewed 12 Sep 2025, read 14 Oct 2026 for our Mexico City safety page, not re-read)
Note: Visa holders: if your US visa has expired, a trip of 30 days or less only to Mexico or Canada can still let you re-enter on your valid I-94, under the "automatic revalidation" rule. You need a valid passport and must not have applied for a new US visa while abroad. The rule does not cover nationals of countries the State Department lists as supporting terrorism (22 CFR 41.112(d), eCFR, read 14 Oct 2026 for our Mexico City safety page, not re-read)
If your visa has expired or your status is pending, ask your employer's immigration lawyer or your school's international office before you book.
What we checked and what can change
Read on 15 October 2026: the SMN 1991 to 2020 normals file for the Tacubaya Central station (9048, issued 9 October 2026) on smn.conagua.gob.mx, and Mexico City's tourism page "Best Seasons to Visit Mexico City" at mexicocity.cdmx.gob.mx. The tourism page is undated. The Day of the Dead dates are carried from our own page, read on 12 October 2026. The altitude text is carried from our safety page, read on 14 October 2026, as are the visa, USCIS and eCFR text. None of those was re-read today. The Holy Week dates are our own calculation from the Easter date.
Not confirmed: an official start date for the rainy season, a bloom forecast for the jacarandas, crowd levels, hotel and flight prices for any month, and which US visa types count for Mexican entry. Weather figures are 30 year averages for one station. A forecast matters more than an average. We did not travel to Mexico City for this page. We have no hero photo for this page yet.
