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Mérida, the capital of Yucatán state, sits inland on the flat limestone plain of the Yucatán Peninsula in southeastern Mexico, about 35 km from the Gulf coast at approximately 20.97°N, 89.62°W. Its inland position gives it a tropical savanna climate (Köppen Aw) — intensely hot, with a wet season and a dry season — hotter than the coast, without the sea breeze.
The hottest months come before and during the rains, from April to August, when highs regularly reach 35–37°C, occasionally higher, and Mérida is among the hottest cities in Mexico. The wet season, from May to October, brings heavy afternoon and evening thunderstorms and high humidity, with the remnants of Caribbean hurricanes sometimes bringing torrential rain inland.
The dry season, from November to April, is warm, sunny and much less humid, with highs around 30–31°C and comfortable nights near 17–19°C, occasionally cooler when a norte pushes down from North America. Rain is scarce, skies are bright, and this warm, dry stretch is comfortably the best time to explore the surrounding Mayan sites.
Mérida receives on the order of 950–1,050 mm of rain a year, concentrated in the wet season from June to October, with a peak around September, while December to April is very dry. The porous limestone plain drains rapidly and holds no rivers, so water comes from underground cenotes. Live rainfall, humidity, and pressure readings for the city are shown in the panels above.
Mérida sits on a flat limestone shelf so porous that the Yucatán has no surface rivers at all — rainfall vanishes underground into the cenotes and cave systems that supplied the ancient Maya. Its inland position, away from the moderating coast, makes it one of the hottest major cities in Mexico, especially in the sweltering pre-rain months of April and May.
To follow any single measurement in Merida more closely, use our live instruments: the online barometer for atmospheric pressure, the thermometer for temperature, the hygrometer for humidity, the anemometer for wind speed, the wind vane for wind direction, and the rain gauge for rainfall.