Acapulco -- The Weather and the Time

Acapulco


Image by yosuke.kami
Acapulco(Mexico)

Acapulco


Image by yosuke.kami
Acapulco(Mexico)

As the Jimmy Buffett song goes, “The Weather is Here . . . “ -- In Acapulco you can almost always count on a sunny day and a clear night – at least during three seasons of the year. The winter months are the best. In the summer the weather can be “iffy” -- both in terms of sun (versus rain) and temperature.

You will find Acapulco at a latitude of 16°45'N. Anything up to 22.5° is considered in the tropics. Thus, Acapulco's tropical climate should come as no surprise. (Perhaps an unexpected effect of being in the tropics is that the face of the moon appears to have rotated. Be sure to study it at home first, and then compare when you get here.)

Here is the good news: From December to May the average temperature is around 80° Fahrenheit (26° Celsius). Highs rarely reach 90°F (32°C), and the lows are a comfortable 72°F (22°C). It almost never rains, and the sun comes out all day long. Clouds, if there are any, are wispy. About 300 out of 365 days each year are perfect beach days. Humidity during dry season is relatively low.

Here is the bad news: From June to October, rain is possible, especially overnight. The days can get hot (averaging close to 90°F (32°C) and peaking between 95°F (35°C) and 100°F (38°C) during July. It does not rain every day during rainy season. Many, if not most of the days are sunny and bright, but usually hotter and more humid than in the winter months. But when it does rain, the water really comes down! Rarely does it rain during daylight. The humidity builds while the sun is out, and then late at night rain bathes the mountains and the streets of the port city, lingering often until early morning hours. If it does rain during the day, a tropical weather system of some sort is probably passing through. Acapulco is south of the corridor of serious Pacific hurricanes, but every year a few tropical storms or depressions will stop to dump as much as several inches of rain. On such occasions the rain can start at any time and continue heavy for many hours, flooding streets and dry arroyos.

Time

You will find Acapulco at a longitude of 99°45'W. It is in the “Central Time Zone,” as that term is understood in the United States and Canada. Set your clock to the same time as in Mexico City, Chicago or Saskatchewan. This is GMT -6. In the summer, the clock is moved forward to GMT -5 for Daylight Savings Time. Do not assume that the change from Standard to Daylight Savings time is the same as in your home country. Usually Mexico changes later in the Spring and earlier in the Fall than in the United States. (Some places in Canada, like Saskatchewan for example, do not change the hour at all.)

A curious feature of the time zone is that Acapulco is on the extreme western edge of Central Time. Therefore, twilight comes relatively later in Acapulco than in places more central in the time zone, and dawn is also later, too. If you are used to having a sunrise walk on the beach around 6:00 am, in Acapulco you may have to wait until nearly 7:00 am.

Elevation

It may seem obvious to most people, but Acapulco is at sea level, being on the ocean and all. Visitors who come in from higher altitudes (like Mexico City or Toluca, or perhaps Colorado and Utah) will probably notice and appreciate the 20% or so more oxygen you get at sea level (when compared with, say, 9,000 feet (2,700 meters). After a week at sea level, the trip home may result in some huffing and puffing. The mountains around Acapulco are high for being on the coast. Some nearby peaks of the Southern Sierra Madres go up as high as 7,000 feet, but the high peaks overlooking Acapulco are only about 2,500 feet above the level of the bay.

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